:: BIOGRAPHY

Chin Han was born on July 10, 1946 in Shanghai. He was the 5th child in a family of seven kids. His father was a famous General who had fought in the World War II, especially well-known due to his leadership during the Chinese & Japanese War. After 1949, the Communists took over China, his father departed Shanghai and moved the family to Hongkong where Chin-han learned to speak Cantonese and received his elementary education. His father hired a private tutor for him.

After his family spent a few years in Hong Kong, they moved to Taiwan where Chin-han attended public schools from that point on. Due to political conflicts with the current Taiwan administrators, Chin's Father was forced to leave his family and exiled to Japan for a number of years. Chin's mother was left alone to take care of the family and raise the kids. She was an extremely gifted artist, soon started an Art Gallery in Taipei. With a secured income from his mother, Chin was able to complete his high school education.

For anyone who knew Chin as a boy, he was always fond of movies. He would spend countless hours in the movie theaters. He could name all the big stars and the movies they were in. His biggest dream when he grew up was to become a director. When he reached age 18, he attended an actor training program in Taipei. Shortly after, he played a supporting role in "Yuan Shang Han Xiao"(1967) on his first movie debut. His acting career was interrupted bluntly when Taiwan government drafted him for army. In Taiwan, male above age 18 must register for army. Generally, they use a lottery system to decide the length for the serving time; the time ranges from 3 months to 3 years. Chin was luckily selected for a three years of army services. Initially, Chin was reluctant to join the Army. However, in later years he reflected those years in Army were the best time of his life. He appreciated all the training and hardships he had to endure in the Army. After three years of army service, Chin came back to Taipei in hope to continue his pursuit of movie dreams. Unfortunately, the predominating theme was action movie at the time. His future looked very dim. He had to start from the scratch.

By then, he was a twenty-one year old man with an ambition. However, the first thing was to find a job to support himself and make himself dependable. Before he became the actor, he was an accomplished artist. Chin was a talented painter who taught himself on oil painting and watercolor. To attract buyers, he put his paintings in an obvious spot around his mother's Gallery. And not too surprisingly, it attracted attentions, and sold well.

The Success

As much as Chin enjoyed his new found success in art, he never gave up his movie career. In 1972, Chin's career took a drastic turn when Director Song Chun Shou discovered him. Chin played a leading role in "Chuang Ya" (Outside of the window). The movie "Outside of the Window" was a big hit in Hong Kong, also made big news in Taiwan although never publicly aired. Many directors noticed Chin's gorgeous looks and caught on the fever. To the movie audiences, Chin was well recognized and praised for his excellent performances. From that point on, his movie fantasy had become a reality; he had reach the ultimate stardom. His life would never be the same.

Chin Han's performances have captivated the audiences from mid-seventies to the early eighties. In a 10-year span, Chin has starred more than 80 different movies. This period is known as the famous "Two Chins and Two Lins". The "Two Chins and Two Lins" consist Chin-han, Charlie Chin, Brigette Lin, and Joan Lin. They are the most popular actors/actresses in the 70's. During their heydays, Teens adore them, with millions of fans swarming into the movie theaters. Chin is the Prince Charming to many. His movies are always the Box hits. Fans followed his every move.

The Troubling Years

While his movie career was on an incredible roll, his personal life took a dramatic turn in mid-1979. His wife Shao filed for a divorce. Chin-han was married to Shao in 1971. They had one daughter and one son. People had always thought him as a responsible husband and a caring father. This announcement of divorce was a bombshell to a lot of people.

Many rumors floated and circulated around the movie business between Chin-han and Brigette Lin. They first met in 1972 "Outside of Window" when Chin-han was a married man. The rumors started quickly after many successful box hits starred by Chin-han and Brigette Lin. They were coupled in many popular love stories. Being an idol of millions, the worst nightmare was having an affair with another actress. This out of marriage affair didn't suit well with then-conservative Taiwan audiences. Their career and public image took a big dip. Brigette Lin was forced to leave Taiwan for a while to quiet the rumors. Trying to escape from public humiliation, Brigette Lin thought better of it and left Taiwan by the end of the year. She claimed she was going to attend school in San Francisco, temporarily departed the Taiwan movie business. To add more excitement to this mess, the other Chin, Charlie Chin, joined the chase. He followed Brigette Lin to S.F. and proposed to her. Brigette desperately needed an escape, but she still could not forget Chin-han.

