Chin Han (actor, born 1946)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chin Han
Born
Sun Siang-chong

(1946-04-24) 24 April 1946 (age 77)
OccupationActor
Years active1966–present
Spouse
Shao Chiao-ying
(m. 1971; div. 1984)
PartnerBrigitte Lin (1972–1991)
Children
Parent
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Sun Siang-chong
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese

Chin Han (秦漢; born 24 April 1946), is a Taiwanese actor whose birth name is Sun Siang-chong (孫祥鐘), and got his first stage name Kang Kai (康凱) from Li Han-Hsiang (李翰祥) at the beginning of his acting career. He changed his stage name to Sun Ge (孫戈) during the shooting of Five Brothers from Tangshan (唐山五兄弟; 1972). It was director Yao Feng-Pan (姚鳳磐) who gave him the stage name Chin Han, which he kept ever since.[1] In Chin’s long acting career, he is best known for starring in literary romantic (愛情文藝) films and TV series, adaptations from novels by Qiong Yao (瓊瑤) and other writers in the 1970s and 1980s. With Charlie Chin(秦祥林), Brigitte Lin and Joan Lin (林鳳嬌), the four eventually became known as the "Two Chins, Two Lins" (二秦二林) for their extensive roles in the genre of literary romantic film.

Life and career[edit]

Chin’s father is Sun Yuan-liang (孫元良), a general who fought against the Japanese in WWII. Chin completed the training program of CMPC Film Academy (中影訓練班) in 1966 and joined Grand Motion Pictures Co., Ltd. (國聯) as a basic actor.[1] He had to serve in the army after making his first film, Smiles from the Distant Mountains. After he completed his military service three years later, Grand Motion Pictures Co., Ltd. was already closed for business. He turned to TTV (台視) to act in a TV drama.[2][3]

Chin's gentle and elegant appearance with a scholarly temperament has always been the best interpretation of the leading actor in literary films.[1] After he role in Sung Tsun-Shou's (宋存壽) Story of a Mother (母親三十歲) and Outside the Window (窗外), both released in 1973, Chin was acclaimed as a promising star. When director Li Hsing (李行) was casting for his adaptation of Qiong Yao’s novel The Heart with a Million Knots (心有千千結), he approached Chin for the lead role. Due to his contract to star in Sung Tsun-Shou’s Where Have the Lovers (晨星) Chin had to turn down Li’s invitation and work in Hong Kong.[3] Li Hsing instead cast Charlie Chin (秦祥林) for his film, which made Charlie Chin an overnight star. Chin Han and Charlie Chin became the two household names for the extremely popular genre of Literary Romantic Film (愛情文藝片) , which mainly are adaptations of Qiong Yao’s novels. Together with two other female stars of the genre, Brigitte Lin (林青霞) and Joan Lin (林鳳嬌), they are called “Two Chins and Two Lins” (二秦二林). Li Hsing once jokingly said, "If Chin Han had come to play The Heart with a Million Knots, there would not have been ‘Two Chins and Two Lins’ later.”[1]

Chin Han later starred in quite a few films directed by Li Hsing, among them the biographical film adapted from the best-selling autobiography of Zheng Fengxi (鄭豐喜), He Never Gives Up (汪洋中的一條船; 1978), which won Chin the Best Actor award at the 15th Golden Horse Awards.

After Literary Romantic Film lost its audience In the early 80's, Qiong Yao turned to the small screen of TV to produce popular dramas adapted from her films and novels. In the TV series You Can’t Tell Him (庭院深深), originally a film directed by Sung Tsun-shou in 1971, Chin Han was paired with Leanne Liu (劉雪華). The series was an instant hit.

Chin Han has continued to act in the 1990s and afterwards both in films and on TV.

Personal life[edit]

Sun married Shao Chiao-ying in 1971 and has a daughter Sun Shi-wen (孫詩雯) and a son Richard Sun (孫國豪). The marriage ended in 1984.

The triangle relationships in life among Chin Han, Brigitte Lin, and Charlie Chin is similar to their relationship in the literary romantic films based on Qiong Yao's novels, such as Cloud of Romance (我是一片雲; 1976). Chin Han and Brigitte Lin were close when making Outside the Window, but due his marriage Chin kept a distance with Lin. After working Lin on Cloud of Romance, Charlie Chin began to passionately pursue Brigitte Lin, who eventually accepted his proposal and was engaged to him in San Francisco in 1980. However, after Chin Han's divorce, Brigitte Lin found that she was still deeply in  loved with Chin and chose to break off her engagement with Charlie Chin in 1984, which caused a scandal. They were romantically related again through the help of Qiong Yao, but eventually broke up because Chin Han was unwilling to marry her.[4]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

