Talk:Stephen Chow

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 10 January 2022 and 18 April 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Aierz, Chenchenyang z, Chloelyh (article contribs). Peer reviewers: RobinQAQ, Bruceyyds, Chengzhenli, Kexinma, Zhihan li.

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 14 January 2020 and 1 May 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Phuongdong0701. Peer reviewers: Pjbottam.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 10:11, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

His surname

Is his surname "Chiau" instead? A report on SCMP, the best selling English-language newspaper in Hong Kong, on Page C1 on November 24 used "Stephen Chiau". — Instantnood 16:21, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

He uses Chow in movie credit. But it is very possible that his official name on his ID card spells Chiau. It is also possible that it was a misprint on SCMP though very unlikely. Hong Kong took in millions of refugees from various parts of China when China opened its gate right after the civil war. The spelling of their names depends on the dialect of these refugee's origins. Many younger generation inherited the spelling of their father's names which were done without a standardized transliteration back in the refugee rush during 1940 and 1950. Chiau is a very uncommon spelling for his name. Note that when the Chinese refugees rushed to the British colony half a century ago, the majority of these refugees (except those who were exposed to Western influence in Shanghai) didn't know any English. i.e. the spelling of their own names was at the mercy of the workers/interpreters who handled their registration for the British government. There might or might not be a consistent transliteration system in use back then. Another factor is the origin of these refugees. The system in use might not work well with how the refugees pronounced their names in their own arcane Chinese dialect. Given the wide diversity of spellings of the same name, I would bet the transliteration back then was an arbituary thing.Kowloonese 01:55, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Google found 39K entries for Stephen Chiau and 1.9M entries for Stephen Chow. The former may be his lesser-known official name and the latter his stage name. Kowloonese 23:55, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

The news report was about a man who's convicted for keeping the lost identity card of Chiau. A possible way would be looking it up in the court proceedings. — Instantnood 19:14, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

It shouldn't matter too much which is his real name, as printed on ID. Many Chinese artists do not use their original name but adopt a screen name. What matters is how he is addressed by his fans. It truly makes no sense that the title of the page is Stephen Chow but he is constantly referred to within the article as Stephen Chiau.--Andi kan 04:27, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Not to belabor the point, but his "real" name is 周星馳. Everything else is an approximation of this name. "Chow", "Chiow" "Chiau", "Tshao", "Txiau" would all be attempts to toss together western sounds to approximate his name. Its kind of like reading street signs in Bangkok- you'll see a nearly infinite number of ways to approximate a single thai word using roman characters. Dxco 20:15, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

It really should be Chow uniformly, per all these comments. Chow is his trade name, whether or not it's "correct" (whatever that means). It is clearly the spelling which is most frequently used in English, and so we must go with it per WP:NC(CN). Barring any new ideas in this discussion, I will change it in a few days. Staecker 12:50, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

The triad connection

Is there any solid evidence on the claim of Stephen's triad connection? It is a serious accusation. If it is just hearsay, shouldn't it be deleted? Wilsonbond 18:58, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

I don't know the answer, but I am not surprised. Movie business means big money. It is common knowledge that the triad are involved in many cases. Some people theorize that it is the reason why an unproportionally large number of Hong Kong movies are about gangster, police story etc. because it is the subject these filmmakers are most familiar with. Kowloonese 02:06, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Guns are not allowed in Hong Kong, wich is the main reasson why the gang uses Axes. Something for wich the Triad is very noticeable for is the use of cuting weapons for intimidation.

Poor English

There's a few examples of poor English in this article that really need to be cleaned up. In some cases, I really have no idea what the author was intending to say. For instance, "In Stephen Chow's performance, mo lei tau scripts was once fashionable in Hong Kong." What does that mean?

