Chen Xiaoxu: became famous with "Lin Daiyu" at the age of 19, had a net worth of hundreds of millions at the age of 26, and converted to Buddhism at the age of 41

"A Dream of Red Mansions" has been published for more than 200 years. From the initial manuscript to more than ten versions circulated in later generations, no matter it is the characters, language, poems, songs, or even clothing, food, and scenery, they are all described. Its exquisiteness and elegance have fascinated and fascinated countless people.

In modern times, "Dream of Red Mansions" has been adapted into film, television, drama, and animation works many times, showing the spiritual value contained in the original work in a more popular form.

In particular, the 1987 version of the TV series "A Dream of Red Mansions" was a crowd-pleaser as soon as it was aired. It was called an "insurmountable classic" and "a wonderful chapter in the history of Chinese TV dramas."

Now, 34 years later, the 1987 version of "Dream of Red Mansions" is still an insurmountable classic in the hearts of many people.

Perhaps it was because the casting was too close to the original work, regardless of the physical appearance, Appearance, personality, and temperament, so much so that when people talk about "Dream of Red Mansions", people will unconsciously think of the image in this drama.

Even if you look back many years later, you will find that the fate of some actors is similar to that of their characters.

The most embarrassing one is undoubtedly Chen Xiaoxu, who plays Lin Daiyu. She has only portrayed four characters in her life, and only the role of Lin Daiyu is the most deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. But after reaching the pinnacle of his life with this role, he gave up his fortune of over 100 million in his early 40s, became a monk and converted to Buddhism.

Some people lamented that she not only "acted" Lin Daiyu, but also brought herself to life as Lin Daiyu.

01 A Dream of Red Mansions

On October 29, 1965, Chen Xiaoxu was born in an artistic family in Anshan City, Liaoning Province.

His father, Chen Qiang, is a famous director of the Anshan Peking Opera Troupe, and his mother, Wang Yuanxi, is a Peking Opera actor.

Chen Qiang once said in a talk show that Chen Xiaoxu’s mother had a fetal dream. In the dream, an old man told her that she was carrying a girl, and also instructed her to name the child with an uncommon word.

This word has a cursive prefix at the top and a "ye" at the bottom. It can't even be found in the dictionary.

Later, through the guidance of a teacher, I learned that this word is pronounced "ye", which is a kind of fragrant grass.

The teacher shook his head after reading this word: "This name will make Lin Daiyu's life miserable, it's not good."

Chen Qiang had high hopes for his daughter, but because she was born in the early morning, he named her "Xiaoxu", which means "early morning sunshine".

Who would have expected that the teacher's words would turn out to be true, and Chen Xiaoxu's fate would be exactly the same as Lin Daiyu's. Of course, this is all a story later.

When Chen Xiaoxu was a child, he was thin and slightly shy, and he never cared about speaking loudly.

When she was 6 years old, in order to train her, her father asked her to read aloud 10 times in front of everyone: "Make up your mind and not be afraid of sacrifice."

Although her father kept asking her to speak louder and louder, Chen Xiaoxu's voice was still weak and weak, and no one could hear what she was saying.

Later, she was forced to cry.

Although he has a timid side, it does not affect Chen Xiaoxu's inherent literary talent.

Influenced by his family, Chen Xiaoxu studied Peking Opera since he was a child. At the age of 12, he was able to perform the difficult action of a white-haired girl kicking a purple golden crown.

When I was 14 years old, I wrote a little poem.

I am a catkin,

grew up in the beautiful spring,

because my parents abandoned me prematurely,

I became close friends with the spring breeze.

I am a catkin,

Born carefree and carefree;

My dad is the vast sky,

I My mother is the boundless earth.

I am a catkin,

Don’t ask where my home is,

May the spring breeze blow me to the ends of the earth,

I want to bring the news of spring to the corners of the sea.

Talent is revealed between the lines.

But deep down in his heart, Chen Xiaoxu was more obsessed with ballet and once dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer.

Unexpectedly, due to various reasons, he failed to pass the political review and ultimately missed his ballet dream.

In 1979, 14-year-old Chen Xiaoxu entered the Anshan Repertory Theater as an announcer. During this period, she still practiced hard and got the opportunity to play some small roles, which was the first door for her acting career.

