So who is Huang Liushuang? Moreover, when Huang Liushuang was 5 years old, her parents moved her family to Figueroa Street, Los Angeles County, California. The streets were mostly Mexicans and Eastern Europeans, and only they were Chinese. Therefore, Huang Liushuang had not had m

These days, everyone must have seen a lot of news that the portrait of Chinese American movie star Huang Liushuang will be engraved with American currency, making her the first Chinese to enter the American currency. So who is Huang Liushuang? What kind of life does she have? What does her boarding the US currency mean?

Huang Liushuang

Huang Liushuang (Anna May Wong) can be said to be the first Chinese movie star in Hollywood , and this has a lot to do with her family's very unique background. Huang Liushuang's grandparents and grandparents were both Chinese who arrived in the United States in gold rush in 1855, and her parents were both second-generation Chinese born in the United States. Therefore, although Huang Liushuang was born in 1905, she was already an extremely rare third-generation Chinese at that time.

We say that the third generation of Chinese was extremely rare at that time because the United States issued the "Chinese Exclusion Act" in 1882 AD, prohibiting all Chinese people from immigrating to the United States. So after 1882 AD to World War II , the United States basically did not absorb any Chinese immigrants. However, this bill did not forcibly expel Chinese who had moved to the United States before it was passed, so both Huang Liushuang's ancestors and fathers remained in the United States, which also gave her an extremely rare identity in that era.

Huang Liushuang's mother and Huang Liushuang (the baby in her arms)

Moreover, when Huang Liushuang was 5 years old, her parents moved her family to Figueroa Street, Los Angeles County, California. The streets were basically all Mexican and Eastern Europeans, and only they were Chinese, so Huang Liushuang had not had many opportunities to come into contact with Chinese since she was a child, which also allowed her to integrate into American culture faster and more thoroughly.

In Huang Liushuang's childhood, the newborn film industry in the United States began to move from the East Coast of the United States to the surrounding area of ​​Los Angeles, so movie scenes can often be seen around Huang Liushuang, which naturally made Huang Liushuang interested in movies. Not long after, she began to save money to buy movie tickets and go to the cinema to watch movies.

Stills of Huang Liushuang in the movie "The Death of the Sea"

1919, 14-year-old Huang Liushuang had already started working in Hollywood, but at that time she was just working in a department store in Paris, Hollywood. But because she worked in Hollywood all day, she got a chance to star in a movie soon after. At that time, a company called Metro Pictures invested in the filming of a Chinese-themed movie "The Red Lantern", which required 300 girls to be extras. Huang Liushuang, who had always been interested in movies, played a little girl holding a lantern under the introduction of an acquaintance, and since then she started her film career.

Two years later, Huang Liushuang played a supporting role in many movies, which also made her more interested in movies. In 1921, she decided to drop out of middle school and start acting in movies for full-time. And that year, she got her first official role, playing a Chinese woman named "Baobao Li" in a movie called "Bits of Life".

Huang Liushuang in "The Sea"

1922, Huang Liushuang played the heroine in Hollywood's first color movie "The Toll of the Sea" and quickly became popular. After that, she starred in " Baghdad Thieves ", "Chinatown Fun Dream" and "Shanghai Express", making her truly a well-known "movie star".

However, we have mentioned just now that until World War II, the United States was still in the anti-China period. Not only were Chinese people prohibited from entering the country, but the vast majority of Chinese who were already in the United States also had a low status and were discriminated against. Therefore, as a Chinese, Huang Liushuang naturally could not play a good role. So although she was already a little famous at the time, she was all characters who would be discriminated against by female slaves, dancers and prostitutes. Moreover, in these movies, the image of Chinese people has been extremely vilified, which has also caused a lot of controversy for Huang Liushuang.

For example, the 1932 movie "Shanghai Express" was released in Germany (there were basically no Chinese audiences in the United States at that time) aroused strong dissatisfaction among Chinese students studying in Germany at that time. Because this call was too strong, the official Chinese film inspection committee at that time asked the American Paramount Pictures, which filmed the film, to recall the film within 10 days, otherwise its films would be banned from entering the Chinese market. Huang Liushuang, who played the role in it, was therefore regarded in China as an accomplice in humiliating China.

And because of the "Anti-Interracial Marriage Law" in the United States at that time, it prohibited the appearance of interracial couples in literary and artistic works. At that time, there were basically no Asian male actors in the American film industry, so as a Chinese, Huang Liushuang basically couldn't get the opportunity to play the heroine because she could not act opposite the white male protagonist. So at that time, her acting career soon entered a bottleneck period and she could not make any further breakthroughs. Moreover, the images of Chinese in American movies were the same at that time, and they were all ugly Chinese images, such as the innocent and self-dedicated "butterfly girl", the seductive and dangerous "dragon girl", or the daughter of a bandit. Huang Liushuang was so annoyed in these characters, but she had no choice but to do anything about it. Later, she made it clear in an interview with the media: "I'm really annoyed that they only let me play those roles."

