A native of Xiamen whose family ran a postal business there, Wu Yuanxiang came to Hong Kong in 1950. In 1955 he founded Min Sheng Film Company to produce Amoy-dialect films, beginning with Zhuangzi Tests His Wife (1955) and continuing with some twenty titles, most starring Kong Fan and distributed in Southeast Asia by Singapore's Kong Ngee. As Amoy production faded he set up Wai Sing in 1960 and turned to Teochew opera films, first with Lu Lin Hui (1960) and then more than twenty features with the Sun Tin Choi troupe, among them Siew Meng (1964) and The Goddess of the Luo River (1966), some in colour and widescreen. In 1966 Wai Sing switched to Cantonese films, producing Chor Yuen's Flower of Tears and Lee Tit's A Knot in the Web. Wu then moved to Taiwan, founding Wansheng Film Co. in 1968, which became a leading independent producer of the 1960s and 70s with films such as Evergreen Mountains (1970) and Goodbye Darling (1970), both honoured at the Golden Horse Awards. In the 1990s he formed a Beijing joint venture distributing Hong Kong and Taiwanese film and television, including The Pawnshop No. 8 (2003). He died on 14 August 2008.
Wu Yuanxiang moved from Amoy-dialect films to Teochew opera films and then to independent production in Taiwan, one of the few producers to bridge Minnan-language cinema and the Taiwanese film industry. Two Wai Sing films, Evergreen Mountains and Goodbye Darling, won Golden Horse Awards, placing him firmly among the notable independent producers of 1960s and 70s Taiwan.
Achievements
- 1955 · Founded Min Sheng Film Company, producing its first Amoy film, Zhuangzi Tests His Wife.
- 1960 · Established Wai Sing and turned to Teochew opera films, beginning with Lu Lin Hui.
- 1968 · Founded Wansheng Film Co. in Taiwan, producing Evergreen Mountains and Goodbye Darling (both 1970), honoured at the Golden Horse Awards.