Well, I guess it means "mo lei tau type of films were once more popular in Hong Kong" or something, (can't decipher Engrish...argh.) also, remember to sign your posts using four tildes. --Ericlaw02 16:26, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Another example is under the heading The Way to Success (which in itself is incorrect). "After graduated, he had starring as carefree for almost one year, in this period, a soldier belonged to Song Dynasty who just had two lines in The Legend of the Condor Heroes". Tenses, incorrect usage of words, plus if he only had two lines, what's the point of mentioning it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Voiceabove (talk • contribs) 22:49, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Professional career

"...continuing Chow's infamous tradition of introducing young female actresses ..." Why is "infamous" used here? Does scandal frequently result from this, or is this simply a matter of the wrong word being used here? ("infamous"=bad, "famous"=good).Dxco 00:46, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

I agree. Been months since that comment, so I just deleted the 'infamous'. Totally loaded word here, makes Chow sound misogynist or something. Beagle17 19:08, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

A check on Google shows that all other Web references to Chow playing "Black and white vampire" came from this Wiki entry. This needs a citation. Beagle17 19:05, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Quotes?!

Do we really need to have those quotes here? I don't think they give any meaning for normal readers of Wikipedia Rskoly 10:12, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

And the las ones aren't even translated. Leave that to wikiquotes. ViccoLizcano(unsigned)

Better Picture Please!

Someone should find a better picture of Chow that can be legally used. Half of his face is covered in this one! ask123 (talk) 20:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Journey To The West

Sony Pictures in collaboration with China Film Group [CFG] have given the go ahead to Stephen Chow to start work on Journey To The West with a budget of 100 million US. With Stephen Chow, Kitty Zhang Yuqi. An epic retelling of a 16th century Chinese literary classic. Mr Chow is currently in discussion with Will Smith star of I Am Legend to collaborate. [1] Blimey! Twobells (talk) 22:57, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Overhauling the article

There are serious problems with citation/sourcing, and I have marked as many spots that need footnotes as possible, as well as putting {{unreferenced}} templates up prominently. I have already removed the quotes section because it's not notable and is does not meet WP:NPV. The trivia section, as well as needing sources, also needs to be whittled down. Some entries there can be integrated into the Professional Career section (such as entries on directors with whom he has collaborated, and how most of his characters are named Sing), while others should be put into a new Biography or Early Life section that still needs to be written by someone. If the trivia section is not cleaned up soon in this way, I will probably start commenting out large chunks of it. --Politizer (talk) 14:20, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Unsourced material

The following is unsourced information:

• When he was young, Chow learned Kung Fu by watching TV because his parents couldn't afford lessons. He still enjoys watching instructional Kung Fu videos to this day. Chow learned Wing Chun as a youth, and is himself a huge fan of Chinese Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee, and his films often contain direct references to him. Chow was, for a time, the president of the Bruce Lee fan club in Hong Kong and had a statue of Lee built.
• There is often a cameo by an ugly bearded nose-picking cross-dresser in his films, and the role is almost always portrayed by Kin-yan Lee, a personal friend. This character is almost always called 如花 (literally means "Like a Flower") in these films.
• Chow often collaborated with Lee Lik-chee (李力持) and Vincent Kok (谷德昭), both actors and directors, in the early stage of his career.
• Chow is mentioned in the Regurgitator song "My Ego".
• Despite having a comic persona onscreen, Chow is known to be the opposite in the public eye, often maintaining a quiet and serious demeanor. Chow was reported to state that he does not consider himself a comedian.
• Chow is a big fan of the popular anime and manga series, Dragon Ball. Chow will also be the producer of a Dragonball movie based on the animated cartoon. The movie has been pencilled in for a worldwide release date of Aug. 15, 2008. However, this was later changed and the new release date appears to be for April 3, 2009.
• His total net worth as of 2006 is over 100 million USD, he gains most of his wealth through real estate. He is a good friend of Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau (劉鑾雄).
• There is a recurring "martial art" in a few of Chow's films which loosely translated means "Hitting the Cow Through the Mountain". In this unique move, Chow punches one person (usually frequent co-star Ng Man-Tat), but the force generated by his 'Chi' travels through this person and continues on to hit powerfully the person standing next to the one he initially punched, and often beyond. In God of Gamblers Part III: Back to Shanghai, he was able to punch someone across the street with this move, after creating an effect through some fifteen people.
• Most of his characters use part of his name, Sing.
• He is Seth Rogen's current choice to portray Kato in a film adaptation of The Green Hornet, but Chow's spokesman said the screenplay and style of the film has not been unveiled yet.