In the hearts of many fans, Chen Xiaoxu is like Sister Lin who fell into the mortal world. As for herself, she was familiar with "A Dream of Red Mansions" when she was a student, and her favorite character was Lin Daiyu. Probably because of a similar growing environment, she can empathize with Lin Daiyu's life experience, personality, and emotions.

In the early summer of 1983, "Popular Television" published this news: The crew of "Dream of Red Mansions" was preparing for the filming and casting.

After seeing the news, her boyfriend Bi Yanjun immediately found Chen Xiaoxu and encouraged her to write a letter of recommendation to director Wang Fulin, telling him that you were the best candidate for Lin Daiyu.

Chen Xiaoxu refused flatly. She thought this was too pretentious: "China is so big, who would notice an unknown little girl?"

Bi Yanjun was afraid that Chen Xiaoxu would act petty. As a result, he missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so he used provocation: "Are you so timid? Your temperament, appearance, and hobbies are similar to Lin Daiyu. You also like to watch "A Dream of Red Mansions" and understand Lin Daiyu. Don't you dare to fight even once?"

"Who says I don't dare?" Chen Xiaoxu, who is soft on the outside but strong on the inside, will naturally fight back with all his strength when he hears him saying that he is timid.

Having said that, it’s hard to go back on your word.

Just like that, Chen Xiaoxu wrote her self-recommendation letter. Before sending it, Bi Yanjun carefully selected a photo of Chen Xiaoxu and attached the little poem she wrote when she was 14 years old. and sent it to the crew.

Wang Fulin set two criteria when selecting the role. One was to look like the ancients, and the other was to be talented.

It was Bi Yanjun's little thought that allowed Chen Xiaoxu to successfully attract the director's attention and get the opportunity to go to Beijing for an interview.

After receiving the notice, Chen Xiaoxu took three days off and took the train to Beijing alone.

During the interview, the director actually asked her to recite Miaoyu's judgment in "A Dream of Red Mansions". For others, this may be difficult.

But for Chen Xiaoxu, who has read "A Dream of Red Mansions" several times, it is just a piece of cake. After all, she can even recite the longest ancient poem in the book, "The Burial Flower Song", backwards and forwards.

Such an outstanding performance left a deep impression on Wang Fulin.

After the interview, when Chen Xiaoxu was about to get on the elevator, Wang Fulin suddenly said to her: "Keep that train ticket stub, maybe you can reimburse it in the future."

After hearing this After saying this, Chen Xiaoxu, who was feeling anxious, finally gained some confidence.

A year later, Chen Xiaoxu received a notice to participate in the three-month actor training class of the "Dream of Red Mansions" crew.

Although he passed the interview, Chen Xiaoxu was only ranked third among Lin Daiyu candidates. The first two competitors are both experienced actors, with their own strengths in image and temperament, and are somewhat similar to Lin Daiyu.

In fact, the group of boys and girls who entered the training class with Chen Xiaoxu did not have fixed roles, and they were at a loss. Except that she and Deng Jie have clear goals, one only plays Lin Daiyu, and the other only plays Wang Xifeng.

During the casting process, Wang Fulin once asked Chen Xiaoxu if he could play other roles.

Her answer was: "If you let me play other roles, the audience will say that you let Lin Daiyu play someone else."

Do you see it? Chen Xiaoxu not only has a gentle and quiet side, but also has a girlish playfulness and willfulness, which is very similar to Lin Daiyu.

On the day of the audition, Chen Xiaoxu was wearing a light blue dress, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, her eyes were full of emotion, and she was weak.

When she walked out, everyone was stunned for a moment.

Perhaps, Lin Daiyu is really like this.

Later, director Wang Fulin said this in an interview: "Among the three candidates for Lin Daiyu, Chen Xiaoxu's acting skills are not the best, nor is she the most beautiful. But her temperament is very suitable for Lin Daiyu, even if she is not Act, just go to that stop and forget about the taste."

02 Two Loves That Cannot Be Intended

In this way, Chen Xiaoxu played the role of Lin Daiyu who he longed for.

In order to better fit the role and perform the morbid beauty of Lin Daiyu, Chen Xiaoxu worked hard on a diet every day during the three-year filming period in order to "maintain his weight at around 70 pounds."

Lin Daiyu takes a boat to go north to join her grandmother. This is the first scene where the whole drama officially starts shooting. It is also the first scene where Chen Xiaoxu plays Lin Daiyu.

