Well-known Taiwanese romance novelist Chiung Yao has died at the age of 86 in an apparent suicide.
知名台湾言情小说家琼瑶于86岁之际，疑似自杀身亡。
The local fire department said on Wednesday (Dec 4) that Chiung was found dead in her home in New Taipei City.
当地消防部门12月4日（周三）表示，琼瑶被发现死于位于新北市的家中。
Her son said she had left a note instructing her secretary to check on her at noon, news outlet TVBS reported. Despite the secretary calling for an ambulance immediately after discovering her body, Chiung was pronounced dead at the scene.
据新闻频道TVBS报道，其子表示，她留下了一封遗书，指示秘书中午时分前来查看。尽管秘书发现遗体后立刻呼叫了救护车，但琼瑶已当场被宣布死亡。
Born Chen Che in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu in 1938, she later adopted the pen name Chiung Yao. She went to Taiwan province with her family in 1949.
她本名陈喆，1938年出生于中国西南部的成都市，后改用笔名琼瑶。1949年，她随家人定居台湾省。
She began writing as a child, and her first novel was published when she was 25, local media reported.
据当地媒体报道，她自幼便开始写作，首部小说出版时年仅25岁。
A number of her novels were turned into television series, which were a huge hit in both Taiwan and China, especially the 18th-century period drama My Fair Princess.
她的多部小说被改编成电视剧，在台湾和中国大陆都大受欢迎，尤其是清朝背景的《还珠格格》。
Set in the Qing dynasty, it tells the story of a destitute girl who becomes a princess.
该剧讲述了一名贫苦女孩成为公主的故事。
Chiung's late second husband Ping Hsin-tao was the founder of Crown Publishing, the printer of most of her books. He died in 2019 aged 92. The publisher declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
琼瑶的第二任丈夫平鑫涛是皇冠出版社的创始人，出版了她的绝大多数著作。他于2019年以92岁高龄去世。在被法新社联系时，出版社拒绝置评。
Chiung Yao's final five novels were published in 2020, according to a Taiwanese book-selling website.
据一家台湾售书网站称，琼瑶的最后五部小说于2020年出版。
In a pre-recorded video posted on her Facebook page, she said: "I am the spark, and I have burned as hard as I can."
她在脸书上发布的一段预先录制的视频中说：“我是火花，我已经拼尽全力燃烧过。”
Tsai Mei-tzu, a professor of Chinese literature at the National Cheng Kung University, said: "In the drawers of every literary young girl in 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, there were a few Chiung Yao novels tucked away, hidden from the fear of being confiscated by teachers.
台湾成功大学中国文学系教授蔡美珠说：“在20世纪50年代、60年代、70年代，每位爱好文学的小女孩的抽屉里，都藏着几本琼瑶小说，生怕被老师没收。
"Even after the 1990s, Chiung Yao's old-fashioned romances did not fade away. The classical undertones and dramatic tension continued to sustain her empire of love stories."
“即便到了90年代后，琼瑶的老派浪漫爱情故事也并未褪色。其古典韵味和戏剧张力继续支撑着她的爱情故事王国。”
