In death, romance novelist Chiung Yao strikes a chord for women’s freedom

True to style, Taiwanese romance novelist Chiung Yao insisted on going to her death “gracefully”. Her farewell letter was an ode to female independence, autonomy and freedom. While some expressed respect for this ultimate act of self-determination and others admired the consistency of her ideals, what struck me the most was the realisation that the era in which love reigned supreme had definitively ended.

In the 1980s and 1990s, reading Chiung Yao’s novels was a rite of passage. Her television adaptations, such as Wanjun, Plum Blossom Scar and Green Green Grass by the River, dominated the small screen during the summer and winter holidays. At the end of the century, the sensational My Fair Princess marked the peak of the Chiung Yao craze in the Chinese-speaking world.