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Richard James Havis

Hong Kong producer-writer-director Wong Jing churned out so many films in the 1990s that some were bound to succeed. The underrated gem The New Legend of Shaolin, starring Jet Li Lianjie, stands out as a highlight, marrying lighthearted comedy and above-average action to good effect.
The storyline, while simple, is logical and tightly structured, with highs and lows hitting the right beats. Moreover, Wong’s signature penchant for lowbrow comedy is deployed with restraint. When the cheesy jokes do occur, they fit neatly into the plot and actually land.
“As far as films by Wong Jing go, The New Legend of Shaolin rates far above average,” noted Paul Fonoroff in his Post review.
“Hong Kong’s most prolific writer-director, Wong has a knack for reducing every genre to its most common elements. The results may be derivative, short of originality and just plain vulgar, but Wong knows his audience.”


The New Legend of Shaolin performed well at the box office, even though audiences had become tired of the period martial arts films that had saturated local screens since 1990.
Li and Wong’s previous film, Kung Fu Cult Master, a convoluted retelling of wuxia giant Louis Cha Leung-yung’s The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre – better filmed by Chor Yuen in 1978 – was slapdash and flopped at the box office.
Wong had reportedly filmed enough footage for part two – the film ends on a cliffhanger – but had abandoned the project because of its poor reception.
Li knew he needed a change, but was not ready for the leap into modern-day action. So Wong created a remarkably different period character for him.

Sporting stern slanted eyebrows, Li plays a taciturn warrior who strives to uphold Confucian values, even when faced with deceit. He is sullen throughout and has none of the charismatic warmth of his Wong Fei-hung role in Once Upon a Time in China, for instance.
Li’s character, Hong Xiguan, is rooted in history and myth. According to folklore, Hong was one of the monks who fled the Southern Shaolin Temple when it was burned down by the ruling Manchus.
Hong went on, with his Shaolin brothers, to instigate a Han revolt against the Manchu dynasty, founding the popular Southern martial arts style Hung Ga along the way.
Wong uses this tale and the burning of the Shaolin Temple as the basis for his own spirited narrative. Unlike Chan Koon-tai’s portrayal in Chang Cheh’s Heroes Two, which also told the story of Hong, Li uses his wushu kung fu in The New Legend of Shaolin, rather than authentic Hung Ga.

Wong reasoned that local audiences would already know the story of Hong, and would enjoy the way The New Legend of Shaolin riffed on it.
The filmmaker’s main innovation was to have Li perform with a troupe of child martial artists. That was not a new concept, as Li had done so in 1984’s mainland-produced Kids From Shaolin, an unexpectedly cute and child-friendly follow-up to his star-making debut Shaolin Temple.
The breakout performer here is 10-year-old Xie Miao, a youth wushu champion, who plays Li’s son. Xie had a small role in 1993’s A Warrior’s Tragedy and was spotted by Wong, who quickly elevated him to co-lead status in The New Legend of Shaolin.
Xie was a remarkably skilful martial artist and a good actor, and he mirrors his screen father’s moods and movements with aplomb.

Choreographed by veteran Corey Yuen Kwai, the two form a formidable duo. Xie fights brilliantly on his own and beside Li, without stealing the show from Li – who remains the focal point – but certainly claiming his share of the action.
The story is an earthy play on the Shaolin legend, with the Imperial Qing troops destroying the Southern Shaolin Temple in search of Shaolin gold, a haul invented by Wong.
To safeguard the loot, the abbot had buried it and tattooed a treasure map on the backs of five young Shaolin disciples. All the kids need to be together for the map to make sense.
The quintet seek the protection of Li and Xie from Ji Chunhua’s monstrously deformed villain, who is working to find the gold for the cruel Manchu eunuchs. Adding the postmodern touch that was common to 1990s martial arts films, he drives a silver, Batmobile-esque vehicle.

One plot line was never enough for Wong, who throws in a subplot about Deanie Ip Tak-han and Chingmy Yau Suk-ching as a mother-daughter duo of con artists who milk sympathy – and cash – from onlookers when the former pretends to be a corpse.
The duo gradually becomes involved with looking after the Shaolin kids, in a narrative strand that develops in an unexpectedly careful fashion.
Except for Stanley Kwan Kam-pang’s art-house Hold You Tight, Yau was rarely given a central role in her films. But here, she is integral to the plot, effortlessly transitioning from martial artist to seductress to caring mother figure.
Ip, the most experienced of the acting leads, proves great value as a wisecracking mum who claims to one and all she was once a kung fu master like Hong – and then steps up when needed by single-handedly saving the children with her dart-throwing prowess.

