History of China’s Kung Fu Film 中国功夫电影

In 1905, China shot its first film, Ding Jun Shan, which was also considered as China’s first kung fu film by some people.

In the 1970s, China’s famous kung fu star Li Xiaolong (Bruce Lee) shocked the film circle, earning China’s kung fu film worldwide recognition.

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1920s-1950s: Early Stage of Kung Fu film

In 1928, the first golden age of Chinese film, Zheng Zhengqiu shot the film Huo Shao Hong Lian Si (Burning of the Red Lotus Monastery), which was adapted from a popular novel and raised a new tide of kung fu films. Until 1930, 18 sequels were shot.

Most kung fu films during that period were adapted from novels about gods and spirits and relied on stage-limited, artificial, inauthentic elements informed by the supernatural the characters were often sword sorcerers who threw magic darts and possessed special powers in the palms of their hands.

When talking about kung fu film, the “Huang Fei Hong” (Wong Fei Hong) films have to be mentioned. Wong Fei Hong was a famous martial artist and doctor of the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and early Republic of China (1911-1949). Although Wong died in 1924, he is lovingly remembered as a legendary folk hero largely because of the success of the Cantonese films that have maintained the legend.

Between 1949 and 1997, at least 100 Wong Fei Hong films were produced. They rejected the fantastic, stage-driven elements of the earlier martial arts films in favor of proper martial arts forms, genuine weapons, and authentic Chinese styles.

During the 1950s, the Hong Kong and Taiwan film industries established two kinds of kung fu films. One kind of films were adaptations of the heroic stories that happened late in the Qing Dynasty and early in the Republic of China (Huang Fei Hong movies are the representatives), and the other kind were “gods and ghosts” kung fu films.
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 1970s: Li Xiaolong ’s Times

From 1970 to the mid 1970’s, kung fu film strode into the Bruce Lee Era, with films like Tang Shan Da Xiong (The Big Boss), Jing Wu Men (Fist of Fury), Long Zheng Hu Dou (Enter the Dragon), and Meng Long Guo Jiang (Way of the Dragon), as well as his unfinished Si Wang You Xi.

Besides being high box office hits in Hong Kong, Li’s films also became the first Hong Kong films to enter the international market. Hence, a hot Chinese kung fu wind swept the whole world.

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 Late 1970s—Early 1980s: Two Genres Appeared

After Bruce Lee’s death in 1973, Hong Kong and Taiwan kung fu films struggled for a while but were later successfully revitalized by the introduction of humor that seemed more appropriate for contemporary comedies than for period epics.
 
In 1978, Yuan Heping directed the film She Xing Diao Shou (Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow), and cast Jackie Chan as the leading actor. They introduced humor into the fighting and plot, and initiate a kind of new genre — kung fu comedy.

Moreover, another Yuan Heping and Jackie Chan film, Zui Quan (Drunken Master), became a classic in kung fu film history.

In the same year, Liu Jialiang’s film, Shao Lin San Shi Liu Fang, made a great coup, with its massive depiction of shamans exercising martial arts.

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  1980s: New Kung Fu Film Grow Up

By the juncture of the 1970’s and the 1980’s, the output of Hong Kong and Taiwan kung fu films had decreased greatly. Fortunately, at such a critical moment, in 1979, Xu Ke (Hark Tsui) shot his first kong fu film, “Die Bian” (The Butterfly Murders), which refreshed the film circle and also started the history of Hong Kong movie’s new tide.

In 1981, the film Shao Lin Si (Shaolin Temple), directed by Zhang Xinyan, was innovative and significant in film history. It was the very first movie to use specialized martial arts athletes as actors and martial arts instructors. The use of steel wires, spring beds, stand-ins, and many other such stunts were abandoned.

Shao Lin Si had a high box office success in Hong Kong, and initiated a generation’s crave for kung fu. The giant kung fu star Li Lianjie (Jet Li) first got fame from this film.

In 1984, Xu Ke directed Shu Shan (Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain), in which Xu created a magical world, with the massive application of new technology and modern electronic music. Shu Shan made a great killing at the box office and created a new model for kung fu film.

During this period, Cheng Long, Hong Jinbao, and many other directors’ works, like Police Story and Project A, further paved a new road for kung fu films.

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  1990s: Kong Fu Film in a Free Style

Entering the 1990s, the ancient costume film regained the audience’s attention. In 1990, Xu Ke and Cheng Xiaodong’s Xiao Ao Jiang Hu, Xu Ke’s Huang Feihong, and Cheng Xiaodong’s Qian Nv You Hun, as well as Xu Ke, Cheng Xiaodong, and Li Huimin’s Xin Long Men Ke Zhan became the representative works in this period. These films usually have powerful and unconstrained fighting and rich imagination.

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 New Century: Chinese Kong Fu Conquer the World

In the new century, following the success of films, like Enter The Matrix, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, China ’s kkng fu film began to use a new way to conquer the world.

In 2002, Zhang Yimou’s Hero and House of Flying Daggers made a miracle in both China and America’s box offices, while at the same time bringing a visionary revolution to kung fu film.

In 2004, Zhou Xing Chi (Stephen Chow) blended old Shanghai movies’ tradition and cartoons elements into his film Kong Fu Hustle, which brought the kung fu comedy in to a postmodern period.