Chin Han (秦漢; born 10 July 1946), is a Taiwanese actor whose birth name is Sun Siang-chong (å«祥éÂÂ), and got his first stage name Kang Kai (康å±) from Li Han-hsiang (æÂÂ翰祥) at the beginning of his acting career. He changed his stage name to Sun Ge (å«æÂÂ) during the shooting of Five Brothers from Tangshan (Ã¥ÂÂå±±äºÂå Âå¼Â; 1972). It was director Yao Feng-Pan (å§Âé³³ç£Â) who gave him the stage name Chin Han, which he kept ever since. In ChinâÂÂs long acting career, he is best known for starring in literary romanticà(æÂÂæ æÂÂèÂÂ) films and TV series, adaptations from novels by Qiong Yao (çÂÂç¤) and other writers in the 1970s and 1980s. With Charlie Chin (秦祥æÂÂ), Brigitte Lin (æÂÂéÂÂéÂÂ) and Joan Lin (æÂÂé³³å¬Â), the four eventually became known as the "Two Chins and Two Lins" (äºÂ秦äºÂæÂÂ) for their extensive roles in the genre of literary romantic film.
ChinâÂÂs father is Sun Yuan-liang (å«å Âè¯), a general who fought against the Japanese in World War II. Chin completed the training program of CMPC Film Academy (ä¸Âå½±è¨Âç·´çÂÂ) in 1966 and joined Grand Motion Pictures Co., Ltd. (Ã¥ÂÂè¯)àas a basic actor. He had to serve in the army after making his first film, Smiles from the Distant Mountains. After completing his military service three years later, Grand Motion Pictures Co., Ltd. was already closed for business. He turned to TTV (å°è¦Â) to act in a TV drama.
Chin's gentle and elegant appearance with a scholarly temperament has always been the best interpretation of the leading actor in literary films. After his role in Sung Tsun-shou's (å®ÂÃ¥ÂÂ壽) Story of a Mother (æ¯Â親ä¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂæ²) and Outside the Window (çªÂå¤Â), both released in 1973, he was acclaimed as a promising star. When director Li Hsing (æÂÂè¡Â) was casting for his adaptation of Qiong Yao's novel The Heart with a Million Knots (å¿ÂæÂÂÃ¥ÂÂÃ¥ÂÂçµÂ), he approached Chin for the lead role, but his contract for Sung's Where Have the Lovers (æ¨æÂÂ) meant that he had to turn down Li's invitation and go to Hong Kong instead . Li Hsing instead cast Charlie Chin (秦祥æÂÂ) 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 Films (æÂÂæ æÂÂèÂÂçÂÂ), which mainly are adaptations of Qiong Yao's novels. Together with two other female stars of the genre, Brigitte Lin (æÂÂéÂÂéÂÂ) and Joan Lin (æÂÂé³³å¬Â), they are called the âÂÂTwo Chins and Two Linsâ (äºÂ秦äºÂæÂÂ). Li Hsing once jokingly said, "If Chin Han had come to play The Heart with a Million Knots, there would not have been the âÂÂTwo Chins and Two Linsâ later.âÂÂ
Chin later starred in several films directed by Li Hsing, among them the biographical film adapted from the best-selling autobiography of Zheng Fengxi (éÂÂè±ÂÃ¥ÂÂ), He Never Gives Up (汪æ´Âä¸ÂçÂÂä¸Âæ¢Âè¹; 1978), which won him the Best Actor award at the 15th Golden Horse Awards.
After Literary Romantic Films lost its audience in the early 80s, Qiong Yao turned to the small screen of TV to produce popular dramas adapted from her films and novels. In the TV series You CanâÂÂt Tell Him (åºÂé¢深深), originally a film directed by Sung Tsun-shou in 1971, Chin was paired with Leanne Liu (Ã¥ÂÂéªè¯). The series was an instant hit.
Chin has continued to act in the 1990s and afterwards both in films and on TV.
Sun married Shao Chiao-ying in 1971 and has a daughter Sun Shi-wen (å«詩é¯) and a son Richard Sun (å«åÂÂ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 (æÂÂæ¯ä¸ÂçÂÂé²; 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 inàloved 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.