The Second Life (未检之名), a drama delving into a series of juvenile criminal cases, stars Huang Xuan and former child actor Mark Ma Boquan who’s now 20 years old. It is one of the first dramas to unveil its cast following China’s new regulations on billing order, seen as a move to prevent constant fan wars. Huang Xuan top bills the drama as Huang Zhengfei, a prosecutor who wields the law as his weapon while steadfastly upholding justice. Dedicated to protecting youths, he strives to help troubled teenagers find their way. Ma Boquan plays Bai Dongyang, a genius teenager with Asperger’s syndrome. Actress Lin Boyang plays Yan Xiaoning, a key figure whose journey reflects themes of growth while Zhao Qi rounds up the cast to play Zhao Yang.
New regulations for C-dramas scheduled to take effect on July 10, 2026 stipulate that only three billing categories may be used: “Lead Star”, “Special Appearance”, and “Cast”. Actors within the same billing category must be listed according to the number of strokes in their legal surnames, from fewest to most. If a stage name is used, it must follow the format “Legal Name (Stage Name).”
In the case of The Second Life, the show adopted some but not all of the rules. 41-year-old actor Huang Xuan was top-billed even though under the new rules, Ma Boquan whose surname Ma has fewer strokes should appear before Huang Xuan since they’re both lead actors. Meanwhile, Zhao Qi was credited as “赵琦(赵麒),” complying with the requirement of using both the “Legal Name (Stage Name)”. Given that the new regulations are only set to take effect next month, many are expecting to see the changes slowly adopted, especially among dramas with traffic stars where billing order is often an issue.
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Wendy
I think the new rules are good except for the requirement to use the legal name and have it shown in the credits. I suppose its written that way so that performers don’t suddendly start taking stage names with very few strokes in order to have themselves listed first; but I worry about the consquences of showing an actor’s/actress’s legal name next to the stage name. I always thought a stage name is a good way to protect the performer’s privacy, in the hopes that it makes it harder for random people to track the performer when the performer is not performing. Like a switch; ON the performer uses stage name for events/dramas/marketing, OFF the performer goes about everyday life like buys tickets/houses/food, etc. If I were famous I wouldn’t want a random pizza guy easily tracking my private activities because he easily knows my real name and not my stage name. I know it happens anyway to most stage named performers but I feel like maybe its less accessible when they have that extra shield of the stage name and the real name isn’t shown everywhere. As in, only the really obsessive know the performer’s real name vs the stage name and this rule makes a performer’s real name much more widely known. Actually, with this rule do you think performers will just stop taking stage names entirely since their real name will be shown anyway?
Una
I also think the new rules are very good. Those crazy fans really have nothing to do than to fight over the numbering sequence of their idols’ names. On the converse side, there are many idol celebrities who use their fan clubs to stir up such controversies, either because their egos are too big to take No. 2 or just to create some noise to hype up publicity for the drama, ie an artificially created controversy. This new rule using number of strokes will immediately eliminate this source of noise.
As to real name and stage name, I actually don’t think it makes any difference at all. All their real names are published anyway. Just look up any Wikipedia page on any celebrity. Many take stage names because it is supposed to bring luck, not because of any privacy considerations. In this very tough industry, they need all the luck they can get. Changing names also represented a break with old self. The current hot star, Zhang Linghe took on his current stage name when he changed career from engineer to actor. Many celebrities use their real names.
The Chinese believe that names have power to change your destiny. That’s why child naming is a serious matter. (My in-laws spent days just to name my children, poring over books, counting strokes, checking the alignment of meaning of each character and with their times of birth and animal signs.) They can adopt new names, or have nicknames (almost all chinese kids have nicknames) but they cannot change their official names registered with the government (unless it’s one of the recognised exceptions eg. adoption, or using mother’s surname) unlike in some western countries where it is so easy to change one’s name. In China, it is extremely difficult to hide behind false identities.
Wendy
Thank you for telling me that; I find it all very interesting and fascinating! The person who first got me into learning about China and Chinese culture is Zhou Shen (I just love his music!) and I saw online that his registered name is or was Zhou Xingxing or something like that. I’m not sure if he changed it if its hard to change the registered name. I also think it’s very important that parents/guardians do spend much thought into naming the child; I believe that a poor name choice harms a child’s growth (perhaps not by luck but by how people interact with the child; childhood bullying and confidence issues can definely develop simply based off of careless name choice). I’m reminded of a song by Johnny Cash ‘A Boy Named Sue’.
avarachika
interesting.
ChenMo
What you guys talking about? The billing rule only applies to the surname. People who use handles can still remain anonymous by keeping their first-name hidden.
Afterall there are billion ppl in China and only so many different surnames.
ChenMo
Hmm, about the biggest name changer is Jackie Chan. He changed his Chinese handle to “become dragon”, instead of Dragon Chan. My Dad still calls him Dragon Chan, not what he prefers to be called (“become dragon”). In-laws who obsess over their grandchilds name are just that — obsessive. Even Jackie Chan proved you can change your handle to whatever if you don’t like your birth name and the birth name has nothing to do with success in life.