The singer's real name is
陈信宏;
阿 is the friendly prefix put before one character of a name. The drama's title renders Japanese
おしん (Oshin), the heroine's name, with
阿 for the polite prefix o-. It follows a poor girl from rural Yamagata, sent out to work at seven, through to old age, and its story of endurance struck a chord across Asia.
