Biography

Ms Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia is a celebrated icon of Chinese language cinema, whose body of work has been acclaimed by critics and delighted generations of audiences throughout Greater China and the world.

After graduating from Taipei’s Ginling Girls’ High School in 1972, she joined the film industry, where she immediately rose to stardom with her screen debut Outside the Window (1973), marking the start of her prolific and illustrious filmmaking career.

Ms Lin appeared in 100 films in a career that developed over two decades in three stages: from romantic dramas, epitomised by adaptations of Chiung Yao’s novels; through to comedies, with notable huge hits produced by director Kevin Chu; and finally to martial arts films, represented by Swordsman II (1992), a cinema classic directed by Tsui Hark, in which Ms Lin for the second time played a male character, after starring as Jia Baoyu in Li Han-hsiang’s rendition of The Dream of the Red Chamber (1977). Her impressive portrayal made her the synonym for the androgynous character Dongfang Bubai in Chinese-language cinema history. Her hundredth film was Ashes of Time (1994) directed by the iconic auteur Wong Kar-wai.

Ms Lin received multiple accolades over the years. She was named Best Actress at the 22nd Asia-Pacific Film Festival for her performance in Eight Hundred Heroes (1976), and again at the 27th Golden Horse Awards with Red Dust (1990). In 2018, she was awarded the Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement Award at the 20th Far East Film Festival, and an Honorary Fellowship by the SH Ho College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Ms Lin is also an accomplished author and has published four collections of prose: Inside and Outside the Window (2011); Cloud Goes, Cloud Comes (2014); In Front of the Lens, Behind the Lens (2020) and Ching-hsia Sketches (2022). Her third book In Front of the Lens, Behind the Lens was selected for the Recommended Prize in the essay category at the 16th Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature in 2022.

In recognition of her contributions to arts and culture, the University has resolved to confer upon her the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa.