Wong Fei Hung



Wong Fei Hung (July 9, 1847–March 25, 1924) was a martial artist, healer, and revolutionary who became a Chinese folk hero and the subject of numerous television series and films.

As a healer and medical doctor, Wong practiced and taught acupuncture and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine at 'Po Chi Lam' (寶芝林), his clinic in Foshan, Guangdong Province, China, where he was known for his compassion and policy of treating any patient. A museum dedicated to him was built in Foshan.

Amongst Wong's most famous disciples were Lam Sai Wing, Leung Foon, and Ling Wan Gai. He was also associated with Chi Su Hua, aka the Beggar So.

Early years
Legend has it that Wong Fei Hung was born in Foshan on the ninth day of the seventh month of the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Emperor Daoguang (1847). When Wong was five, he began his study of martial arts under his father Wong Kei Ying. To supplement his poor family's income, he followed his father to Foshan, Guangzhou and throughout the rest of Guangdong Province to do martial arts performances and to sell medicines.

Well within his youth, Wong began showing great potential as a martial artist. At the age of thirteen, while giving a martial arts demonstration at Douzhixiang, Foshan, Wong Fei Hung met Lam Fuk Sing, the first apprentice of Tit Kiu Saam, who taught him the "tour de force" of Iron Wire Fist and Sling, which helped him become a master of Hung Gar. When he was sixteen, Wong set up martial arts schools at Shuijiao, Diqipu, Xiguan, Guangdong Province, and then opened his clinic 'Po Chi Lam' (寶芝林) on Renan Street in Foshan. By his early 20s, he was fast making his mark as a highly-respected physician and martial artist.

Later years
As a famous martial arts master, he had many apprentices. He was successfully engaged by Jiming Provincial Commander-in-Chief Wu Quanmei and Liu Yongfu as the military medical officer, martial art general drillmaster, and Guangdong local military general drillmaster. He later followed Liu Youngfu to fight against the Japanese army in Taiwan. His life was full of frustration, and in his later years he experienced the loss of his son and the burning of Po Chi Lam. On lunar year, the twenty-fifth day of the third month in 1924, Wong Fei Hung died of illness in Guangdong Chengxi Fangbian Hospital. His wife and two of his prominent students, Lam Sai-Wing and Tang Sai-King, moved to Hong Kong, where they continued teaching Wong's martial art. Wong became a legendary hero whose real-life story was mixed freely with fictional exploits on the printed page and onscreen.

As a martial artist
Wong was a master of the Chinese martial art Hung Gar. He systematized the predominant style of Hung Gar and choreographed its version of the famous Tiger Crane Paired Form Fist, which incorporates his "Ten Special Fist" techniques. Wong was famous for his skill with the technique known as the "No Shadow Kick". He was known to state the names of the techniques he used while fighting.

Wong Fei Hung also became adept at using weapons such as the wooden long staff and the southern tiger fork. Soon after, stories began circulating about his mastery of these weapons. One story recounts how he defeated a 30-man gang on the docks of Canton using the staff.

Wong is sometimes included in the Ten Tigers of Canton (ten of the top martial arts masters in Guangdong towards the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), a group to which his father Wong Kei Ying belonged).

Film
There was a Wong Fei Hung film series in Hong Kong from the late 1940s into the 1960s; it consisted of 99 movies. The star, Kwan Tak Hing, gained the nickname "Master Wong" due to his participation in the series. Some sources state that it is the most prolific movie series ever, and that Wong Fei Hung is the most portrayed character in movie history. Wong Fei Hung has been played by Jackie Chan (as a trouble-making youth in Drunken Master and Drunken Master II), Jet Li (as an adult contending with European influence on China in the Once Upon a Time in China series and in the comic tale Last Hero in China) and Sammo Hung (in Jackie Chan's Hollywood movie Around the World in 80 Days). The character of Wong Fei Hung also appeared as a child (played by actress Tsang Sze-man) in the movie Iron Monkey alongside his father (played by Donnie Yen).

Because it was used as the theme song of the films, the Chinese folk song On the General's Orders (將軍令) is now associated with Wong Fei Hung, as is A Man Should Better Himself (男兒當自強), arranged by the late Wong Jim to On the General's Orders.

A short list of films portraying Wong Fei Hung is as follows:


 * Challenge of the Masters (1976), played by Gordon Liu.
 * Drunken Master (1978), played by Jackie Chan, with Yuen Siu Tien as the Beggar So.
 * Magnificent Butcher (1979), played by Kwan Tak-Hing. Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Wei Pak starred as Wong's disciples, Wing, Foon and Chik.
 * Once Upon a Time in China (1991), played by Jet Li. This is the first in a series of six films about Wong Fei Hung.
 * Great Hero From China (1992), played by Chin Kar-Lok.
 * Iron Monkey (1993). The young Wong Fei Hung is played by female martial artist Tsang Sze-Man. Donnie Yen portrays Wong's father.
 * ''Once Upon a Time in China IV & V (1993) played by Zhao Wen Zhou
 * Legend of Drunken Master (1994), played by Jackie Chan. Ti Lung portrayed Wong's father.
 * Drunken Master Killer (1994), played by Willie Chi.
 * Last Hero in China (1995), played by Jet Li.
 * Around the World in 80 Days (2004), Sammo Hung has a brief appearance as Wong Fei Hung.
 * Shao Nian Huang Fei Hong (TV series, 2002), China.
 * My Master is Wong Fei Hung (TV series, 2004), Hong Kong.

For a more extensive list, see List of Wong Fei Hung films.

Others
The character of Lee Rekka from SNK's Last Blade series is based on Wong Fei Hung as portrayed by Jet Li in the Once Upon a Time in China series.

The lead character of Fei Fong Wong from the Squaresoft video game Xenogears is based off Wong Fei Hung.

In author Will Thomas' third mystery novel, The Limehouse Text, his Victorian detective, Cyrus Barker, trained in Canton under Wong Fei Hung.

Stan Sakai has remarked that he would like to include Wong Fei Hung (or a character based heavily on him) in his long-running anthropomorphic comic series Usagi Yojimbo.