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![[ENCORE] S4 - The Inn of the EIGHT Happinesses 八福客栈 vs. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness](https://getpodpage.com/image_transform_gate_v3/TmyvdtTft2WroR_KVCxVzB4WuE5gyKdLxQ9ndiEO3pM=/?image_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fredwood-labs%2Fshowpage%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F7b7e32ac-864a-49fc-83b9-8186e824086b.jpg&w=1200&h=630&fill=blur "[ENCORE] S4 - The Inn of the EIGHT Happinesses 八福客栈 vs. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness")
Gladys Aylward and Ingrid Bergman: The former, a British-born Christian missionary to China and Taiwan, the latter a three-time Academy Award winner. However despite very different lives, the two will forever be connected after a book about Aylward was turned into a Hollywood movie starring Bergman. Formosa Files has the whole story in this week's encore episode, including: Why the film wasn't shot in Taiwan, and why Gladys thought Bergman was a "wicked woman."
Cover shows Gladys Aylward, British-born Christian missionary to China and Taiwan (left), and Ingrid Bergman, three-time Academy Award winner (right).
Below: An image from Facebook has this caption: "Miss Gladys Aylward, the famous Protestant missionary, with her adopted son Gordon, aged four, who was abandoned by his parents in Formosa, Miss Aylward spoke last night at St. George's Church, Leeds, where she described her experiences in China. (1966)"
LISTEN: Gladys Aylward speaking in person circa 1950s - YouTube
The Inn of the Eight Happinesses -(八福客栈 bāfú kèzhàn), this name is based on a Classical Chinese idea of the "eight virtues," which are: 1. Love 2. Virtue 3. Gentleness 4. Tolerance 5. Loyalty 6. Truth 7. Beauty and 8. Devotion.
Below: A promo poster for the movie The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
Starring
The film was based on a book by Alan Burgess, The Small Woman – 1957
The movie was shot in Snowdonia, North Wales, UK, rather than Taiwan as the ROC government did not approve of the portrayal of China under Nationalist rules as "backward." Most of the children in the film were ethnic Chinese children from Liverpool, which is home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe.
Gladys Aylward reportedly called Ingrid Bergman a "wicked woman," due to a famous affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini.
A theological research paper has been written about the subject: Ingrid Bergman—A Modern Magdalene: ‘Saint to Whore and Back Again’ in Casablanca, The Bells of St. Mary's and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
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Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