While this is interesting, we can't use it unless you provide a source. Also, none of this is really trivia, as trivia by its definition is "unimportant information" - it therefore shouldn't be in a trivia section but instead the information should be incorporated into the main article. - Tbsdy lives (talk) 11:43, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

some of these points you raise can be gleaned simply by watching the films - for example it is a fact that Kin Yan lee often portrays a cross dressing cameo - watching his films would show this fact, similarly Hitting the Cow can also be seen in many of the films. How can we cite source when watching the film is the source of these Chaosdruid (talk) 21:35, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Tbsdy is right; facts that you can figure out from watching enough films, but which you don't provide a reference for, are original research. In general, we shouldn't be telling a reader "X is true, go watch some movies and see for yourself"; we are supposed to be taking the time to do the research and get reliable sources for everything we want to say.

Personally, that Trivia had been bugging me anyway and I was ecstatic when Tbsdy took the initiative to move it to Talk. —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 00:05, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

a lot missing

a lot of the body of this page has been removed

can someone who removed most of it please tell me how to get some of it back in here as i think the pages have been cut down to almost nothing for someone who is so prolific

i understand the need for references, but as most of us in europe do not speak chinses (of any dialect) it might be difficult to achieve english written ref

in the article Wikipedia:WikiProject_Trivia_Cleanup it clearly states that many need cleaning up or removing and i would like to think that some of those trivial facts could be replaced as well as some of the information removed from the career section

Chaosdruid (talk) 21:59, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

The only way to get it back in here is to rewrite it with references. Not speaking Chinese doesn't excuse editors from using references. First of all, I presume the majority (though certainly not all) of people interested in Chow are Chinese speakers, and therefore should be able to navigate Chinese references if they want to; secondly, Chow has been covered pretty well in English media as well.

Anyway, I'm not sure what exactly you're asking for. The first half of your message is asking how we expand the article, and the second half is saying that you want information removed. —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 23:59, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

i am not chinese, i do not speak chinese i live in the UK. I cannot navigate chinese references.

yes chow has been covered well in the media in english yes, but it does not mean that these are valid sources for reference.

i think you misread my comments - the second half of my message is NOT asking to have things removed, "some of these trivial facts could be replaced" this means to put them back in - not to remove them

something which is obvious should not need an outside reference and yet when i asked for help to get material back in the only response is "needs references"

i will be specific - "there is often a crossdresser in stephen chow films" - this is true because after watching 50 of his films there are more than half of them with a cross dresser in it. It is always the same actor, often dressed in childrens style clothes.

how do i quote a reference for that ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chaosdruid (talk • contribs) 14:41, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

You can either find an outside source that says it, or watch the credits in a bunch of the movies and then in the article mention the name of the actor and list 3 or 4 of the movies where he's credited as the cross-dresser. If the credits are only in Chinese (which they may be for some of the earlier films) you'll have to get a Chinese-speaking friend to help you. I know the guy you're talking about, but I don't think I've seen him in several of the films. —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 15:41, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

thanks for the speedy responses

he tends to be in the earlier films before 1995 - i have some things going on here due to xmas but will get back to it later tday or tomorrow

i really just wanted to say thanks for the quick replies - i do not wish you to think i am against anything - just interested in getting some of those facts cited with ref where needed so we can progress Chaosdruid (talk) 16:54, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Yep, the latest one I saw him in was Shaolin Soccer...I don't remember him being in King of Comedy or some of the others, even though that particular one is pretty early. —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 17:12, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

