In the knight-errant film became popular in Hong Kong. Famous action star Bruce Lee(Li Xiaolong)(1940-1973) conquered people of all colors. Thanks to him, people all over the world knew “Chinese Kungfu.”
Film still from Burning Honglian Temple(1928-1930) Film still of Wu Lizhu from Guan Dong Da Xia(1930) Bruce Lee was a master in Kungfu. His original name was Li Zhenfan, and Xiaolong was his stage name. At age of 13, he became a student of Ye Wen,a Hong Kong master in Yongchunquan, and then went on to become a student of Shao Hansheng to learn Luohanquan and Tanglangquan.
At age 18, he went to the United States to study philosophy at Washington State University. In 1965, he established the first school of Chinese Kungfu in the US. In 1967, he named the Wushu he created “Jeet Kune Do,”which made Chinese Kungfu schools more complete.
Photo of performers and clerks from Shanghai Mingxing Company (1034) Xia Peizhen(1908-1975)(the first one on the front row from the right), Hu Die(the third one on the front row from the right), the director Zhang Shichuan (1889-1953)(in the middle of the back row) Movie Queen Hu Die(1908-1989) in1933 Huang Liushuang (1907-1961, the first one), the famous Chinese-born actress performing martial arts at Hollywood in 1930 Huang Liushuang, whose ancestral home was Taishan of Guangdong province, was born in Los Angeles. She became famous overnight by acting as a Mongolian bondmaid in the Thief of Baghdad. She came back to China many times for oting movies.
In 1971, Bruce Lee became famous overnight by playing a leading role in the film named The Big Boss. He then played the lead actor in the Fist of Fury, before taking a role in The Way of Dragon and Enter the Dragon. But, in both films, he not only acted, but also directed. On July 2o,1973, Bruce Lee died suddenly while filming the Game of Death. He died in acute brain edema and was buried at a memorial park in Seattle.
Bruce Lee played the roles of heroes who were masters at Kungfu dedicated to safeguarding the dignity of the Chinese nation. In each film, Bruce displayed his excellent Kungfu skills. The Way of Dragon included the most wonderful action shots of his films. This film has been made into an introduction film for learning Jeet Kune Do. In addition, it provides an example of competition between Chinese Kungfu and Karate.
Five years later after the death of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan (Cheng Long) became widely famous in Hong Kong.
Film still of Bruce Lee from Way of the Dragon in 1973 Film still of Jackie Chan from the Medallionin 1982 Film poster of Shaolin Temple in1981 Jackie Chan was originally named Chen Gangsheng. He was born in 1954 in Hong Kong though his ancestral home is Shandong. Because he lived a poor life when he was young, he was sent to the Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim Yuen. Ten years later, he became a master in Kungfu. At the age of 17, he became a stunt man and acted in Bruce Lee’s films. After that, he changed his name to Chen Yuanlong, and then to Cheng Long in 1976.
In 1978, Jackie Chan played the leading roles in the Eagles Shadow and Drunken Master, but he did not gain much success from these films. However in 1985, Jackie Chan directed the film Police Story, consolidating his dominance as an action star. Jackie Chan then went to Hollywood and became popular for his role in Rumble in the Bronx. Later, he directed Rush Hour and the Highbinders, becoming the most popular Chinese star with the highest box office value in Hollywood.
After the success of Jackie Chan, Jet Li(Li Lianjie), another man from the Chinese mainland,
rose to action movie stardom.
Jet Li is a Beijinger. He started to learn Kungfu when he young. From 1974 to 1978, he topped five consecutive National Wushu Championships and participated in performances abroad several times. In 1982, when he was 1g, he played the leading role in the film The Shaolin Temple, which was backed by Chung Yuen Motion Picture Co. The film, made on the Chinese mainland, included a number of national Wushu champions, and demonstrated the real Kungfu of China, surprising the world soon after its release. It set record box office returns in Hong Kong and was widely popular in both Asian and Western countries. It directly raised the enthusiasm for learning Chinese Kungfu around the world. The film essentially paved the road to fame and Hollywood for Jet Li.
In 1983, action films Wulin Zhi and The Undaunted Wudang were produced on the Chinese mainland. The leading actor of the former one was Wu Bin, then coach of the Beijing Wushu Team, and the leading actor of the latter one was Zhao Changjun,a national Wushu champion. Both films were instantaneously popular.
Hong Kong film director Lau Kar Leung directing actors during movie making in the 197os Lau Kar Leung is a famous martial artist, action director and film director. He takes the real martial art route after Bruce Lee and is also the first film director from action director. The left photo illustrates Lau Kar Leung directing John Chiang mantis boxing, while the right one shows him teaching Chia Hui Liu to use three-jointed pike.
In 2ooo, the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee, caused a huge international response, creating a martial arts film craze across the world. The film is based on the story of the same name written by Wang Du Lu. Ang Lee incorporated in the film the essence of Kungfu film and literary film, interpreting Chinese classical aesthetic tradition and emotional concepts from a new perspective. The film won many awards at international film festivals, and got the 73rd Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, gaining the highest international reputation in thehistory of Kungfu films. In addition, the film also had spectacular box office success, hitting more than $2oo million global box office revenues, the highest among the Chinese-language films ever.
After that, Hero, directed by Zhang Yimou, and Kungfu, composed, directed, and starred by Stephen Chow, also met with great success, with a global box office hitting more than $1oo million.
As for the popularization of TV action series, Hong Kong played a major role. Many Louis Cha novels were adapted and made into TV series shows. The most popular TV series shows produced on the Chinese mainland include the Swordsmen, The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (Eightfold Path of the Heavenly Dragon). All of these were met with a high audience rating. In fact, nearly all the actors played in these series were Kungfu laymen. But the popularity of these TV series did not last long.
Because most of the actions were performed using stunt skills, the series lacked authenticity-a common weakness of TV action series. Meanwhile, other adapted works took quite a different approach to the characters and plots compared to the books, diluting the historical and cultural connotations of the original works. Poor actors and actresses also further diminished the attraction of the TV series shows.