After The New Legend of Shaolin, Li finally made the leap to modern-day settings with The Bodyguard from Beijing, a loose riff on Hollywood’s The Bodyguard that successfully melded gunplay, kung fu and teary melodrama.
Li and Xie worked together again as a father-and-son kung fu team in the smooth contemporary thriller My Father Is a Hero in 1995.
In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the careers of its greatest stars and revisit some of the lesser-known aspects of the beloved industry.
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Jet Li in a still from The New Legend of Shaolin, which married lighthearted comedy and above-average action in an underrated gem of a film.

A still from The New Legend of Shaolin, starring Jet Li Lianjie.

A promotional poster for The New Legend of Shaolin.

Xie Miao in a still from The New Legend of Shaolin.

Film director Wong Jing pictured in 1998. Photo: SCMP

Xie Miao (left) and Jet Li in a still from The New Legend of Shaolin

How Stephen Chow and Donnie Yen reinvented Bruce Lee’s classic Chen Zhen in their own ways

Donnie Yen in a still from the television drama series Fist of Fury (1995).

Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen in a still from Fist of Fury (1972). The character and his story have been retold with humour, heart and breathtaking martial arts in various ways. Photo: Criterion Collection

Stephen Chow (left) and Kenny Bee in a still from Fist of Fury 1991 (1991).

Stephen Chow in a still from Fist of Fury 1991 (1991).

Eddy Ko (left) and Donnie Yen in a still from the television drama series Fist of Fury (1995).

How Chor Yuen’s forgotten Hong Kong wuxia films mixed magic realism and complex heroes

Ti Lung in a still from Clans of Intrigue (1977). Photo: Celestial Pictures

Ivy Ling Po (centre left) and Wang Ping (centre right) in a still from Duel for Gold, a 1971 wuxia film from Hong Kong director Chor Yuen.

Chor Yuen pictured on a movie set in 1980. Photo: courtesy of Lo Yuk Ying

(From left) Richard Chen Chun, Lo Lieh and Ivy Ling Po in a still from Duel for Gold (1971).

Ti Lung (right) in a still from Clans of Intrigue (1977). Photo: Celestial Pictures

Derek Yee (left) and Ti Lung in a still from Jade Tiger (1977).

3 female action stars who ruled Hong Kong martial arts cinema alongside Michelle Yeoh

Kara Hui Ying-hung (left) and Hsiao Hou in a still from My Young Auntie (1981)

Cynthia Rothrock in a still from Righting Wrongs (1986), a Hong Kong action film directed by Corey Yuen Kwai that draws inspiration from violent US works like the vigilante movie Death Wish.

Cynthia Rothrock (left) and Karen Sheperd in a still from Righting Wrongs (1986).

Kara Hui (left) and Hsiao Hou in a still from My Young Auntie (1981)

Lau Kar-leung (left) and Kara Hui in a still from My Young Auntie

Shih Szu (left) and Chang Pei-pei in a still from Lady Hermit (1971). Photo: Shaw Brothers Studio

Cecilia Cheung: Hong Kong actress, sex scandal victim and Chinese social media star

Cecilia Cheung at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards in 2004. The actress’ personal life garnered a lot of attention in the 2000s, with tabloids covering scandals and her high-profile romantic life. Photo: SCMP

Cheung in 1999. Photo: Oliver Tsang

Cheung speaks after receiving the award for best new performer, as veteran actors Liza Wang and Danny Lee look on, at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2000. Photo: Martin Chan

Cheung and Nicholas Tse in 2001. Photo: Reuters

Cheung in a still from Lost in Time (2003), for which she won best actress at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards. Photo: China Star Entertainment Group

Cheung and Tse at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2011, the year they filed for divorce. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Cheung and Stephen Chow in a still from King of Comedy (1999). Her feature-film debut remains one of her most memorable roles. Photo: The Star Overseas

Cheung and her three sons. Photo: Weibo

Cheung in a photo she posted on her Weibo account in 2023. Photo: Weibo

Lifestyle

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Culture

Film & TV

Classic Hong Kong cinema

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Legendary Hong Kong action film director John Woo in 1990. Photo: SCMP

Famous Hong Kong action film director John Woo talks about his life and work in a 1997 interview. Photo: SCMP

John Travolta (top) and Nicolas Cage in a still from Face/Off.

