The Mad Phoenix

Kong Yu-Kau was born in 1909 as the 13th son of a Chinese government official. He showed talent early and excelled in medical school, signaling a promising future in medicine.

He was talented and topped his class at a medical school, foreshadowing the success he would seek in other fields. His early brilliance contrasts with the later choices he makes for love and art.

At a charity ball, he is drawn to a girl named Lily and resolves to pursue her. This encounter sets in motion a life-changing decision to follow her to Shanghai.

To win Lily's heart, he follows her to Shanghai, only to be abandoned when she reveals she does not share his feelings. He is left stranded in the streets for two years.

Upon returning to his hometown, he cannot continue his medical studies and instead takes up teaching as a steady profession. His hopes of medicine fade as he pivots to a different craft.

In his spare time, he attends Cantonese Opera performances, especially those by Sit Gok-Seen, and begins writing songs and plays. This marks the start of his career as a playwright.

His talent is recognized by Sit Gok-Seen, who invites him to join his opera company as playwright. He quickly rises to fame, becomes arrogant, and adopts the pen name Mr. Thirteen.

Working beside him, Tang Ti-sheng arrives as copyist and assistant, forming a lasting friendship with Kong. The two collaborate for many years despite Kong's difficult temperament.

When Guangzhou falls to Japan in the 1930s, Kong relocates to Hong Kong and continues writing anti-Japanese scripts, continuing his artistic ambitions in a new city.

After World War II ends, he returns to Guangdong, but his outspoken and eccentric manner earns many enemies. As a result, few people ask him to write or stage his anti-Japanese works.

In the 1950s he goes back to Hong Kong and wanders the streets, reflecting a faltering career and changing public tastes.

As he grew older, he became insane and was admitted to a mental hospital. He dies in 1984 at the age of 74, leaving behind a controversial legacy as a prolific but volatile playwright.