Tseng Jing-hua

Tseng Jing-hua (traditional Chinese: 曾敬驊; pinyin: Zēng Jìng-Huá; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chan Kèng-hôa; born 30 December 1997) is a Taiwanese actor from Yilan. He is best known for playing the character of Birdy in the 2020 film Your Name Engraved Herein, the highest-grossing LGBT film in Taiwan.^[1] He also appeared as Wei Chung-ting in the supernatural horror Detention, for which he received a nomination for Best New Performer at the 56th Golden Horse Awards.^[2]

In 2025, he won Best Supporting Actor at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards for his performance in Family Matters.

Education

In high school, Tseng was encouraged by his parents to play the saxophone as a member of his high school band and initially intended to pursue a career in swimming, but ultimately chose to study film instead.^[3] He chose to attend college at I-Shou University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree from its Department of Film and Television.^[4]

Career

In his first film role, Tseng played Wei Chung-ting, the main male character in Detention who "awakens awakens to the reality of Taiwan’s authoritarian regime" over the course of the film. Set in the 1960s, during the White Terror era, the 2019 production was a box office hit, becoming the only domestically-made movie that year to gross more than NT$100 million in its first week of release.^[5] Tseng was nominated for Best New Performer at the 2019 Golden Horse Awards for this role.

The next year, he co-starred in Your Name Engraved Herein as Birdy, one of the two male leads, alongside Edward Chen. The two characters fall in love as Taiwanese high school students in the late 1980s. The production became the highest-grossing LGBT film in Taiwan's history^[6] and was also reviewed positively by The New York Times, which lauded their "believable chemistry" and "pretty pining."^[7]

In the 2025 film A Foggy Tale, Tseng returned to an artistic work set in the White Terror era. He plays the protagonist's loving older brother 阿雲 A Yun ("cloud"), a soulful artist and political dissident, hiding in a sugarcane field in rural Chiayi to evade the authorities. A Yun uses his knack for charcoal illustrations and storytelling to entertain his younger sister, 阿月 A Yue ("moon"), and inspire her to pursue further education. A Yun's capture and subsequent execution by KMT secret police set in motion the protagonist's quest to retrieve his body in Taipei. All of Tseng's dialogue is in the Taiwanese language.

He also took on the role of serial killer Li Jen-yao, who confesses to murdering former classmates, in the 2025 Taiwanese Netflix production Had I Not Seen the Sun alongside Moon Lee and Alice Ko. The series delves into psychological trauma, school bullying, and criminal behavior, blending suspense with coming-of-age drama.

In the same year, he also played the role of Hsiao Tzu-hsia (Big Summer) in the movie Family Matters, for which he won Best Supporting Actor at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Short film

Music video appearances

• 2020: Crowd Lu - "Your Name Engraved Herein"
• 2020: Yo Lee - "One Who Will (Find Me)"
• 2022: A-Lin - "Best Friend"
• 2024: Terence Lam - "Nocturne"
• 2024: The Chairs - "Survivor"
• 2025: Young Posse - "Cold (ft. 10cm)"

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ Moon, Kat (2020-12-18). "The Real Events That Inspired Your Name Engraved Herein, Taiwan's Highest-Grossing LGBTQ Film of All Time". Time. Archived 2023-10-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
2. ^ Rosati, Adriana (2019-11-23). "All the Nominations of the 56th "Golden Horse Awards"". Asian Movie Pulse. Archived 2023-06-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
3. ^ Pillay, Navin (21 November 2024). "Taiwanese actor Tseng Jing-hua goes all out to immerse himself in his roles". The Straits Times. Archived 6 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
4. ^ "September 24, 2020 – Office of International and Cross-Strait Affairs of I-Shou University". Archived 2025-01-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
5. ^ Commonwealth (2019-10-17). "Taiwan’s New Box Office Hit ‘Detention’". Ketagalan Media. Archived 2020-01-05 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
6. ^ Moon, Kat (2020-12-18). "The Real Events That Inspired Your Name Engraved Herein, Taiwan's Highest-Grossing LGBTQ Film of All Time". Time. Archived 2023-10-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
7. ^ Bugbee, Teo (2020-12-24). "‘Your Name Engraved Herein’ Review: When Love Is All You Can See". The New York Times. Archived 2024-02-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
8. ^ "Wei Chung Ting". Detention Wiki. 2017-11-25. Retrieved 2020-12-29. Wei Chung Ting, referred to as Wei, is one of the main characters in Detention.
9. ^ "Detention (2019)". IMDb. 2019. Archived 2023-08-19 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-29. Wei Chong-Ting (as Chin-Hua Tseng)
10. ^ "Eye of the Storm (2023) Movie Ending Explained: Is Dr. Xia Infected Too?". 16 August 2023. Archived 16 August 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
11. ^ Chou, Tarina (2020-07-11). "【2020台北電影節】第22屆台北電影節雙競賽得獎名單公布！". Harper's Bazaar. Archived 2023-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
12. ^ Charlie Lee (September 11, 2024). "【2024金鐘獎】金鐘59完整入圍名單" (in zh-TW). Harper's Bazaar Taiwan. Retrieved September 14, 2024.

External links

• Tseng Jing-hua at IMDb