After Charlie's proposal, B. Lin called Chin-han and asked Chin to come for rescue. Chin-han, the father of two young toddlers, could not leave his kids. This sealed the engagement. Before Lin could have any second doubt, Charlie Chin had already bought the engagement ring. The very next day, Brigette Lin announced her engagement. Once the news was spreading back to Taiwan, the craziness had settled down. People no longer blamed B. Lin or Chin Han. But Chin-han still had to piece back his already broken family. A messy divorce had ruffled the relationship between him and his wife. Although they tried to make up for the sake of their kids, but it did not work. Chin-han and his ex-wife divorced in 1982 in a mutual agreement. They were married for 12 years prior to the divorce.

The Reunion

During all these troubling years, Chin was struggling to keep up with his private matter, and it did not help his movie career at all. His movie career stumbled badly. Finally, in 1985, he returned to showbiz. His first tv series "Ji Du Xi Yang Hong" was a quick smash. The following tv series "Yang Yu Meng Meng" and "Ting Yuang Sheng Sheng" kept him rolling. He became the superstar of the small screen. Now at age forty, he was as popular as ever. The success of "Ting Yuang Sheng Sheng" made Lau Sueh Hua and him the most popular couples on tv. They were the number one household names throughout Taiwan and oversea markets. "Ting Yang Sheng Sheng" was the first Chin-han tv series I had watched, I learned the existence of Chin from "Ting" and followed him rigorously eversince.

In 1987, Brigette Lin returned to Taipei. She had spent several years in Hong Kong showbiz; her engagement with Charlie Chin didn't work, was called off years ago. The reunion of Chin-han and Brigette Lin was foreseeable. After overcoming the public curiosity, Chin-han and Brigette Lin came out and publicly admitted their relationship in 1987. Many well wishers had hoped a happy ending between B. Lin and Chin-han. A marriage would be a proper ending to this 20-year long and enormously publicized Marathon. However, it was not meant to be. In 1991, their relationship cooled off with rumors flying around. Many pointed to the fact that Brigette had another Mister. (They are unproving rumors.) However, in 1994, the real big news hit the town. Brigette married to Mike Shin, the chairman of Espirit Asia, a very rich man. A year later, she had a baby girl.

The Heartbreak

Although I had followed Chin for years, but I could never understand why their relationship turned sour in 1991. The only reason I thought possible was their personality didn't click. For years, they were the secret lovers, and they didn't have time to know each other well. Besides, a 20-year long Romance was very mentally exhausting. Even a true love, after twenty years of weathering and deteriorating is not meant to last forever. But it's always sad to see the ending.

Chin was publicly humiliated and crashed after B. Lin's marriage. He tried the best to hide himself from the public eye. For several years, he led a low profile and lived anonymously. Since his romance with Brigette is so well-known, many people (the media types) chased and hovered around Chin-han for years, asking for his personal feelings about Brigette's marriage. It's like trying to poke the exposed wound. Chin is still experiencing the side-effects from the previous relationship. Regardless whose fault this is, I mean, you really can't pinpoint anyone and try to gauge whose fault it is. A relationship is too complicate for our outsiders to explain anyway.

The Present

Now Chin lives with his two kids, they are in their early twenties. His son Richard works as a DJ, sometimes as a talk show host in Taiwan showbiz. Chin-han still does some mini-series. This March he was working on a short series called "Because loving you". He is semi-retired in Taipei.

 On the night of Aug.5, 1998, Chin-han was spotted dating a lead actress Xu Gui Ying from "Because loving you" (his latest work). They went to see movie "One Night Stand", while trying to avoid attention, unfortunately were caught by the reporters.

Anyway, it's a great news to me cuz I have been worrying about Chin eversince his breakup with B. Lin. I am afraid he is gonna stay in his protective shell forever. I could understand his reluctance to involve in any relationships. But he needs to bury the past, and come out to smell some fresh flowers. At least this is a new beginning. No matter where he goes from here, I am very happy to see the first step. Chin-han is finally breaking out of his shell. I wish nothing but the best for him. I hope he can find a soulmate and someone who will take care of him. It would be a pity for us, the few remaining Chin-Han fans, to see him suffer through loneliness for the rest of his life.

I wish him nothing but the best, and hopefully he will continue to make excellent tv series for our fans. I have been enjoying his performance for a long time, and will continue to support him no matter what. Best wishes to Chin, and thanks for reading this very long summary. Hope you have enjoyed reading this. I will try to update this page once I hear anything new. So stick around. This page is always under construction. If you are one of Chin's loyal fan, drop me an E-mail. I love to hear from you.

An Update: Chin-han dated Xu Gui Ying for a brief period in 1998. But after they finish Because Loving you (Later renamed "Dear Daddy"), they went to separate ways. He is now living with his daughter in Taipei. For most updated news, please check on the boards frequently.