Sihung Lung was an actor in the cinema of Taiwan

Cinema of Taiwan

The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of Mainland China and Cinema of Taiwan . Taiwanese cinema grew up outside of the Hong Kong mainstream and the censorship of the People's Republic of China.Taiwanese cinema is deeply rooted...

 who appeared in over 100 films and was best known for playing paternal roles in films including Eat Drink Man Woman

Eat Drink Man Woman

Eat Drink Man Woman is a Taiwanese film directed by Ang Lee and starring Sihung Lung, Yu-wen Wang, Chien-lien Wu, Kuei-mei Yang. Many of the cast had starred in Ang Lee's previous film, The Wedding Banquet with Sihung Lung and Ah Lei Gua once more playing central elderly figures, and Winston Chao...

and The Wedding Banquet

The Wedding Banquet

The Wedding Banquet is a 1993 film about a gay Taiwanese immigrant man who marries a mainland Chinese woman to placate his parents and get her a green card. His plan backfires when his parents arrive in the United States to plan his wedding banquet....

. He frequently collaborated with award-winning director Ang Lee

Ang Lee

Ang Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy...

, notably cast in films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...

and Pushing Hands

Pushing Hands (film)

Pushing Hands is a film directed by Ang Lee. Released in 1992, it was his first feature film.- Plot :The story is about an elderly Chinese t'ai chi ch'uan teacher and grandfather who emigrates from Beijing to live with his son, American daughter-in-law, and grandson in a New York City suburb...

.

Lung enlisted in Chiang Kai-shek

Chiang Kai-shek

Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

's army

National Revolutionary Army

The National Revolutionary Army , pre-1928 sometimes shortened to 革命軍 or Revolutionary Army and between 1928-1947 as 國軍 or National Army was the Military Arm of the Kuomintang from 1925 until 1947, as well as the national army of the Republic of China during the KMT's period of party rule...

 as a teenager to fight the Chinese Communist Party. After they seized control of mainland China

Mainland China

Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...

, he escaped to Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, where he was selected to join an army-sponsored acting troupe. Acting later became his career. His experience playing an array of roles for the army troupe later led his being cast in over 100 Chinese-language films and in Taiwanese soap operas

Taiwanese drama

Taiwanese Drama refers to dramatic programming of television programming extended stories usually dramatizing relationships through the general range of ten to forty one-hour episodes. They are produced in Taiwan and have gained increasing popularity in the Mandarin-speaking community...

, typically playing criminals or tough guys.

He had already retired from films when Ang Lee began casting for his first full-length film, 1992's Pushing Hands, and the director, who recalled watching Mr. Lung as a child, asked him to play a father in the film. Lung's sensitive portrayal of an elderly man faced with change turned him into an international star and he became famous for playing fathers struggling with modernity and adult children in the movies known to some fans as the Father Knows Best trilogy.

By the time he appeared as "Sir Te," guardian of a mystical sword in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...

, Lung's health had deteriorated due to diabetes. He died of liver failure

Liver failure

Acute liver failure is the appearance of severe complications rapidly after the first signs of liver disease , and indicates that the liver has sustained severe damage . The complications are hepatic encephalopathy and impaired protein synthesis...

 in 2002 at the age of 72.

Select filmography

Year	Film	Role
2002	The Touch The Touch (2002 film) The Touch is a 2002 Hong Kong action/adventure martial arts film directed by Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon cinematographer Peter Pau and starring Michelle Yeoh, Ben Chaplin and Richard Roxburgh...
2002	Double Vision
2000	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...	Sir Te
1994	Eat Drink Man Woman Eat Drink Man Woman Eat Drink Man Woman is a Taiwanese film directed by Ang Lee and starring Sihung Lung, Yu-wen Wang, Chien-lien Wu, Kuei-mei Yang. Many of the cast had starred in Ang Lee's previous film, The Wedding Banquet with Sihung Lung and Ah Lei Gua once more playing central elderly figures, and Winston Chao...	Chu
1993	The Wedding Banquet The Wedding Banquet The Wedding Banquet is a 1993 film about a gay Taiwanese immigrant man who marries a mainland Chinese woman to placate his parents and get her a green card. His plan backfires when his parents arrive in the United States to plan his wedding banquet....	Mr. Gao
1992	Pushing Hands Pushing Hands (film) Pushing Hands is a film directed by Ang Lee. Released in 1992, it was his first feature film.- Plot :The story is about an elderly Chinese t'ai chi ch'uan teacher and grandfather who emigrates from Beijing to live with his son, American daughter-in-law, and grandson in a New York City suburb...	Mr. Chu

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