Chinese Director Zhang Jizhong, 70, Reportedly Having 3rd Kid With His 39-Year-Old Wife

Chinese director Zhang Jizhong, 70, is reportedly having a third child with his 39-year-old wife Du Xinglin.

Jizhong is highly regarded in showbiz, having worked on wuxia classics like the 2003 drama, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, which was responsible for turning Liu Yifei into a household name, as well as its 2006 sequel Return of the Condor Heroes, which also starred Huang Xiaoming.

In recent years, however, the director has taken a step back from work, choosing to focus on his family instead.

The director married Xinglin, who used to work as his manager and assistant, in 2017. This is his third marriage. The couple has two kids together, a two-year-old son, and a one-year-old daughter.

Jizhong has two more kids from previous relationships.

He has a daughter from his first marriage, though not much is known about that union. The Chinese media have identified Jizhong’s eldest daughter as Zhang Yuxin, the CEO of Chinese media company, Mandala Media.

Then there's his six-year-old son Martin, who is often seen in photos with the director and his wife. However, Jizhong has not disclosed the identity of Martin’s mother.

Recently, Jizhong uploaded a short video on his Douyin account, featuring him, his wife, as well as their daughter. In that video, Xinglin appeared to be sporting a slight baby bump, despite wearing a loose-fitting dress.

A number of netizens then proceeded to leave comments on the video, wondering if Xinglin is indeed expecting again. However, Jizhong neither confirmed nor denied the news, choosing to reply with three rose emojis instead.

Netizens have speculated that the director’s reply is indeed a hint that Xinglin is expecting the couple’s third child.

While most congratulated the director for the good news, especially for being able to get a woman pregnant at his age, there were those who focused on the vast age difference.

“Wow, your granddaughter is so cute,” wrote one snarky netizen wrote about Jizhong's one-year-old daughter.

Photos: Zhang Jizhong/Weibo, Zhang Jizhong/Douyin