沈門高氏老太太之𤯵
Burial Entry
Bukit Brown Blk 4 A Plot No 758
Name : Sim Koh Si
74 years
Date of Death : 28.9.48
Date of internment : 1.10.48
Shanghainese
Tomb Inscription
Died on 28 September 1948
Erected by her sorrowful son :
Tsai Yung Ching , Shih Pin Sheng
Grandsons : Yu Kang and Chin Pao
Of the Chinese Republic
沈奶奶的千斤磨盘
联合晚报 (Lianhe Wanbao), 29 March 1987, Page 15
大天球马戏班的前身，乃是“马戏圈子”，即清末民初江湖卖艺的杂技班子，由沈奶奶领班，是个家庭班，没有班名。1919年至福州表演，遇一军政要人为之命名，为大天球女子技术团，迄至1921年，举团在香港油麻地献演时，遇盐城布商孙锡亭，扩大组织又改名为大天球马戏班。
沈奶奶嫁夫沈棋国，育有子女多人，长子沈全贵，次子沈常福，全家三十余人。夫去世后，沈奶奶继承遗志，仍带子女辗转江湖卖艺。当时行内人提起沈寡妇之名，则无人不知。沈寡妇即沈奶奶，天生神力，臂腕能举石锁及大石担。大石担重有五百斤，人卧倒地上，一副石担由胸前用两手举起，又一副石担放在她双腿的小足上，手足共负两副石担，石担上再坐男女九人，沈奶奶四肢所负的重量约一千六百斤之谱。她是个小足妇人，最受观众欢迎而最负盛名的杂技，即为她表演的“千斤磨盘”。磨盘为油坊磨油所用者，厚约尺半，直径约八尺，笨重异常，表演时由十余人推滚而出，沈奶奶卧于地上，左脚跷起，众人将磨盘抬起置于她小足上，小足将磨盘顶稳不动，又以右足推动磨盘，使之徐徐旋转。
沈奶奶力大无比，且能走索，三上三下吊及耍各种把式（武术），骑术亦是她的一绝。
沈奶奶领导的马戏圈子，即中国旧型的马戏班，动物节目仅有“耍熊”、“耍狗”、“猴骑羊”等，象、狮、虎、豹等猛兽却没有。但是既称“马戏圈子”，必有马戏的节目。沈奶奶就是表演骑术的杰出者，她的“三堂快马”表演，在当时的“马戏圈子”中，一时无两。
所谓“三堂快马”，即有单马、双马、马上的罗汉三个节目内容。凡称马戏，必有“三堂快马”的节目，否则是不足称为马戏的。（RP 7）
The predecessor of the Tai Thean Kew was the “Circus Troupe” (马戏圈子), which refers to the traditional Chinese-style circus troupes from the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican era, run by itinerant performers. These were family-based troupes without formal names. Granny Shen (沈奶奶) led such a troupe.
In 1919, while performing in Fuzhou, they encountered a military-political figure who gave them the name Tai Thean Kew Technical Troupe (大天球女子技术团). By 1921, when the troupe was performing at Yau Ma Tei (油麻地) district in Hong Kong, they met Sun Si ting (孙锡亭), a cloth merchant from Yancheng, who expanded the organization and renamed it the Tai Thean Kew Circus Troupe (大天球马戏班).
Shen Granny was married to Shen Qiguo (沈棋国) and had many children. The eldest son was Shen Quan Gui (沈全贵), the second son Shen Chang Fu (沈常福), and the entire family numbered more than thirty people. After her husband passed away, Shen Granny carried on his legacy and continued leading her children to wander the jianghu (江湖, the world of itinerant performers) selling their arts.