sorry seem to have got a cold so may take longer than i thought lol

heres one for the crossdresser http://www.cinemasie.com/en/fiche/dossier/78/

and one for the early career in childrens tv as well as others http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/heroes/stephen_chow.html

ill post my comments here for ppl to look at and comment on before adding anything as may need some help citing properly

also may need to edit because of this new news - http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/24/arts/peepwed.phpChaosdruid (talk) 23:02, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

hi all sorry but was worse than thought - i have flu or stomach infection or both - hope to get in touch in about a week once over this (well thats what the doctor is saying) Chaosdruid (talk) 18:52, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I have tentatively added the first refs to opening para of career section - would appreciate if somebody could check i have done this correctly, as it appears that the refs i have added also need citations now lol

I have also tried to contact golden horse awards for confirmation of the wards received but it seems some of their email addresses are not working atm

Chaosdruid19:20, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Ok - i learnt something new !! lol

I have cleaned up the references after learning how to quote the ref number more than once instead of duplicating the same ref 4 or 5 times

I'll get onto the other bits and pieces later this week after hopefully finding out how to contact the golden horse and HKKIFL

Chaosdruid (talk) 15:04, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

亲爱的周先生

我第一次用，只是打酱油的。 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 120.236.174.168 (talk) 15:46, 15 November 2016 (UTC)

and in English? Govvy (talk) 14:51, 9 December 2016 (UTC)

why split into two tables?

To the Chinese IP, Credits for director and producer should be combined into one table like I have done, why do you continue to revert? Why did you remove his credit from Dragon Ball film? I put a column in there for notes. It makes it easier to understand instead of splitting the information and repeating it. Govvy (talk) 14:54, 9 December 2016 (UTC)

Hello to the editor who reverted me again? What reason do you repeat the information in the format you reverted back too??? Govvy (talk) 15:03, 10 December 2016 (UTC)

"Net worth"

You just delete breakdown of his assets. You can see the IP https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephen_Chow&diff=807334613&oldid=807298484

On being asked to do so via my talk page, I looked into English language sources reporting Chow's net worth, and found values ranging from 30 to 245 million USD[2] other source is blacklisted page en.mediamass .net/people/stephen-chow/highest-paid.html, but no specific figure from what I might call reliable sources. It is my conclusion therefore that this datum be best left out of the article, and other relevant information such as box office performance, reported instead.

I'll also repeat here the following information, which I found relevant: The article to this point has stated his net worth as 1 billion USD, likely inflated if we consider that Forbes reported his 2014 earnings to be 10 million yuan[3] - less than 2 million USD at today's exchange rate. That said, it's possible that box office performance of Mermaid gave his net worth a considerable push, but I did not see it reported exactly by how much, or what the final value (net worth) would be. Samsara 20:25, 26 October 2017 (UTC)

周星驰身家60亿 http://news.china.com/socialgd/10000169/20170328/30365048.html , 6 billion RMB = 950 million USD. Everyone in CN know he is very rich and call him king of house. Wincem 10:00, 27 October 2017‎ (UTC)

There is no english page because his companies, houses and land inside CN, not outside. English page only kown his few film and think him just a common star. Right? Wincem 10:29, 27 October 2017

First problem is 6 billion RMB = 901 million USD, second problem, it doesn't add up, that figure is too round, too perfect to be true. There is no breakdown of his assets, I am sure he is very wealthy, but without clear and precise information from a trusted news source then it should be removed. I considered china.com a tabloid and an unreliable news source. Govvy (talk) 10:52, 27 October 2017 (UTC)

Is Sina an unreliable news source? The time is 2015-05-26: 周星驰60亿身家 http://edu.sina.com.cn/bschool/2015-05-26/1033470195.shtml

Your 1st problem is time 2015-05-26: 6 billion RMB = 982 million USD http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/article/i/jshz/rlzykf/201505/20150500983241.shtml

