Zun: From 'Yellow-Haired Pig' to Taiwan's Youngest Million-Subscriber YouTuber — A Lonely Experiment Under the 'Clean Stream' Label

30-Second Overview:
Zhu Yuen, known by his nickname "Zun," is a pivotal figure in the history of YouTube in Taiwan. Born on November 16, 1998, in Kaohsiung, he began filming at age 14 and hit one million subscribers by 19, bringing Japanese-style fast-cut editing and experimental content into the mainstream Taiwanese internet. Though once celebrated by netizens as a "clean stream" on YouTube, he faced a credibility crisis in 2023 over a fake mobile game ad scandal and was repeatedly drawn into controversies involving his older brother Yu's major legal incident — revealing the tensions top creators face between traffic, family responsibility, and personal image.

Zhu Yuen, born in Kaohsiung in 1998, began his YouTube career from an extraordinarily humble starting point: in 2012, a middle school student sat in his room facing a screen, recording Minecraft gameplay under the name "Yellow-Haired Pig" (a former nickname he also used was "Zhu Maomao")¹. He likely never imagined that five years later, he would become Taiwan's third — and at the time youngest — creator to reach one million subscribers, defining an entire generation of Taiwanese YouTube aesthetics under the banner "Life Fat Otaku x Zun." His main channel has since surpassed 1.71 million subscribers².

From "Plagiarizing" Ashun to Defining the Japanese Style

Zun's early creative journey was not smooth. He openly admitted that he "started by plagiarizing Ashun"³, imitating the tone and editing rhythm of the top streamers of the day — later joking about this dark history and locking those old videos away. The real turning point came when he discovered the Japanese YouTube community, particularly inspired by Hajime Shachō (はじめしゃちょー). He introduced hallmarks of Japanese videos — rapid jump cuts, exaggerated text effects, and "experimental" challenge formats — into the Taiwanese landscape, breaking the mold of the long-form gameplay content that had dominated the local scene at the time.

He graduated from National Luodong Senior Commercial Vocational School and later enrolled in the continuing education bachelor's program in Public Administration and Policy at National Taipei University (now on leave). He currently resides in Taipei⁴. His early success also inspired his older brother小玉 (Yu) to pursue YouTube creation, and the two collaborated on numerous videos.

📝 Curator's Note: A creator's growth often begins with imitation, but Zun's success lies in his ability to "localize" a foreign style, transforming it into otaku-culture language that resonated with Taiwanese youth.

In 2017, Zun's subscriber count broke the one-million mark⁵. Videos like "Challenge: World's Spiciest Lollipop" and various absurd urban-legend investigations may have seemed ridiculous on the surface, but they precisely captured the internet-native generation's pursuit of "the meaning in meaninglessness."

The Credibility Storm Beneath the "Clean Stream"

During a period when the Taiwanese YouTube community was under fire for controversies and sensationalist content, Zun earned the nickname "the only clean stream on YouTube" for his relatively wholesome content and unassuming demeanor. But this label faced an unprecedented challenge in November 2023.

Zun was exposed for having accepted a sponsored mobile game ad in which the promotional footage was drastically different from the actual game, and Zun himself had not actually played the game — he had simply read from a script on camera⁶. The "fake ad" controversy quickly escalated. Zun promptly issued an apology, admitting he had "carelessly accepted the job" and "failed in his vetting responsibilities," and proactively requested the advertiser to pull the ad⁷.

Additionally, in 2021, his older brother Yu (Zhu Yuchen) was arrested in connection with a Deepfake face-swap porn scandal. Zun posted an apology on his Instagram Stories, emphasizing he was "completely unaware" but would not cut ties with his brother. The trio known as "Shenghuo Yu Zun" was often discussed together by the public, subjecting Zun to repeated collateral pressure⁸.

"I should have made the advertiser take the ad down back then."⁹

This line of apology reflects the struggle creators face when confronted with commercial temptation, family dynamics, and fan trust. For Zun, "clean stream" was never a comfortable throne — it was a shackle that could collapse at any moment.

The Lonely Experimenter: The Shift After the Traffic

Unlike many creators who chase output volume, Zun's upload frequency has noticeably declined in recent years. He has revealed in interviews that the creative process is often lonely and that he has long operated under intense pressure. He began running a second channel, "Life Loser Otaku x Zun," with content leaning toward casual life-sharing and rants about internet phenomena — an attempt to recapture the joy he felt when he first started making videos.

His interactions with his girlfriend Lauren are frequently praised by fans for their sweetness. In late 2025, he released a "My! New! Home!" video series documenting his home-buying and moving journey — from years of renting to owning his own place — marking a significant milestone in the eyes of many longtime fans¹⁰.

📝 Curator's Note: When a creator starts to "slow down," it is often a signal that he is trying to return from being a "traffic machine" back to being a "person."

Zun's story is not merely a coming-of-age tale of a young man's rise to fame — it is a microcosm of a decade of YouTube in Taiwan. From early, pure gameplay sharing, to the mid-career million-subscriber frenzy, to the later credibility crisis, family fallout, and self-repair, he has always stood at the front line of experimentation — not just experimenting with chemical reactions, but experimenting with how much truth and pressure a person can carry in front of a screen.

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