Yang Teng-kuei (; 1938–2012) was a Taiwanese businessman with holdings in multiple media ventures. He operated a concert hall in

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

during the 1980s. Yang was active in the East Asian media and entertainment industry, having helped many performers achieve fame, including

Chang Fei Chang Fei ( zh, c=張菲, poj=Tiuⁿ Húi, p=Zhāng Fēi, labels=yes ; born Chang Yan-ming ( zh, t=張彥明, s=张彦明, poj=Tiuⁿ Gān-bêng, p=Zhāng Yànmíng; born 4 December 1952) is a Taiwanese singer and television personality. He r ...

Kevin Chu Kevin Chu or Chu Yen-ping (; born December 1950) is a Taiwanese film director. Chu once said in an interview that he is "not an artist," but rather "a movie factory that puts out products to match the season", and is compared to Hong Kong directo ...

Brigitte Lin Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia (; born 3 November 1954) is a Taiwanese actress. Regarded as a screen icon, Lin played a key role in boosting Taiwan’s film production with her romantic heroine roles in the 1970s before transitioning to Hong Kong, where ...

, and

Sally Yeh Sally Yeh (born 30 September 1961), sometimes credited as Sally Yip or Yip Sin-man, is a Hong Kong and Canadian singer and actress. Early life Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Yeh immigrated to Canada at the age of four with her family and grew up in Vict ...

. He was linked to organized crime and imprisoned on Green Island in 1985. In October 1986, Yang and

Lo Fu-chu Lo Fu-chu (; born 2 July 1943) is a former Taiwanese legislator and a self-described leader of the "Celestial Alliance" organized crime group. In the late 1990s and early 2000s he was known as the most notorious person involved with organized c ...

, among others, founded the Tiendaomeng, also known as the Celestial Alliance. Yang was released in 1988 and helped finance

Hou Hsiao-hsien Hou Hsiao-hsien ( zh, t=侯孝賢, poj=Hâu Hàu-hiân; born 8 April 1947) is a retired Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema mo ...

's ''

A City of Sadness ''A City of Sadness'' () is a 1989 Taiwanese historical drama directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It tells the story of a family embroiled in the " White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government (KMT) after their a ...

'', only to be jailed again in 1990 on suspicion of gambling. Yang was later freed from Green Island, and in 1992 founded Taiwan's first cable television station. The next year, he funded

Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean Martial arts, martial artist and actor. With a Jet Li filmography, film career spanning more than forty years, Li is re ...

's ''

Fong Sai-yuk Fong Sai-yuk (or Fang Shiyu) is a semi-fictional Chinese martial artist and folk hero from Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province of the Qing dynasty. Fong was also associated with Hung Hei-gun and the Five Elders of the Southern Shaolin M ...

''. In 1995, Yang was awarded NT$480,000 in compensation for imprisonment without due process during Taiwan's martial law era. He left Taiwan soon after a television station he owned became involved in betting on the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

. Yang returned in 1997 to establish

Gala Television Gala Television Corporation () is a nationwide cable TV network in Taiwan that is operated by the Gala Television Corporation, established on June 13, 1997. GTV channels GTV currently operates four commercial cable and satellite television chann ...

. By the late 1990s, he had become chairman of the Association for Cable Broadcasting Development. Yang's collaboration with Hou Hsiao-hsien continued with the production of ''

Goodbye South, Goodbye ''Goodbye South, Goodbye'' is a 1996 Taiwanese drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. The film had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 12 May 1996. Plot Gao ( Jack Kao) rides the train to Pinghsi to set up a 10-day gambling den with hi ...

'' in 1996 and ''

Flowers of Shanghai Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants (Flowering plant, angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls in ...

'' in 1998. He spent the last half of his career in entertainment focused on producing television dramas, such as 2008's ''

Royal Tramp ''Royal Tramp'' is a 1992 Hong Kong wuxia comedy film based on Louis Cha's novel '' The Deer and the Cauldron''. The film was one of the five top grossing Hong Kong films in 1992; Stephen Chow, who played the protagonist Wai Siu-bo, also starr ...

''. In 2004, Yang was a target of blackmail. In 2009, former Yang associate

Chu Ke-liang Hsieh Hsin-ta (6 December 194615 May 2017), professionally known as Chu Ke-liang (), was a Taiwanese comedian, actor, television show host and singer. He was known for his "over-the-top appearance" with unusual clothing and hair styles and hi ...

made a successful return to acting after entertainer Yu Tian intervened on Chu's behalf. Yang stated in February 2009 that he would not be "getting in the way" if Chu tried to resume his career. It was later reported that Yang had forgiven 80% of Chu's debt, leaving Chu to pay NT$240 million in total, half of that sum to Yang directly. In 2011, Yang founded Polyface Entertainment Media, a production company, with an estimated investment of $172 million (NT$5 billion). Through Polyface, Yang funded

Andrew Lau Andrew Lau Wai-keung ( zh, t=劉偉強, born 4 April 1960) is a Hong Kong film director, producer, and cinematographer. Lau began his career in the 1980s and 1990s, serving as a cinematographer to filmmakers such as Ringo Lam, Wong Jing and ...

's 2012 film ''

The Guillotines ''The Guillotines'' is a 2012 wuxia drama film directed by Andrew Lau, starring Huang Xiaoming, Ethan Juan, Shawn Yue, Li Yuchun and Jing Boran. A Chinese-Hong Kong co-production, it is a remake of the 1975 Shaw Brothers film ''Flying Guillotin ...

'', released shortly before Yang died of a stroke at

Taipei Veterans General Hospital Taipei Veterans General Hospital () is a national first-class medical center and a teaching hospital that provides tertiary patient care, undergraduate medical education programs and residency programs in Taiwan. It was founded in 1958 and admin ...

on 31 December 2012, aged 74. His son is Yang Chung-hsien.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Teng-kuei 1938 births 2012 deaths Taiwanese television producers Taiwanese film producers People from Pingtung County Prisoners and detainees of Taiwan Taiwanese prisoners and detainees Taiwanese gangsters Triad members