In the old wooden boat, the curtains were drooped, and Chen Xiaoxu sat by the window. Lin Daiyu's mood of losing her mother and having no one to take care of her made her eyes tremble. Her eyes rolled and her eyelids drooped slightly. Lin Daiyu's desolation, loneliness and sadness are vividly performed.

In order to film the famous scene of "Daiyu burying flowers", the entire crew stayed in Suzhou for many months.

It rained heavily the night before the shooting, and the ground was covered with colorful fallen flowers mixed with soil, creating a desolate and lonely scene.

Perhaps because she was too deep into the scene, Chen Xiaoxu suddenly felt sad and couldn't stop crying during filming. Even after the director called to stop, she cried in the corner for a long time before she recovered.

Not only is Lin Daiyu's delicate and beautiful, Chen Xiaoxu also has Lin Daiyu's humor and mischief.

Because Ouyang Fenqiang couldn't play Jia Baoyu's naughty spirit, he took the initiative to ask Chen Xiaoxu for help.

Sure enough, with her help, the two worked together to play pranks. First, they made the honest jade bracelet look melancholy, and then deceived Shi Xiangyun into crying.

In 1987, after the drama version of "A Dream of Red Mansions" premiered, it became popular all over the country. Chen Xiaoxu also became a household name actor with his superb acting skills.

In an interview with "Popular Films", she announced her criteria for choosing a spouse:

The man I like must have ideals, talents, good cultivation, and good demeanor. , and he can respect me and have spiritual communication and tacit understanding with me, rather than some kind of appearance. I don’t want to grow old together with indifferent feelings. I like the ups and downs of life.

At this time, Bi Yanjun was 32 years old and had just graduated from the Shanghai Theater Academy. His peers around him had already gotten married and had children, but he was still alone.

A kind-hearted leader once asked him the reason, and Bi Yanjun said: "The girl in my heart has not grown up yet."

Chen Xiaoxu was very moved when he learned of Bi Yanjun's thoughts, and Bi Yanjun does match her ideal type.

Soon after, the two got married.

But what greeted Chen Xiaoxu was not a happy married life, but endless emptiness and panic.

Having just finished filming "A Dream of Red Mansions", Chen Xiaoxu, who had just become famous, felt confused and at a loss; but after graduation, Bi Yanjun was preparing to try to be a director, full of hope for the future and full of energy.

Later, Bi Yanjun also played the role of the second master of the Bai family in "The Mansion", which left a deep impression on the audience.

The two people at different stages seemed to be slowly growing apart. After getting along for a long time, Chen Xiaoxu realized that the problems between the two were far more than that.

Later, she discovered that many shortcomings in Bi Yanjun were intolerable to her; but Bi Yanjun felt that Chen Xiaoxu was too sensitive and often clung to small things.

The friction between the two people increased, and the distance between the two hearts became farther and farther. In the end, they were overwhelmed and could only end this wrong marriage.

But for the encouragement given by Bi Yanjun, which led to Chen Xiaoxu being selected to play Lin Daiyu in "A Dream of Red Mansions", Chen Xiaoxu is still grateful even when he thinks back many years later.

After the divorce, Chen Xiaoxu became a member of the first generation of "Beijing drifters". During this period, a company in Taiwan invited her to be a program host, and the University of California, Los Angeles also sent her an acceptance letter.

But after just three months, Chen Xiaoxu returned to Beijing again. Performing acupuncture, hanging out, and learning English became her daily routine during that period. She moved seven or eight times in two or three years. Home, wandering and confusion seem to have become the main theme.

Just then, another man who meant a lot to her appeared.

He was Hao Tong who later became Chen Xiaoxu’s business partner and life partner.

In 1991, Hao Tong, a student in the Photography Department of Beijing Film Academy, was running around with his classmates for his graduation project.

By chance, he found Chen Xiaoxu, hoping that she could become the heroine in it.

At first, Chen Xiaoxu thought this was just a brawl between a group of idiots, so he politely refused his request.

But Hao Tong did not give up. He and his classmates visited the thatched cottage three times and finally impressed Chen Xiaoxu with his sincerity.

Despite this, during the filming, Chen Xiaoxu still maintained his previous aloof style and rarely took the initiative to speak.

