Once Upon a Time in China

Once Upon a Time in China is a Hong Kong film and television franchise created and produced by Tsui Hark, consisting of six films and a television series released between 1991 and 1997. Tsui also directed four of the films and co-wrote the first five as well as an episode of the television series. The films and the series recount fictional exploits and adventures of real-life Chinese martial arts master and folk hero of Cantonese ethnicity Wong Fei-hung, who is portrayed by Jet Li in the first through third and sixth films and Vincent Zhao in the fourth and fifth films and the TV series, his apprentices Leung Foon, Kwai Geuk-Chat and Lam Sai-wing, and his love interest Siu-kwan, a fictional character created for the series and played by Rosamund Kwan in the films and Maggie Shiu on television. The first two films in the franchise were among the most popular of the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema (usually dated from 1986 to 1993) and were known for their depiction of Chinese nationalism as well as action choreography. The Once Upon a Time in China films were among Jet Li's best known hits at that time. Overview With Chinese folk hero of Cantonese ethnicity, Wong Fei-hung, as the main character, the films deal with the positive and negative effects of Western imperialism in China during the late Qing Dynasty. The second film features as a supporting character Sun Yat-sen, a revolutionary leader and founding father of the Chinese republic. Unlike the majority of Hong Kong action films, the Once Upon a Time in China series is clearly politicised. However, even with its clear showcase of Chinese nationalism, it also displays the inevitable nature of accepting western cultures, and the progression of China into the "modern" century. This theme is repeated through various actions of the characters, but prominently displayed through the character Master Yim, a Kung-Fu master who appears in the first film. Once, he boasted that his Kung-Fu could even withstand bullets, yet he is killed with them. His last words, said to Wong Fei-Hung, are "Martial arts cannot win against guns..." His character represents the dying of old traditions, and the begrudging abandonment of hand-to-hand combat.