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in 1979, cheng yin, a famous director of beijing film studio, was preparing to shoot the movie "xi'an incident". the investment in this film was several million rmb, which was considered a "blockbuster" at the time.

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cheng yin knew that the success or failure of "xi'an incident" depended on whether the actor who played chiang kai-shek could be selected and stand out on the screen, so he decided to select actors from all over the country. but after selecting and choosing, there was still no suitable candidate. cheng yin said angrily: "i would rather not shoot it than make do with it!"

at this time, someone recommended an actor named sun feihu to the crew, saying that he had played chiang kai-shek in the drama version of "xi'an incident" and the effect was very good. after seeing sun feihu's stills, cheng yin quickly called him to meet him in beijing. after the meeting, cheng yin immediately decided: "this is him! the movie can start shooting!"

sun feihu as chiang kai-shek

so who is this sun feihu? can he play chiang kai-shek well in the movie?

sun feihu was born in shanghai in 1941. before liberation, his father, sun agen, worked for the british at the shanghai customs. he was considered a senior white-collar worker with a monthly salary of several hundred yuan. sun feihu clearly remembers that when he was a child, his family lived in a small house with a separate entrance and courtyard. the room was very spacious and the family also hired a nanny.

when sun feihu was young, he was very smart, but also very naughty. when he was in primary school, his teacher came to his mother to complain: "sun feihu skipped classes for two-thirds of the semester. he was seen leaving the house with his schoolbag, but no one knew where he went." the child was so naughty that his mother huang xiudi was very angry. she said to sun feihu: "little ancestor, i kowtow to you! can you be obedient and study hard?"

after the founding of the people's republic of china, sun agen was labeled a "historical counter-revolutionary" and was sent to anhui for labor reform. sun feihu and his family were also kicked out of their garden house and moved to a shabby house by the suzhou river. huang xiudi, who did not have to go out to work before, now has to do odd jobs everywhere and use her meager income to support the family.

faced with such a big change, sun feihu matured immediately. he began to study hard and was determined to change his fate through his own efforts. after studying hard, in 1960, sun feihu was admitted to the shanghai theatre academy with excellent results.

sun feihu

in his first year at the shanghai theatre academy, sun feihu wanted to quit because in people's minds at the time, actors were considered to be actors of the lowest class and could not be accepted by the public. sun feihu also did not have enough confidence in his ability to act well. fortunately, sun feihu was very perceptive and his acting talent was soon revealed. he was praised by his teachers many times. sun feihu gradually gained confidence and felt more and more that learning opera was good.

in 1964, sun feihu graduated from shanghai theatre academy and was assigned to work in guizhou drama troupe. sun feihu played all kinds of roles in the troupe, but because there were not many plays to perform at that time, he did not stand out in performance. in this way, sun feihu stayed in the troupe in obscurity for more than 10 years.

until 1978, the troupe was preparing to rehearse the drama "xi'an incident", but they couldn't find an actor suitable to play chiang kai-shek. just when everyone was worried, someone recommended sun feihu. this "mentor" was the husband of an actress in the troupe. he was an old warlord before liberation and had contact with chiang kai-shek for two years. when he learned that the troupe couldn't find the "chairman", he couldn't help but blurt out: "sun feihu in your drama troupe looks and looks like chiang kai-shek, why don't you let him try?"

so the regiment leaders found sun feihu. sun feihu was not very confident at first, but after shaving his head and putting on makeup, he really looked like chiang kai-shek. there was an actor in the troupe who was a lieutenant colonel in the kuomintang army before liberation. he had met chiang kai-shek himself many times. one day, when sun feihu came out of the dressing room, he ran into the actor. unexpectedly, the other party stood aside and stood at attention as if by reflex. afterwards, he said to sun feihu with a wry smile: "i was really scared. you really acted the role of the 'chairman' to life!"

stills of sun feihu

after repeated rehearsals, the drama "xi'an incident" caused a sensation as soon as it was performed, especially sun feihu's performance, which received unanimous praise from the audience. after watching the drama, some elderly democratic figures in the province praised sun feihu and said: "this boy really plays the role of 'chairman' in a very interesting way."