John Woo during an interview in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Tony Leung (left) and Chow Yun-fat in a still from Hard Boiled (1991), directed by Woo.

Woo (left) shakes hands with actor Tom Cruise at a photo call in Tsim Sha Tsui in 2000.

Danny Lee (left) and Chow Yun-fat in a still from The Killer, a 1989 film directed by John Woo.

Woo in his office in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Woo on the set of Red Cliff, with actor Takeshi Kaneshiro.

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Lau Ching-wan in a still from Full Alert.

Lau Ching-wan hunting down an escaped robber in the mean streets (Bird Street) of Mong Kok in Ringo Lam’s 1997 movie Full Alert.

Ringo Lam, pictured in 1995. Photo: SCMP

Lau Ching-wan (left) and Francis Ng in a still from Full Alert.

Amanda Lee (front) in a still from Full Alert. Photo: Eureka Entertainment

Francis Ng in a still from Full Alert.

Ringo Lam in an interview with the Post in 1997. Photo: SCMP

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Lisa Lu in a still from Cecille Tong Shu-shuen’s The Arch (1970), considered to be Hong Kong’s first art-house film.

Cecille Tong and members of her staff at Joss, the Chinese restaurant she runs on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles.

Lisa Lu, who starred in The Arch and The Empress Dowager, poses with her daughter Lucia Hwong in 1978. Photo: SCMP

Lisa Lu in a still from The Arch.

Promotional stills for Sup Sap Bup Dup (1975), directed by Tong.

A scene from the 1974 film China Behind, directed by Tong.

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Bruce Lee in a still from The Way of the Dragon (1972). Photo: Criterion Collection

Bruce Lee in a still from The Way of the Dragon (1972), which he starred in and directed. Photo: Criterion Collection

Bruce Lee as Ah Lung (front) and Nora Miao as Chen Ching Hua in a still from The Way of the Dragon. Photo: Golden Harvest

Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee in a still from The Way of the Dragon. Photo: LCSD

Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in a still from The Way of the Dragon. Photo: Criterion Collection

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Interview with award-winning actress Maggie Cheung Man-yuk at Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Maggie Cheung at an interview with the Post in 2001. Photo: SCMP.

Maggie Cheung (left) and Cherie Chung in a still from Prince Charming (1984).

Maggie Cheung (left) and Andy Lau in a still from As Tears Go By (1988).

Maggie Cheung in a still from the 1996 film Irma Vep.

Maggie Cheung (left) and Tony Leung in a still from In the Mood for Love (2000).

Peter Chan’s early films, featuring the two Tony Leungs and Maggie Cheung, were a breath of fresh air in Hong Kong

Anita Yuen (left) and Leslie Cheung in a still from He’s a Woman, She’s a Man (1994).

A promotional image of He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Father (1993), starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai (first from right) and Tony Leung Ka-fai (second from right). Peter Chan Ho-sun’s early films “have an international, almost placeless feel” despite their local issues and references.

Film director Peter Chan Ho-sun in 1995. Photo: SCMP

Eric Tsang (left) and Leslie Cheung in a still from He’s a Woman, She’s a Man, the 1994 film directed by Peter Chan.

Fallen Angels: Wong Kar-wai on casting Leon Lai, Michele Reis, Charlie Yeung and Karen Mok against type in 1995 film

Michele Reis and Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from Wong Kar-wai’s Fallen Angels. Photo: Block 2 Pictures and Jet Tone Contents

Leon Lai in a still from Wong Kar-wai’s Fallen Angels, the 1995 film that was almost part of Chungking Express.

Wong Kar-wai in front of a promotional poster for Fallen Angels in 1995. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from Fallen Angels.

Leon Lai (left) and Michele Reis in a still from Fallen Angels.

Michele Reis in a still from Fallen Angels.

(Clockwise from top left) Charlie Yeung, Michele Reis, Leon Lai and Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from Fallen Angels.

Leon Lai plays a hitman in a still from Fallen Angels.

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Andy Lau in a still from Johnnie To’s Running Out of Time (1999).

Andy Lau, pictured with Helena Law at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2000, where he was named best actor for his role in Running Out of Time. Photo: SCMP

A still from The Mission (1999).

Lau Ching-wan (left) and Andy Lau in a still from Running Out of Time (1999).

Johnnie To in his Kwun Tong office in 1999. Photo: SCMP

Ekin Cheng in a still from Running Out of Time 2.