Please remember WP:OR. You need a reliable source that pretty much says, "Stephen Chow's net worth is X currency". China.com strikes me as a bit of a tabloid, and we don't consider those reliable. I do not yet have an opinion on edu.sina.com.cn, except that Google Translate only gave me a partial translation as far as the 6 billion figure is concerned. Samsara 14:10, 27 October 2017 (UTC)

So if you know chinese you must know his 6 billion RMB just common thing. Just like other chinese already knew. sohu Economics： http://www.sohu.com/a/122105134_481715 周星驰60亿资产 Sina: http://edu.sina.com.cn/bschool/2015-05-26/1033470195.shtml Sohu: http://www.sohu.com/a/108431163_148329 masses： http://www.dzwww.com/yule/yulezhuanti/yanpo/201612/t20161201_10854930_1.htm

@Alex Shih: Can you shed any light on this? Samsara 13:57, 28 October 2017 (UTC)

• @Samsara: Thanks for the ping. To start off, none of these "sources" properly cite where their information are from. The "6 billion" number here is not a verifiable number, rather it is more closer to figurative speech, which is commonly employed in Chinese media (from American perspective, it's similar to Donald Trump's claim of net worth "in excess of $10 billion", figurative speech). Let me break this down. The sites are reputable, but these pages are not reliable sources.

• China.com Tabloid indeed. Does not cite their sources, and the focus of the story is not on the net worth of Stephen Chow, rather it is focused on his rides. Not reliable.
• Sina.com: This is an opinion piece. Does not cite their sources, except for the last line saying (资料来源于网络), which means "information are from the Internet". Not reliable.
• Sohu.com: Another opinion piece, posted by an "verified account" (accounts can be verified through the process outlined here). Limited editorial oversight, and does not cite their sources. Not reliable.
• Dzwww.com: Same as the China.com piece.

• In conclusion, it's more about verifiability, not truth. I agree with you that we should only be using the Forbes source. The non-verifiable net worth certainly does not belong in the lede of this article. It's also certainly a blatant violation of WP:OR to take non-verifiable number and unilaterally translate it to US dollar. Cheers, Alex Shih (talk) 16:03, 28 October 2017 (UTC)

Then it's agreed what I originally thought, that the statement on net wealth shouldn't be used as the sources seemed unreliable. I had concerns about the reliability of the information provided that's why I asked Samsara opinion. I don't even trust the Sunday Times richlist for accuracy, I would only accept Forbes for this type of information. Govvy (talk) 17:23, 28 October 2017 (UTC)

PART1: US$400million http://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1563213892423772&wfr=spider&for=pc

PART2: US$300million http://www.huaxia.com/zhwh/whrw/rd/2013/02/3218946.html

PART3: US$300million http://www.zaobao.com/consumer/property/hdb/story20131121-279065

PART4: US$100million http://www.china.com.cn/cppcc/2016-02/23/content_37851899.htm

http://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1553130405269756&wfr=spider&for=pc Stephen Chow's net worth is US$950 million

His most money inside land and houses. Film only part of it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wincem (talk • contribs)

@Wincem: First of all, please sign your post with ~~~~. Now, let's take a look at these links again. Part 1: Nothing about net worth, only speculation about companies. User-generated content, please see WP:UGC. Part 2: Qianjiang Evening News, tabloid. Article is about him making investment. Nothing about net worth. Part 3: Same as above, not talking about net worth. Part 4: Another unverifiable tabloid about his earnings from a film. Not about net worth.

We do not permit original research here on English Wikipedia. Alex Shih (talk) 02:09, 29 October 2017 (UTC)

External links modified

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Hatnote

Per WP:SIMILAR "Mention other topics and articles only if there is a reasonable possibility of a reader arriving at the article either by mistake or with another topic in mind." I've been trying to keep a hatnote to distinguish this person from Stephen Chao, American television producer. Chow and Chao have been pronounced the same in English. There's even links to each other in the Chow (disambiguation) and Chao (disambiguation) pages. AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 15:25, 7 September 2019 (UTC)