it was because of his success on the stage that sun feihu was chosen by cheng yin. but cheng yin had higher requirements for sun feihu's performance. he thought that sun feihu's "appearance" was enough, but there was still a certain gap in "spiritual resemblance", so he found a lot of historical materials for sun feihu and asked him to study the character of chiang kai-shek.

sun feihu didn't agree at first. he said to cheng yin: "chiang kai-shek is just a bad guy, a negative character. it's not difficult to play it." cheng yin said: "don't just watch "dream of spring in nanjing", which is nonsense. chiang kai-shek is also a successful military strategist and politician."

so sun feihu used the time before filming started to look up a lot of information. gradually, he had a real understanding of chiang kai-shek's image. it turned out that chiang kai-shek was so flesh and blood!

chiang kai-shek spoke with a strong ningbo mandarin accent. sun feihu was from shanghai and could understand ningbo mandarin, but if he spoke completely in ningbo mandarin, northern audiences might not understand him. so sun feihu retained the more distinctive vocabulary in ningbo mandarin and combined it with mandarin to create a new language model, which has been used by later actors who played chiang kai-shek to this day.

stills of sun feihu

in 1981, after the release of the movie "xi'an incident", sun feihu, who played chiang kai-shek, became an instant hit. he won the best supporting actor award at the 2nd golden rooster awards for his superb acting skills.

a government official told sun feihu that when "xi'an incident" was released in taiwan, chiang ching-kuo said after watching the movie: "the communist party's attitude on the issue of the xi'an incident is fair." someone asked chiang ching-kuo: "do you think the actor who plays the late president looks like him?" chiang ching-kuo did not speak, but just smiled and nodded.

after that, sun feihu couldn't stop playing chiang kai-shek in dozens of movies and tv series. he became more and more adept at it. he was able to create dozens of chiang kai-shek images with different characteristics. sun feihu has his own performance experience: "as you get older, you consider different issues. chiang kai-shek is no exception. before the 'xi'an incident', chiang kai-shek was in his thirties or forties, so it was easier for him to deal with problems. after the incident, he was in his fifties and was much more stable until he went to taiwan. the difference lies in different historical periods, different backgrounds, and different opponents."

in 1990, sun feihu won the 10th china film golden rooster award for best supporting actor and the 13th popular film hundred flowers award for best supporting actor for his role as chiang kai-shek in the film "the founding ceremony of the nation". in 1994, he won the 17th popular film hundred flowers award for best supporting actor for his role as chiang kai-shek in the film "chongqing negotiations".

stills of sun feihu

in the 1990s, sun feihu went to beijing for a meeting and had the honor of taking a photo with then vice premier zhu rongji. zhu rongji insisted that sun feihu stand in the middle, but sun feihu declined, saying, "you are the leader, how can i stand in the middle?" zhu rongji smiled and said, "you are the 'chairman', i am just the vice premier, two levels lower than you, you stand in the middle."

sun feihu (left) and zhu rongji and his wife

but gradually, sun feihu felt that his performance as chiang kai-shek was too "greasy". whenever he appeared on the screen, the audience would think he was chiang kai-shek. sun feihu did not want to be a special actor who could only play one role. he believed that the key to judging whether an actor is good is to see whether he has the ability to portray different characters. he decided to step out of the shadow of "chiang kai-shek" and try more different roles.

the famous director chen jialin once said to sun feihu in the 1980s: "i want to work with you in a few years, but i will never let you play chiang kai-shek again." chen jialin did not break his promise. in 1998, when he was preparing to shoot the tv series "the taiping heavenly kingdom", he took the initiative to invite sun feihu to play zeng guofan.

chen jialin

after sun feihu received the invitation, he was very hesitant at first, as he was afraid that the zeng guofan he played would be a replica of "chiang kai-shek". chen jialin encouraged him, saying, "forget chiang kai-shek. from now on, you are zeng guofan. i no longer let wang yumei play a common mother, but she won the golden rooster award for playing empress dowager cixi. you must get rid of chiang kai-shek's shadow and realize the second revolution of your performing arts."

