[2009.07.16] SEVEN LITTLE FORTUNES 50TH ANNIVERSARY: YUEN RONG'S FAR REACHING INFLUENCE TOPPED COLLEAGUES

Good product sells itself. Seven Little Fortunes were the 60s Southeast Asia Beijing Opera icons, any counterfeit or copycat flood would not be surprising. Thanks to Seven Little Fortunes' appearance, a lot of career opportunities were created. Counterfeits like Seven Little Tigers or Nine Little Wonders copied Seven Little Fortunes' performance exactly. Yet there was only one Seven Little Fortunes. No matter how others copied, they could only imitate and never possibly surpass. Like Michael Jackson's Moonwalk, only MJ did it the best.

Under the leadership of Master Yu, Seven Little Fortunes were truly creators. Their stage performance influence no one could replace, as the audience fell into a fantasy world. Their acrobatics were full of energy. When they jumped through fire rings they seemed to traverse between life and death. They left the audience's jaws on the floor. After the performance, all the audience could do aside from breathing a sigh of relief was applaud.

Well Known, Overseas Performance

Every once in awhile, Master Yu would among the disciples choose seven elites and took turns to perform on major dance hall tours. In a short 15 minute segment, every Seven Little Fortunes performance was superb. With both the traditional and the humorous, their performance tug at heart strings. As Seven Little Fortunes' fame grew, leader Master Yu of course received both fame and fortune. He also received many overseas performance invitations, which proved how amazing they were.

Actually Seven Little Fortunes were young. They lacked both life and social experience. For them to grasp some more human and complex characters, undoubtedly they would have difficulties. Yet Master Yu was able to turn the mundane into the extraordinary. He worked with what he got and trained their strong suit as each disciple received targeted training. With their ability to comprehend, their performance of highly difficult characters was a head above the rest.

Sammo Hung Kam Bo and Jackie Chan had proud achievements in the film industry today, but during the Seven Little Fortunes era their influence still plaed in comparison to the already retired Yuen Rong. Yuen Rong was born with a golden voice. Back then she was the pillar of the Seven Little Fortunes, the diva of the opera troupe. Her first performance as Qin Xianglin already shocked the audience. A child star was able to interpret such heartbreaking bitter flavor, which surprised many.

Played Qin Xianglin, Gifts Galore

Yuen Qiu recalls, "Yuen Rong truly performed very well. When she played Qin Xianglin she had a crying scene. Because her grandparents died and she had no money to bury them, she had to cry and beg for money on the streets. Because her crying was so sorrowful, everyone in the audience was so intense that they not only consoled her but also threw money on stage. Thus whenever she played Qin Xianglin a lot of noise could be heard on stage. The Master of course was happy because all the money went to him. We didn't put any in our pocket!" (28)