Stephen Soong (1919–1996), original name Soong Chi and better known by his pen name Lin Yiliang, was born in Wuxing, Zhejiang; his father, Soong Chun-fong, was an early teacher of drama at Yenching University. Soong graduated from Yenching University's department of Western languages in 1940 with an honours BA and stayed on as an assistant. In the 1930s and 40s he worked in Shanghai theatre, writing plays such as Jie Da Huan Xi and leading the well-known Jindu troupe. He moved to Hong Kong in May 1949, and from 1952 to 1953 edited the book-translation programme of the United States Information Service in Hong Kong. Writing under pen names including Lin Yiliang, he published widely, later collected in volumes of his essays. In 1955 he became one of four readers on the script committee of International Film Distribution, later reorganized as MP & GI, and it was he who introduced Eileen Chang to write for the studio. He also wrote screenplays for MP & GI including Nan Bei He (1961) and You Kou Nan Yan (1962), and in 1958 became head of production, overseeing films such as Kong Zhong Xiao Jie (1959) and Ye Mei Gui Zhi Lian (1960). In 1965 he joined Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd as head of its script committee. Invited in 1968 by the Chinese University of Hong Kong's founding vice-chancellor, Li Choh-ming, to serve as his special assistant, he helped establish the university's translation centre in 1971 and became its director in 1973. He also published on the novel Dream of the Red Chamber and on translation. He died in Hong Kong on 3 December 1996.
Stephen Soong ran script vetting and production at MP & GI and introduced Eileen Chang to the studio, helping bring a run of classic Mandarin films to the screen; in later years he helped found the translation centre at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and led it, publishing on translation and on the novel Dream of the Red Chamber.
Achievements
- 1940 · Graduated from Yenching University's department of Western languages with honours and stayed on as an assistant.
- 1955 · Was engaged as one of the script readers on International Film Distribution's script committee.
- 1973 · Became director of the Chinese University of Hong Kong's translation research centre.