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CHANG CHEH. The man is so famous ... he has two birthdays? Well, not exactly. Time to debunk this web myth.The much-revered filmmaker, who is affectionally known to his fans as the Godfather of Hong Kong Cinema, passed away on June 22, 2002. If you ever visit his final resting place, don't ask the Columbarium front desk where Chang's remains are, because that isn't his actual birth name. We found this out the hard way, but more on that later.
While the death of Chang Cheh's passing is well known, a simple web search for his birth date leads to a problematic outcome. Sites like Wikipedia, IMDb, and 'Find A Grave' list his birth date as February 10, 1923. Other searches (HKMDb, BaiduWiki) list it as January 17, 1924. So, which is it? Well let's look at the 1923 date first. What is the source of this date?
Analyzing the movie maestro and his films for the last 25 years, I've never located a viable source. Just regurgitated internet chatter. One of the earliest Shaw Brothers related websites was "Chang Cheh: Godfather of the Kung Fu Film" (2002-2008). They had the 2/10/23 date listed, but there's no mention of a source or where they may have gotten this. Perhaps an old print article would be my best guess. Google "chang cheh birth date" and it will produce the February 10, 1923 date with a nice photo of John Woo! Yes, Woo may have been Chang's prodigy at the Shaw Studio, in the early seventies, but why is his photo used and not Chang?
Ahhh, good ol' world wide web. Take it with a grain of salt.
So what proof is there for the January 17, 1924 date? Glad you asked. Allow me to utilize The Three Source Rule. Professional journalists aim to use at least three, independent credible sources to corroborate information and ensure accuracy. The practice, known as triangulation, involves gathering diverse viewpoints to build a reliable, trustworthy story. This approach persuades us to critically evaluate what we read / hear, rather than accepting it at face value, and falling prey to misinformation.
Number 1: The Shaw Screen: A Preliminary Study
Click or tap image to enlarge Published by the Hong Kong Film Archive in 2003, this is a robust 450-page tome dedicated to the history of the Shaw Brothers, the studio, its star system, and productions. In the biography section of the book, on page 342, Chang Cheh's dates are listed as (1924 - 2002).
Not "1923" folks.
Despite being published in Asia, The Shaw Screen doesn't employ the Chinese Lunar calendar, but instead the Western (or solar) calendar; formally known as the Gregorian calendar. The lunar calendar, despite its name, is a lunisolar calendar which syncs months to the Moon's phases (29.5 days), but adds an extra "leap month" periodically to keep the year aligned with the Sun's seasons, as 12 lunar months (roughly 354 days) fall short of a solar year (roughly 365 days).
More on this below in section two.
The Shaw Screen: A Preliminary Study is a must-have for any Shaw Brothers aficionado. Unfortunately, its hard to come by these days, outside of travelling to Hong Kong for a copy, but it does come up for sale occasionally on eBay and elsewhere.
Click or tap image to enlarge Number 2: Chang Cheh: A Memoir
In his own words, the director reminisces on his life, his films, his politics. Surely the man knows his own birthday?
Chang describes early on that he was born 12 December (of the lunar calendar) in the Year Gui Hai. According to Hong Kong Observatory data, 1923 was the year of the Water Pig (Gui Hai) in the Chinese zodiac cycle, beginning on the solar date February 16, 1923, but - AND THIS IS A BIG BUT - ending on February 4, 1924.
Yes, that's right; 1924. It is the 12th animal in the 12-year cycle, representing wealth, honesty, and practicality. In the editor's notes, it was made known that the 12th day of the 12th month in the Year Gui Hai (lunar calendar) translates to January 17, 1924 for the solar / western calendar.
Want to research it for yourself? Check out the following PDF chart by the Hong Kong Observatory. It's a Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table of 1923 (Gui Hai aka Year of the Pig).
Like the Shaw Screen, Chang Cheh: A Memoir is another must-have for any Shaw Brothers or Chang Cheh fan. This book has become uber difficult to find, but again it does come up for sale on occasion.
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Number 3: Go to the source itselfSounds extreme but let's just fly to Hong Kong and look at what his grave marker says. Don't worry, I'll save you the cost of a plane ticket as we've already taken that pilgrimage back in 2010.
And no, I'm not throwing that word around lightly. It was truly a quest for a holy grail. No smartphones. No translators. No directions. It was trial by fire with limited hand notes as Chang's burial spot was vastly unknown to the outside world. Even once we arrived, the staff had no idea who he was, as we didn't have his actual birth name.
See for yourself. My wife shot some video of our visit that day, using an old VHS-C palmcorder, which I uploaded to YouTube.
As this is a traditional Chinese cemetery, they utilize the lunar calendar. You'll notice on his grave marker, I've highlighted the year (1923), and the actual dates (12th month and 12th day), plus their corresponding Chinese characters. As noted above by both the memoir book editor and the conversion table, this lunar date translates to the solar date of January 17, 1924.
On a side note, see those flowers next to his grave marker? Those were left there by Ti Lung. According to a worker we met (see the video link above), the actor visits every few months to leave flowers for his old master.
So, there you have it. Three reputable sources that corroborate Chang Cheh's birth date as January 17, 1924. I realize there will always be doubters out there, and if you still think its the other date, by all means drop me an email with your three sources (not three websites).
Chang Cheh, the man who DOES NOT have two birthdays, but is certainly worthy of such considering how much he has contributed to Hong Kong cinema.
© Terrence J. Brady
THIRD MILLENNIUM entertainment
Thanks for reading. If you're a fan of Chang Cheh or martial arts films in general, please be sure to check out my book, Alexander Fu Sheng: Biography of the Chinatown Kid. On sale at Amazon.