Likened to Hollywood hit Love Story, this film beat Jackie Chan, Jet Li at the Hong Kong box office in 1993

Anita Yuen (left) and Lau Ching-wan in a still from C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri.

Anita Yuen (left) and Lau Ching-wan in a still from C’est la Vie, Mon Cheri. It beat films starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li to become a box-office hit in 1993. Photo: courtesy of LCSD 

Film director Derek Yee Tung-sing giving a thank-you speech after being awarded the best director prize at the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards for his film, “C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri”. Photo: SCMP

Lau Ching-wan (left) and Anita Yuen in a still from C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri.

Winners at the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards pose for a group picture. From left in the first row are best supporting actor Paul Chun Pui, best actor Anthony Wong Chau-sang, best actress Anita Yuen Wing-yee, best supporting actress Fung Bo-bo and best director Derek Yee Tung-shing. With the exception of Wong, all the others worked on C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri. Photo: SCMP

Brigitte Lin’s first gender-neutral role, Sally Yeh’s butch Beijing Opera performer make Tsui Hark’s 1986 period comedy Peking Opera Blues highly enjoyable

Peking Opera Blues starring Brigitte Lin remains an enjoyable tale of espionage, Chinese opera and gender bending. Mark Cheng (left) and Brigitte Lin in a still from Peking Opera Blues. Photo: Peking Opera Blues

Playwright Raymond To Kwok-wai, pictured in 1994, was the screenwriter behind both Shanghai Blues and Peking Opera Blues. Photo: SCMP

Sally Yeh (left) in a still from Shanghai Blues, which was released two years before Peking Opera Blues. Photo: Hong Kong Film Archive

(From left) Brigitte Lin, Cherie Chung and Sally Yeh in a still from Peking Opera Blues. Photo: Peking Opera Blues

Tsui Hark, posing beside the poster for another of his movies, A Better Tomorrow III, in 1989. Photo: SCMP

Brigitte Lin (right) in a still from Peking Opera Blues. Photo: Peking Opera Blues

A change from Jackie Chan and Jet Li – Beast Cops’ Gordon Chan on how directing the Hong Kong gangs vs police film was not like his previous work

A still from Beast Cops. Photo: Handout

(From left) Sam Lee, Anthony Wong and Michael Wong in a still from Beast Cops, a Mong Kok-set gangs vs police action drama directed by Gordon Chan.

Best actress Sandra Ng Kwan-yu (left) and best actor Anthony Wong Chau-sang with their awards at the 18th annual Hong Kong Film Awards in 1999. Ng starred in Portland Street Blues and Wong in Beast Cops. Photo: SCMP

Jet Li in a still from Fist of Legend, the 1994 film directed by Gordon Chan.

Michael Wong (front) in a still from Beast Cops.

Directors Gordon Chan (left) and Dante Lam, pictured in 2006. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Anthony Wong, Kathy Chow and Michael Wong in a still from Beast Cops.

Anthony Wong in a still from Beast Cops.

Romance meets ghost story in Hong Kong movie masterpiece Rouge, starring Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung and directed by Stanley Kwan

Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung in a still from Rouge.

Leslie Cheung and Anita in a still from Rouge (1988), directed by Stanley Kwan, in which she plays a 1930s courtesan who returns 50 years later as a ghost seeking her lover, played by Cheung.

Anita Mui (centre) alongside Alex Man (left) and Elaine Chu in a still from Rouge.

Stanley Kwan in an interview with the Post in 1988. Photo: SCMP.

Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung in Rouge.

Made in Hong Kong, Fruit Chan’s take on grim reality of 1997 for many in the city, and how the groundbreaking independent film was conceived

Sam Lee in a still from Made in Hong Kong. Photo: Focus Films Limited

Sam Lee in a still from Made in Hong Kong, Fruit Chan’s 1997 film about the grim reality of life for many people in Hong Kong. Photo: Golden Scene

(From left) Wenders Li, Sam Lee and Neiky Yim in a still from Made in Hong Kong.