This made Hao Tong and others mistakenly think that Chen Xiaoxu was a "cold-blooded animal".

By the end of the filming, Chen Xiaoxu only received one thousand of the thousands of dollars they scraped together.

It turned out that the attentive Chen Xiaoxu had long discovered that they were in a difficult situation. Because the filming budget was simple, they only ate the cheapest lunch box every day, which made her feel very distressed, but she was not good at expressing it.

Seeing Chen Xiaoxu's move, Hao Tong was deeply moved and thought, "She turns out to be a warm-hearted person."

From then on, Hao Tong found reasons to meet with Chen Xiaoxu, and the two of them got closer and closer.

Later, Hao Tong learned that an advertising company was about to contract out. He had just graduated and happened to have a few art students around him, so he wanted to take Chen Xiaoxu together to contract the company.

Although he didn’t quite understand, Chen Xiaoxu went along anyway. Unexpectedly, he signed the contract directly after only two hours of negotiation.

The other party said frankly that there can only be one entrusting legal person, and we don’t know about others, but you are a celebrity, Lin Daiyu, so we can rest assured.

In this way, Chen Xiaoxu's life changed again, from an actor to a businessman, embarking on a new journey.

03 A wealthy female businessman

Under the background of that time, Chen Xiaoxu can be said to be one of the first advertisers to seize the opportunity.

Because of her celebrity effect and her endless creativity, she has made her advertising career successful.

"She comes from a well-known family, and her beauty is natural. She is beautiful on the outside but not luxurious at all. She is wise but has a far-reaching inner meaning. A strong man sheds tears for the Lord, and a hero loves the Lord. The taste of this is all in Wuliang Spring. The beauty of the famous family, Wuliangchun."

The classic advertising slogan "Wuliangchun" was written by Chen Xiaoxu.

In just one year, Chen Xiaoxu made a lot of money, and her turnover that year reached 4.5 million.

And this number grew rapidly at an average annual rate of 200% in the second and third years.

In 1996, Chen Xiaoxu left his original advertising company and established his own Shibang Advertising Company. Chen Xiaoxu serves as chairman and Hao Tong serves as general manager.

In 1998, Chen Xiaoxu and Hao Tong established another cultural company, mainly investing in film and television dramas.

She has also won honors such as "China's Top Ten Most Charming Female Advertisers", "China's 2005 Economic Person of the Year", and "China's 30 Outstanding Female Advertisers".

The "weak" Lin Daiyu suddenly turned into a businesswoman worth hundreds of millions.

Everything was developing in a good direction, but just as my career was reaching its peak, on February 25, 2007, which was also the first working day after the Spring Festival holiday that year, major portals... They all released this news: "It is rumored that Lin Daiyu, Chen Xiaoxu and her lover gave up hundreds of millions of net worth to become a monk"!

News like this is overwhelming, as if it has stirred up a hornet's nest. Rumors are flying all of a sudden, and all kinds of speculations are endless.

Is it a rumor? Or is this true?

What is the truth of the matter?

04 A lifelong dream

It turns out that as early as 1999, Chen Xiaoxu became associated with Buddha and became a devout Buddhist.

In 2000, under the influence of Chen Xiaoxu, Hao Tong also began to study Buddhism.

In May 2006, Chen Xiaoxu was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Being stubborn by nature, she did not tell her family and insisted on keeping it secret from the outside world until her condition became more and more serious. In order to maintain a good image, she still refused to receive treatment.

At about 8:30 in the morning on February 23, 2007, the morning bell of Baiguo Xinglong Temple in Changchun was first opened. Chen Xiaoxu was ordained and became a monk, with the Buddhist name "Miaozhen".

And her husband Hao Tong, who loves her deeply, has always been by her side.

On March 8, 2007, Hao Tong was ordained and became a monk in a Buddhist temple in Shenzhen Jingshe, with the Buddhist name "Kaicheng".

Less than three months after becoming a monk, Chen Xiaoxu’s condition became worse and worse.

Until 6:57 on May 13, 2007, the beauty of a generation passed away. It took more than 40 years. Although her life was short, it was full of surprises.

From a well-known actress to a billionaire businesswoman, she plays every role to the best of her ability.

Some people say that Chen Xiaoxu was born for Lin Daiyu.

But think about it on the other hand, how could she and Lin Daiyu achieve each other's success?