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On April 22, 2009 I visited Wang Wenjuan, a master Yueju Opera artist, at her home in Shanghai. Her husband Sun Daolin passed away on December 28, 2007 after a happy marriage of 45 years. A large photo of Sun Daolin in the sitting room led naturally to the topic of Wangs husband and their marriage. When they got married in the early 1960s, it was sensational news across the country. I became acquainted with Wang Wenjuan in the early 1980s when I was in charge of organizing a Yueju Opera show in which Wang played a key part. Though I became well acquainted with her during that time during rehearsals and shows, we did not have time to sit down for a long chat.

When the topic of her husband came up in our conversation, Wang Wenjuan brought out a 397-page book titled “A Biography of Sun Daolin” authored by Yu Li and Qian Na. She autographed on the fly page of the book and gave it to me as a gift.

The book relates how Sun and Wang became acquainted.

Film star Sun Daolin, a handsome man of great versatility, was best known for his brilliant performance as lead man in many blockbuster films in the late 1940 through the early 1960s. He was also a poet, writer, translator, and singer. He loved to sing songs composed by Franz Schubert. In the 1980s and 1990s he was to write scripts and direct films. He was very famous but he did not have time for romance. On the Moon Festival night when he was 35, he suddenly wanted to get married while reciting a poem and enjoying the moonscape.

So Sun Daolin went to see Huang Zongjiang. Huang Zongjiang, a prominent playwright and long-time friend who happened to be visiting in Shanghai, was delighted to hear his friends desire. Huang Zongying, a famous film actress and younger sister of Huang Zongjiang, was as eager as his brother to act as matchmakers for Sun Daolin. They had been secretly worried about Suns nuptial prospects. The brother and the sister got their bikes out and peddled to visit their friends to see whether there were suitable girls. They came back empty handed. All the suitable women were married. Huang Zongjiang had accompanied a Yueju Opera troupe back to Shanghai after he had gone with the troupe on a road show. Naturally he turned his mind to the young women in the troupe. The only woman who was not yet married in the troupe was Wang Wenjuan.

Huang Zongjiang asked whether the singer of Schuberts serenades believed Wang could be his best serenade. Wang Wenjuan, born in 1927, was approaching 30. She had already risen to national fame through various blockbuster Yueju Opera plays. She declined many matchmakers proposal before. Sun Daolin was very pleased when Huang Zongjiang and Huang Zongying mentioned Wang Wenjuan. He had watched two plays by Wang Wenjuan as early as in 1952 and had been deeply impressed.

The brother and the sister consulted Xu Yulan, Wangs partner on the stage. Xu Yulan thought the perfectly matched man and the woman could be a perfect couple made by heaven. They wasted no time to broach the proposal to Wang Wenjuan. Wang was interested.

Sun Daolin and Wang Wenjuan began to date. The first date saw them take a walk along Huaihai Road, Shanghai. They soon found common interest: performing art. They chatted happily. That night Sun Daolin was sleepless and wrote a poem in memory of the date.

They had difficulty finding good places where they could be together. They were too famous in Shanghai. They relationship made very smooth progress. But the two were too busy to get married. The matchmakers were very worried. Zhang Ruifang, a preeminent film actress, mentioned Sun and Wang to Deng Yinchao, the wife of Premier Zhou Enlai. The premier was all for the marriage, agreeing that the two were ideally matched and should waste no time to get married.

After much persuasion, the two looked at their schedules and finally set a day for the wedding. At that time, Wang Wenjuan was filming the Yueju Opera version of the Dream of Red Mansions. Cen Fan, the director of the film, was against the date, saying that the happy marriage would inevitably ruin the sadness and distress of Dai Yu, the character impersonated by Wang Wenjuan. He suggested postponing the wedding day.

Both Wang Wenjuan and Sun Daolin agreed that the directors consideration was very reasonable. So the date was reset. On July 2, 1962, they got married and spent the honeymoon in Mount Lushan, a scenic summer resort in Jiangxi Province.Thus started a marriage of 45 years. □