Fruit Chan (centre), winner of Best Director and Best Picture at the 3rd Golden Bauhinia Awards Ceremony, alongside actors Neiky Yim (left) and Sam Lee, in 1998. Photo: SCMP

Sam Lee and Neiky Yim in a still from Made in Hong Kong. Photo: Golden Scene

Sam Lee and Neiky Yim in Made in Hong Kong. Photo: Nicetop Independent

Why Boat People, starring Andy Lau and George Lam, Ann Hui’s hit film about post-war Vietnam, displeased the Chinese and French authorities

Andy Lau as To Minh in a still from Boat People (1982). Ann Hui intended the film to tell a human story that explained why refugees were fleeing Vietnam. Hong Kong film-goers saw it as an allegory of the city’s future under Chinese rule. Photo: Bluebird Film Company

George Lam (left) and Season Ma in a still from Boat People. Photo: Bluebird Film Company

Ann Hui won the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 77th Venice Film Festival in 2020. Photo: Reuters

A still from Boat People showing Vietnamese military personnel in the streets.

Andy Lau as To Minh (left) and George Lam as Akutagawa in a still from Boat People.

Andy Lau as To Minh in a still from Boat People.

What they said about In the Mood For Love: director Wong Kar-wai and stars Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung on filming the romantic drama

Maggie Cheung in a still from In The Mood For Love. Photo: Jet Tone Films

Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a still from In the Mood for Love, directed by Wong Kar-wai. Photo: Jet Tone Films

Tony Leung (left), Maggie Cheung and director Wong Kar-wai during the promotion for In the Mood For Love in Cannes, in 2000. Photo: AFP/Jack Guez

Maggie Cheung in a still from In the Mood For Love. Photo: Jet Tone Films

Tony Leung in a still from In The Mood For Love. Photo: Jet Tone Films

Tony Leung (left) and Zhang Ziyi in a still from 2046. Photo: Block 2 Pictures and Jet Tone Contents

Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung in a still from In the Mood For Love. Photo: Jet Tone Films

Jackie Chan focused on ‘real kung fu’ in Drunken Master II in reaction to shoddy ‘wire fu’ martial arts films of the early 90s

Jackie Chan in a still from Drunken Master II (1994). The movie focused heavily on real kung fu by real martial artists, as an antidote to the slew of shoddy ‘wire fu’ movies in the early 1990s.

Jackie Chan at an interview with the Post in 1994. Photo: SCMP

Jackie Chan in a still from Drunken Master (1978). Photo: Golden Harvest

Jackie Chan (left) on the set of Drunken Master II.

Jackie Chan (right) and Felix Wong in a still from Drunken Master II (1994).

Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle were not the films that made the Hong Kong comedian famous – so which ones did?

Stephen Chow as Trinket in a still from the film Royal Tramp.

Stephen Chow (left) and Ng Man-tat in a still from Royal Tramp. Critics called Chow 
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Stephen Chow at an interview with the Post in 1989. Photo: SCMP

Stephen Chow at a film shoot in 1989. Photo: SCMP

Ng Man-tat (left) and Stephen Chow in a still from All for the Winner.

Stephen Chow (left) and Anita Yuen in a still from From Beijing with Love.

Gong Li (left) and Stephen Chow pose for photographers to promote The Flirting Scholar in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Stephen Chow in a still from Shaolin Soccer.

‘I am not Jackie Chan or Chow Yun-fat’: Hong Kong actor Lau Ching-wan on why Hollywood doesn’t need him, bad guy roles, and The Godfather

Lau Ching-wan during an interview with the Post in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Lau Ching-wan during an interview with the Post in 1996. He reveals why he measures his English comprehension against The Godfather and why Hollywood does not need him. Photo: SCMP.

Leon Lai (left) and Lau Ching-wan in a still from A Hero Never Dies (1998).

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Full Alert (1997).

Lau Ching-wan (left) and Anita Yuen in a still from C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri (1993).

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Too Many Ways to be Number One.

Lau Ching-wan (third from left) in a still from Big Bullet (1996), directed by Benny Chan.

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Lifeline (1997).

Lau Ching-wan and his wife, Amy Kwok, pose for photographers on the red carpet of the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui in 2013. Photo: SCMP

What they said about The Killer: director John Woo and stars Chow Yun-fat and Sally Yeh on shooting the classic Hong Kong action movie

Chow Yun-fat and Danny Lee in a still from The Killer (1989), directed by John Woo.

Why Jet Li and Wong Jing’s 1994 martial arts movie The New Legend of Shaolin is underrated

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The 1994 cult classic The New Legend of Shaolin blends comedy, action and child martial artists in a fresh take on the Shaolin myth

The 1994 cult classic The New Legend of Shaolin blends comedy, action and child martial artists in a fresh take on the Shaolin myth