As actor
Year English Title Chinese Title Role Notes
1966 Smiles from the Distant Mountains 遠山含笑 Zong Qi
How Many Sunsets 幾度夕陽紅
1967 Sister's Lover 姐姐的情人 Wah
1968 A Time for Reunion 春曉人歸時
1969 Betrayer 殺氣嚴霜 also screenwriter
1971 The Mad Killer 瘋狂殺手
1972 Everybody Is Laughing 天下一大笑
Dangerous Game 慾火焚身
Five Brothers from Tangshan 唐山五兄弟
Heart Wish 心願
1973 Outside the Window 窗外 Li Liwei
Story of Mother 母親三十歲 Zhu Qingmao
Gui Fen 桂芬
1974 The House of Love 愛的小屋 Luo Wen
First Come, First Love 近水樓台 Cai Dawei
Where the Seagull Flies 海鷗飛處 Ou Shihao
Spring Comes Not Again 不再有春天 Zhi Cheng
Sex For Sale 面具 Lin Weibin
News Hen 女記者 Xue Xiaonan
Rhythm of the Wave 海韻 Jiang Tao
Love Camp 愛情集中營
1975 Girl School 春滿女學府 Lei Guangming
Hot Wave 熱浪 Ho Ta-fung
He Loved Once Too Many 水雲 Kiu Yee
The Unforgettable Character 在水一方 Lu Yu-wen
Eight Hundred Heroes 八百壯士 Jin Jian
Land of the Undaunted 吾土吾民 Li Yueh-ting
Where Have the Lovers Gone 晨星
A Chilled Spring 春天裡的秋天 Xu Weiming
Dream Lake 夢之湖
Posterity and Perplexity 碧雲天 Gao Haotian
1976 Coffee, Wine, Lemonade 咖啡,美酒,檸檬汁 Lin Fan
Love Forever 海誓山盟 Xu Changwen
A Misty Love 小雨絲絲 Pan Jiawang
Deep Autumn Love 落葉飄飄 Di Chao
Love in the Twilight Zone 陰陽有情天
Erotic Nights 色香味
Painted Waves of Love 浪花 He Zijian
The Sang Sisters 桑園 Mo Dika
The Valley of Butterfly 蝴蝶谷 Liu Wenbin
The Spring Lake 翠湖寒 Hu Weikang
Wild Pigeons in the Evening 野鴿子的黃昏 Meng Wei
1977 My Sweet Love 霧濛濛情濛濛 Xiao Zhangyun
The Love Offensive 愛情大進擊
My Beloved 雲愛,雲愛 Du Dazhong
Love in the Shadow 愛有明天 Yi Siyin
True Love 真真的愛 Xu Dawei
The Smiling Face 微笑 Chen Yunyang
The Glory of the Sunset 煙水寒 Ye Yicheng
Cloud of Romance 我是一片雲 Gu Youlan
Confused Love 變色的太陽 Hou Shiwen
Love Rings a Bell 風鈴,風鈴 Wei Dekai
We Are the Youth 我們是年輕的
The Lost Dream 荒園草夢 Jiang Xinhan
Melody from Heaven 白花飄雪花飄 Shao Yulin
The Love Corridor 愛情走廊 Chu Yun
We Feel the Wind Again 又是起風時 Xu Kewei
1978 Morning Fog 晨霧 Tai Yalun
Wild Flower in the Storm 花非花
Sea-Wave in Sunset and Love 夕陽浪花愛 Meng Nan
Love is Burning 愛情火辣辣 Du Ping (Du Ziping)
Hi, Honey 嗨親愛的 Hao Keai
The Diary of Di-Di 蒂蒂日記 Fan Xijun
Love on a Foggy River 煙波江上 Du Xihao
Lover on the Wave 我踏浪而來 Zhao Darong
A Journey of Love 無情荒地有情天 Lin Lei
Ask My Love from God 此情可問天 Chen Yuncheng
He Never Gives Up 汪洋中的一條船 Zheng Fengxi
The Story of Green House 綠色山莊 Lei Wen
Mountains Under the Setting Sun 夕陽山外山 Huang Shaokui
Love in the Blossoming Mountain Flowers 滿山花開一片情 Xu Guowei
1979 A Sorrowful Wedding 悲之秋 Du Jiawen
Love Under a Rosy Sky 彩霞滿天 Chiao Shu-pei
The Wild Goose on the Wing 雁兒在林梢 Jiang Huai
Love Seed 一顆紅豆 Liang Zhiwen
By Love Obsessed 情奔 Zhi Gang
Dash 衝刺
1980 My Native Land 原鄉人 Chûng Lî-fò
Another Spring 又見春天 Yang Wei-han
Flying Home 雁兒歸 Li Junping
Poor Chasers 一對傻鳥 Chen Cheng-hsiung
Lotus Triangle 情網
Reunion in the Rain 蘭花草 Liang Hanzhong
The Marigolds 金盞花 Lawyer Zhou
Flying Rainbow 飛躍的彩虹 Lu Changfeng
A Girl Who Comes from the Country 我從山中來 Lu Jun
Love in a Big Land 大地親情
The Lotus Triangle 荷葉、蓮花、藕 Ye Yi
Twin Troubles 愛情躲避球 Long Kedong & Long Youdong
1981 My Cape of Many Dreams 夢的衣裳 Sang Erxuan
The Land of the Brave 龍的傳人 Lin Chao-hsing
Love You Till I Die 愛你入骨
Once Again With Love 又見春天 Yang Weihan
Coming with a Gun 帶槍過境 Ban Jie
Clouds, Please Stay 雲且留住 Li Jianwen
1982 Girls' School 女子學校 Mei Yixin
The Girl Robber and I 小妞.大盜.我 Fei Shaohua
Marianna 賓妹
Pigeons in the Evening 鴿子的黃昏
The Drug Busters 鐵血勇探 Tang Keyuan also director
1983 The Lost Generation 風水二十年 Mr. Tsun
1984 Holy War 聖戰千秋
Impending War 戰爭前夕
1985 Last Breath 血染風采
1986 Loves of a Small Town Doctor 小鎮醫生的愛情 Wang Liyi
1990 Promising Miss Bowie 祝福 Ko Man-kit
Red Dust 滾滾紅塵 Chang Neng-tsai
1991 Center Stage 阮玲玉 Tong Gwai-saan
1992 Requital 五湖四海 Fan Dai-kuay
1994 Treasure Hunt 花旗少林 Tong Ling
1995 Don't Cry, Nanking 南京1937 Shing Yin
2000 Feeling by Night 夜奔 De shun
2006 The Knot 雲水謠 Wang Ting-wu
2012 Threads of Time 柳如是 Qian Qianyi
As director
  • The Drug Busters (鐵血勇探) – also actor
As writer
  • Betrayer (殺氣嚴霜) – also actor