At that time, anyone in the trade who mentioned the name “Widow Shen” (沈寡妇) knew exactly who she was. Widow Shen was none other than Shen Granny. She was born with extraordinary physical strength: her arms could lift stone locks and large stone poles. A large stone pole weighed 500 jin (approximately 250 kg or 550 lbs in modern terms). Lying flat on the ground, she would lift one stone pole from her chest with both hands, while another stone pole was placed on her small bound feet. With her four limbs bearing two stone poles, and nine men and women sitting on top of the poles, the total weight Shen Granny supported with her body was roughly 1,600 jin (approximately 800 kg or 1,760 lbs). Despite being a woman with bound feet, she was the most popular and renowned performer for her signature act: the “Thousand-Jin Millstone” (千斤磨盘).
The millstone was the kind used in oil mills to press oil, about one-and-a-half chi thick (roughly 50 cm) and eight chi in diameter (roughly 2.6 m), extremely heavy and cumbersome. During the performance, more than ten people would roll it out. Shen Granny lay on the ground, raised her left foot, and the crowd lifted the millstone and placed it on her small foot. Her small foot held the millstone steady without moving, then she pushed it with her right foot, causing it to rotate slowly and steadily.
Shen Granny possessed unmatched strength and was also skilled at tightrope walking, performing three ascents and descents, as well as various martial-arts postures (把式). Her horsemanship was another of her specialties.
The troupe led by Shen Granny was a traditional Chinese-style circus called the “Horse Play Circle.” The animal acts were limited to “performing bear,” “performing dog,” “monkey riding goat,” and similar routines; there were no large ferocious beasts such as elephants, lions, tigers, or leopards. However, since it was called a “Horse Play Circle,” it necessarily included horse-riding performances. Shen Granny was an outstanding performer of equestrian arts, and her “Three Halls Fast Horse” act was unrivalled in the “Horse Play Circles” of her time.
The so-called “Three Halls Fast Horse” consisted of three routines: single horse, double horse, and the Luohan (Arhat) on horseback. Any troupe called a horse circus had to include the “Three Halls Fast Horse” act; otherwise, it would not qualify as a true horse circus. (RP 7)
浪迹天涯 作戏人
联合晚报 (Lianhe Wanbao), 29 March 1987, Page 15
Granny Shen ‘s son 沈常福与妻陈桥风
During Tai Thean Kew Si Ting time, he recruited many of his troupe members from his hometown in Jiangsu province, and one of them was a big and strong man Sheum Cheang Fu.
Sheum Cheang Fu decided to break off from Tai Thean Kew and founded his own circus – Sheum Circus
《沈常福大馬戲團》報紙廣告。典藏者：國家電影及視聽文化中心。創用CC 姓名標示-非商業性-禁止改作 3.0台灣（CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 TW）。發佈於《開放博物館》[https://openmuseum.tw/muse/digi_object/ec38ae3d6e975157de39631386bee667#12140]（2026/02/01瀏覽）。
Sheum’s Circus
ST Article 1952 Oct 19. 52 year old Sheum Cheang Fook has 14 of his 16 children working with him in the ring
The Sheum Circus has come to town!
An advertisement by Sheum’s Circus
At that time, there was also 3 beautiful sisters working in Sheum Circus
Long before the tent doors were opened, little Asian and European children wre waiting outside.
Some brought the inevitable thermos with orange juice and boiled water, others sucked ice balls and drank bilious
looking brown drinks.
Chang Lye Di, Chang Lye Lye, Chang Lye Mei
張萊娣 張萊萊 張萊妺
Chang Lye Di (Lan Di) sang an golden oldie in the hit movie (The Lark). She died in 1991 after an operation.
Sheum’s mother Mdm Gao died in 1948 at an old age of 74 years and was buried in Bukit Brown next to Soon Si Ting.
She was remembered as a kind and good hearted old lady who always give sweets to children and give them free seats to the circus if they did not have money to enter the circus.
According to Chang Lye Lye, during an interview with National Oral Archives, Sheum Cheang Fook married 3 times, including a 30 year old Malay woman when he was 70 years old. He has many children, and many of them turned out to do well in life.
Reference :
1) Down memory lane in clogs, growing up in Chinatown
2) Newspapers archives
3) Advertisements
4) Tomb inscriptions
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