sun feihu finally made up his mind to play this role well. in order to forget chiang kai-shek and get closer to zeng guofan, he came to the wuxi filming base one and a half months in advance. he only did two things: one was reading books, and the other was studying the role. he repeatedly read "zeng guofan", "zeng guofan's collected works" and the script, trying to figure out the inner world of the character and gradually integrating himself into it.

on sun feihu's first day of filming, there was a scene where zeng guofan inspected the hunan navy. he boarded the command ship surrounded by people and looked around with a majestic look. but chen jialin suddenly stopped him and said to sun feihu: "you still have the feeling of 'chairman chiang' in your demeanor."

sun feihu also smiled sheepishly and said: "i have played chiang kai-shek for 20 years, and old habits die hard. after all, this is a major turning point in my performing arts career."

zeng guofan played by sun feihu

there is a scene in the play where zeng guofan is defeated by the taiping army and is so anxious that he jumps into the water to commit suicide. chen jialin suggested that sun feihu use a body double, but sun feihu felt it was inappropriate and insisted on jumping himself. sun feihu's swimming skills were not bad, but he was wearing a thick official uniform and a sword on his waist during the filming. he sank straight down after entering the water. fortunately, the crew arranged protective measures in advance. afterwards, sun feihu said: "i have never suffered such hardships when filming chiang kai-shek before. compared with this, playing chiang kai-shek is much easier!"

after the broadcast of "the taiping heavenly kingdom", the zeng guofan portrayed by sun feihu was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. an expert on qing dynasty history once commented on him: "he restored zeng guofan exactly as he was." from then on, sun feihu got rid of the shadow of "chiang kai-shek". he played different roles in tv series such as "the emperor of han dynasty", "the emperor wu of han", and "the qin empire", and he really indulged in his acting addiction.

stills of sun feihu

sun feihu's great achievements are inseparable from the silent support of his wife dai huiyao. dai huiyao is from hubei, 12 years younger than sun feihu. in 1972, she was admitted to the student class of guizhou provincial drama troupe, when sun feihu was already a major actor in the troupe.

after graduating from the student class, dai huiyao stayed in the troupe. not long after, she played a female underground party member in the drama "maple bay" and sun feihu played a big landlord. the two had more opportunities to meet. after getting to know each other, sun feihu felt that dai huiyao was a down-to-earth person and very beautiful, and was his ideal partner. dai huiyao also admired sun feihu very much. the two quickly established a romantic relationship and entered the palace of marriage in 1978.

since he became famous for playing chiang kai-shek in "xi'an incident", sun feihu has been offered many films, so he rarely takes care of his family. dai huiyao was also an excellent actor, but in order to support her husband's career, she took the initiative to reduce her performances and focus on taking care of the family. it was not until 1986 that sun feihu and his wife were transferred to xi'an film studio, ending their life of separation.

dai huiyao

sun feihu also always felt very indebted to his wife, so whenever he was at home, he would be responsible for cooking. sun feihu's cooking skills were very good, and when the family went to a restaurant to eat, as long as sun feihu had never eaten a dish, he would go home and think about it and cook it the same way, and the taste was comparable to that of the restaurant.

in february 1997, sun feihu and his wife visited the united states with a chinese film delegation. on february 18, the u.s. arranged for sun feihu and his wife to ride in two cars, with dai huiyao in front and sun feihu in the back. when the cars were driving on the highway, sun feihu suddenly saw the car his wife was riding in make a sharp turn and roll down the roadbed. at that time, he felt a buzzing in his head and was completely stunned.

after sun feihu's car stopped, he immediately rushed out of the car door and shouted desperately: "dai huiyao, dai huiyao..." although his voice was frighteningly loud, his legs could not move a step... when sun feihu was anxious, dai huiyao suddenly showed her head from the car window. fortunately, she was only slightly injured. at that moment, sun feihu and his wife experienced the greatest sorrow and joy in the world.

dai huiyao once commented on her husband: "i think he is my mentor and friend. i may have encountered some difficulties in life over the years of being married to him. i had to face and solve many things on my own, but i still gained a lot." unfortunately, on november 22, 2014, sun feihu died of illness in xi'an at the age of 73.

sun feihu's memorial service