Television series[edit]

Year English title Chinese title Role Notes
1971 Rainbow Bridge 七色橋 Mu Yuande
1985 How Many Sunsets 幾度夕陽紅 Ho Mu-tien
1986 Lovers Under the Rain 煙雨濛濛 Ho Shu-huan
I Am a Chinese 我是中國人
1987 Deep Garden 庭院深深 Po Pei-wen
1988 One Side of the Water 在水一方 Chu Shih-yao remake of The Unforgettable Character
1989 Seagulls Soaring In Iridescent Clouds 海鷗飛處彩雲飛 Yu Muhuai
1991 Love in Venice 情定威尼斯
1995 Secular Romance 情愛紅塵 Geng Haoran
1996 Flowers Gone, Flowers Bloom 花落花開 Xia Haimo
1997 Flying with the Iridescent Clouds 我伴彩雲飛
2000 Give Daddy A Kiss 親親老爸 Fang Nien-tsu
2002 Cash Is King 勝券在握 Qi Ren
2004 Son From the Past 子是故人來 Seng Ming
Wealthy Family's Shocking Dream 豪門驚夢 Chiao Cheng-tien
2005 Purple Jade, Golden Clay 紫玉金砂 Pan Tianci
2007 Niu Lang and Zhi Nu 牛郎織女 Jade Emperor
2009 Dragon-Phoenix Luck 龍鳳呈祥 Long Jiandong
2014 Moment in Peking 新京華煙雲 Yao Siyuan
2017 The Glory of Tang Dynasty 大唐榮耀 Emperor Xuanzong
Cambrian Period 寒武紀 Zhan Shili
Dear My Friends 親愛的她們 Song Shuhao
2018 Flesh And Spirit 靈與肉 Xu ingyou
Twenties Once Again 重返20歲 Xiang Dahai
2020 New World 新世界 Shen Shichang

Awards and honors[edit]

Year Awards Category Work
1976 22nd Asia Pacific Film Festival Most Popular Actor
1978 15th Golden Horse Awards Best Leading Actor He Never Gives Up
1979 25th Asia Pacific Film Festival Best Actor For Tragic Films

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "秦漢". TFAI-國家電影及視聽文化中心.
  2. ^ "娛樂8點半》瘋傳復合林青霞 秦漢低調神秘卻「為這樁」現身…". Yahoo News (in Chinese). 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  3. ^ a b 林, 黛嫚 (2009-02-08). "話說電影人》李行和他的男演員們(下)". 聯合報.
  4. ^ NOWnews今日新聞 (2021-02-02). "情纏秦漢20年後閃嫁富商 林青霞認了孤獨「渴望有個家」 | 娛樂". NOWnews今日新聞 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2023-05-19.

Further reading[edit]

  • Daw-Ming Lee. "Chin, Han". Historical Dictionary of Taiwan Cinema. (2013) ISBN 978-0-8108-6792-5. pp. 118–120.

External links[edit]