Sun Daolin () (December 18, 1921 – December 28, 2007) was a Chinese

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Biography

Sun Daolin was born in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

on November 18, 1921. He was born Sun Yiliang 孙以亮 into a family of four children. His father Sun Wenyao (孫文耀) was trained as railroad engineer in Brussels, Belgium. His mother Fan Nianhua (范念华) and father both are originally from

Jiashan County Jiashan County () is a County (People's Republic of China), county in the north of Zhejiang Province (China), Province, bordering Shanghai to the northeast and Jiangsu province to the north. It is administered by the prefecture-level city of Jiax ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

. He along with all his siblings learned to speak English since grade school. He attended

Yenching University Yenching University (), was a university in Beijing, China, that was formed out of the merger of four Christian colleges between the years 1915 and 1920. The term "Yenching" comes from an alternative name for old Beijing, derived from its status ...

, but his studies in philosophy were interrupted by the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

. During the war he was active in patriotic activities including stage acting and he was jailed briefly by the Japanese Puppet Regime. After the war, he completed his studies and received a degree in philosophy in 1947. His career had spanned much of the PRC history. One of his earliest roles was in director

Zheng Junli Zheng Junli (December 6, 1911 – April 23, 1969) was a Chinese actor and director born in Shanghai and who rose to prominence in the golden age of Chinese Cinema. His films ''The Spring River Flows East'' and ''Crows and Sparrows'' are widely c ...

’s ''

Crows and Sparrows ''Crows and Sparrows'' () is a 1949 Chinese film made by the left-leaning Kunlun Studios on the eve of the Communist victory, directed by Zheng Junli and scripted by Chen Baichen. Notable for its extremely critical view of corrupt Nationalist burea ...

'', a polemic on the corruption of the Nationalist Government just prior to their defeat in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

. After 1949, Sun continued to act, notably as the eldest brother in an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

Ba Jin Ba Jin (Chinese: 巴金; pinyin: ''Bā Jīn''; 1904–2005) was a Chinese writer. In addition to his impact on Chinese literature, he also wrote three original works in Esperanto, and as a political activist he wrote '' The Family''. Name He w ...

’s novel, ''Family''. Sun Daolin is one of the most famous actors for the 1950-70's movie goer generations in China. Some four decades ago, to many Chinese, he was an idol and perfect Mr. Right for all unmarried women at his time. In the 1980s, Sun began to focus increasing energy on directing. In 1983, he wrote, directed and starred in the well-received ''

Thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

'', based on the

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

Cao Yu Cao Yu (, September 24, 1910 — December 13, 1996) was a Chinese playwright, often regarded as one of China's most important of the 20th century. His best-known works are ''Thunderstorm'' (1933), ''Sunrise'' (1936) and ''Peking Man'' (1940). ...

. His second try behind the camera was 1992’s '' The Stepmother''. After his semi-retirement he was active in poetry, Hamlet, Schubert songs. He was at several international film festivals and as late as the 1990s. Sun died in Shanghai on December 28, 2007 at the age of 86. At his service 1,000s of fans paid the last respect. He is survived by his wife

Wang Wenjuan Wang Wenjuan (; 19 December 1926 – 6 August 2021) was a noted performer in Yue opera. She was well known for playing the title role Lin Daiyu in the 1962 film of ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', an adaptation of a work by Cao Xueqin. Biog ...

, a

Yue opera Yue opera, also known as Shaoxing opera, is the Chinese opera genre. Only Peking opera is more popular nationwide. Originating in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1906, Yue opera features actresses in male roles as well as femininity ...

actress and a daughter Sun Qingyuan (孫慶原), one grand child. Wang was best known for her performance in "

The Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known for ...

".Sun Daolin Died

Sina.com Sina Corporation (, "new wave") is a Chinese technology company. Sina operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, Sina Mobile, Sina Online, and Sinanet. Sina has over 100 million registered users worldwide. Sina was recognized by '' South ...

Selected filmography

As actor

As director

Notes

References

* Li, Na and Qian Na. ''Biography of Sun Daolin'' (In Chinese) (Shanghai People's Press, 2009 )

External links

*
Sun Daolin
at the BFI Film and TV database
Sun Daolin
at the Chinese Movie Database
Sun Daolin dies - revered Chinese actor, director
San Francisco Chronicle January 5, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Daolin 1921 births 2007 deaths Film directors from Beijing Male actors from Beijing Yenching University alumni Chinese male voice actors Chinese male film actors Chinese male television actors