So Huang Liushuang also went to Europe for a time, wanting to try different characters in European movies. But although she got different roles in these European films, it also gave the media a lot of material to hype her gossip news. At that time, some media even hyped her about having a homosexual relationship with the famous movie star Marina Dietli. In the social environment at that time, this had a considerable impact on her reputation.

In 1935, the Chinese rural novel " Earth " by the American female writer Pearl Buck who grew up in China was to be adapted into a movie. In the American film industry at that time, Huang Liushuang was definitely the best candidate to play the heroine. However, due to the deep-rooted discrimination against Chinese in the American society at that time, Huang Liushuang was not selected and failed to star in the later very successful movie "The Earth".

After that, the disheartened Huang Liushuang decided to go to China in January 1936. She arrived in Shanghai on the first month of the lunar calendar, and then went to Taishan, Guangdong to visit her father and younger brother and sister who had returned to her ancestral home. But because many people in China were still dissatisfied with her performance in American movies that damaged the image of Chinese people, she could not even enter her father's house in Taishan . Afterwards, Huang Liushuang stayed in Shanghai and Beijing. During this period, she had gathered with the domestic film queen Hu Die many times, and learned Peking Opera from Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang .

After the outbreak of China's full-scale war of resistance in 1937, the anti-Chinese atmosphere of the United States, which needed China to restrain Japan, gradually reversed. Therefore, during this period, some American film companies shot some low-cost movies that positively described the image of Chinese people, and Huang Liushuang naturally became the protagonist in it. During this period, she starred in films such as "Shanghai Daughter" and "Chongqing Heroes". During this period, Huang Liushuang sold her costumes and donated the proceeds of the sale and her remuneration in some movies to some civil organizations in the United States that supported China's war of resistance. In 1942, she also published a Chinese recipe for American cuisine and donated all royalties to Anti-Japanese War related matters. During this period, she also participated in activities to support the War of Resistance Against Japan many times to raise funds for the War of Resistance Against Japan.

After World War II, Huang Liushuang appeared in movies many times and starred in a "The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong" which was tailor-made for her. However, the series of these movies have little impact, so Huang Liushuang's financial situation during this period seemed to be in a difficult situation, which also led to her health gradually deteriorating. In 1952, as a supporter of the Democratic Party of the United States, Huang Liushuang also assisted in the election for the U.S. President on behalf of the Democratic Party.In 1960, Huang Liushuang also became one of the first Hollywood stars to be selected for the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She had a star medal engraved with her name on the Avenue of Fame , becoming an Asian movie star to receive this honor. But just a year later, she died of a heart attack on March 1, 1961 at the age of 56.

Looking at Huang Liushuang's life, it can be said that she is indeed a Hollywood actor with a unique status, and she can be said to be the first Chinese filmmaker with a certain international reputation. However, although Huang Liushuang has a Chinese identity, and this Chinese identity has a great influence on her exclusion in her acting career and her subsequently important historical status, she is still a 100% American actor. The Chinese images she portrays in her acting career, whether positive or negative, can be said to be determined by the popular styles of American society, so they are actually perfect American cultural symbols.

So finally let’s briefly talk about the American 5 cent coin that will be engraved with Huang Liushuang’s portrait this time. Huang Liushuang's portrait will be carved on the back of the 25-cent coin, and since 1932, the front of the 25-cent coin has been a portrait of the first US president, Washington . Before 1998, there was only one pattern on the back of the 25-cent, which was an eagle standing on a bundle of arrows.

But since 1999, the United States has issued multiple series of 25 cents coins in the form of commemorative coins. The first series is the 50-state series in the United States. The front of this series is still the Washington avatar, and the back is the representative patterns of American states , such as well-known historical figures, landmarks and specialties. Since then, U.S. capital Washington and Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories that are not states have also been included in this plan. So after that, there are dozens of patterns on the back of the 25 cents.

The upcoming Huang Liushuang portrait coin

This year, the United States launched the American Women's Series 25-cent coins, and plans to issue 20 back designs, that is, 20 different female portraits will be engraved. The first five women have been confirmed, namely, famous women born in American history from African Americans, LGBT, Native Americans, Hispanics and Asians, and the Asian one is Huang Liushuang. The coins engraved with the portrait of Huang Liushuang will be officially released on October 25, 2022. (Pictures from the Internet)