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Hou Hsiao-hsien at the premiere of “The Assassin” at the French Cinematheque. Photo by JJ Georges on

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Hou Hsiao-hsien

Hou Hsiao-hsien is a Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Hou is a leading figure in world cinema and Taiwan’s New Wave cinema movement.

He was born on 8th April 1947 in Meixian District, Guangdong to a Hakka family. The Hakka family is sometimes referred to as Hakka Han or Hakka Chinese.

They are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking province of Guangdong and other areas in China as well as Taiwan. In 1947, his father got a job as Head Secretary for the Mayor of Taichung City.

His family remained in Guangdong but later in 1948, they joined him in Taiwan. The father of Hou was made Supervisor of the Taipei Educational Bureau in 1949.

Hou studied at the National Taiwan Academy of Arts. His career has spanned different ways and cultures. He is popularly known for his aesthetically rigorous dramas dealing with the upheavals of Taiwanese and occasionally larger Chinese history.

Hou has won several awards including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival and many more. He is highly regarded for some of his works which include The Puppetmaster and Flowers of Shanghai.

Here are the Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Hou Hsiao-hsien:

1. Hou is a Taiwanese of Hakka Descent

Hou Hsiao-hsien is a renowned Taiwanese who was born in Meixian District, Guangdong in 1947. He was born into the Hakka family who later relocated to Taiwan.

The Hakka family are not named after a geographical region like other Chinese communities. They are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking province.

Some of the provinces they occupy are Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, and Guizhou in China and Taiwan.

2. His Father Relocated to Taiwan and left them a Year before Joining Him

The father of Hou Hsiao-hsien got a job as Head Secretary for the Mayor of Taichung City. He left his family the same year when Hou Hsiao-hsien was born, in 1947.

However, the rest of the family joined him in Taiwan a year later. In 1949, the father of Hou Hsiao-hsien was made the Supervisor of the Taipei Educational Bureau. Hou then got his education at the National Taiwan Academy of Arts.

3. Hou鈥檚 Style of Movies has always been Unique

Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Tseng Chuang-Hsiang, and Wan Jen addressed an open forum. Photo by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on

Like other film producers and directors, Hou Hsiao-hsien has his unique style in movies. He has storytelling which is elliptical and marked by extreme long takes with minimal camera movements.

This is followed by intricate choreography of actors and space within the frame. Hou uses extensive improvisation to arrive at the final and impressive shape of his scenes. This is seconded by the low-key, naturalistic acting of his performers.

The compositions made by Hou Hsiao-hsien are de-centred. Links between shots do not adhere to an obvious temporal or causal narrative logic.

4. He has Directed a Total of 21 Films

The work of Hou Hsiao-hsien has always been captivating to the general public. Up to now, Hou has directed a total of eighteen feature films and three short film segments of omnibus films.

Out of these 21 films directed by Hou, he had written or co-written eleven. He has also written and co-written ten other films directed by other filmmakers. These films include Taipei Story, Heartbreak Island and My Favourite Season.

5. Hou has Written 21 Films in Total

Hou Hsiao-hsien winner of the gold lion at the Venice film festival in 1989. Photo by Gorup de Besanez on

Being a successful writer, Hou Hsiao-hsien could not resist writing films too. In total, he has written twenty-one films. Eight of these films he wrote are directed by him.

The eight films include The Assassin, Flight of the Red Balloon, Three Times, Caf茅 Lumi猫re, A Time to Live, a Time to Die, A Summer at Grandpa’s, Cute Girl, and The Green, Green Grass of Home.

Hou was one of the co-writers of the film Taipei Story of 1985. He also took a role as the main character and protagonist of this film.

6. Hou Produced 14 Films in which he served as Producer or Executive Producer

Hou Hsiao-hsien successfully produced fourteen films. He served as the producer or executive producer on a project.

The only film he produced and was the director of is The Assassin which was released in 2015. The notable films Hou Hsiao-hsien has served as an executive director for include Beyond Beauty, A Borrowed Life, one of Martin Scorsese鈥檚 best films of the 1990s and Zhang Yimou鈥檚 best foreign language film Oscar-nominated Raise the Red Lantern.

7. He has Acted in Four Notable Films

Hou Hsiao-hsien at the premiere of “The Assassin” at the French Cinematheque. Photo by JJ Georges on

Other than being a writer and director, Hou Hsiao-hsien also participated in acting in some of these movies. He acted in four films. He starred as the main character, Lung, in fellow Taiwanese New Wave auteur Edward Yang鈥檚 Taipei Story.

Yang was trying to return the favour for Hou by casting him in his film, A Summer at Grandpa. Hou has also appeared in another fellow Taiwanese film Ko I-Chen’s I Love Mary.

In 1986, Hou Hsiao-hsien also featured in the film Gou Sao. In 2013, he made an appearance as an older parental figure in a high school comedy, Young Style.

8. Hou also Took Part in different Roles in Some Films

Hou Hsiao-hsien is a multi-talented individual in the entertainment industry. When he is not taking the role of writing, directing or acting, he has some other huge roles to play.

He was an assistant director on 7 films as well as a presenter for the segment La Belle Epoque in the Taiwanese omnibus film 10+10.

Hou was also a script supervisor on the film The Heart with Million Knots in 1973. He also directed a television commercial for Nippon Shokubai Company in 1991.

9. He has One Child with his Wife Who鈥檚 a Producer

Hou Hsiao-hsien is also a family person who has a beautiful wife and daughter. He married Tsao Pao-Feng. Tsao was one of the producers of Hou鈥檚 2017 film, Flight of the Red Balloon.

Together with Tsao Pao-Feng, he has one daughter named Yun-Hua.

10. Hou is Familiar with Politics but never Discusses them in Public

Hou Hsiao-hsien. Photo by JJ Georges on

Hou Hsiao-hsien also has an interest in politics which he never discusses in public. He was a supporter of the Democratic Action Alliance which was disbanded. The party advocated for Chinese unification.

He previously stated in an interview that 鈥淚 was born in mainland China, so to me, I will always be Chinese, no matter where I am.鈥� The Taiwanese political magazine New Bloom has always described Hou as the 鈥渜uintessentially Taiwanese filmmaker鈥� in the West.