Chinese martial arts cinema : the Wuxia tradition / Stephen Teo.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 200-213) and index.

Includes filmography (pages 214-219).

Introduction -- Wuxia from literature to cinema -- Reactions against the Wuxia genre -- The rise of Kung Fu, from Wong Fei-hung to Bruce Lee -- The rise of New School Wuxia -- The Wuxia films of King Hu -- Wuxia after A touch of Zen -- Wuxia between nationalism and transnationalism.

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on January 5, 2022).

This is the first comprehensive, fully-researched account of the historical and contemporary development of the traditional martial arts genre in the Chinese cinema known as wuxia (literal translation: martial chivalry) - a genre which audiences around the world became familiar with through the phenomenal 'crossover' hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). The book unveils rich layers of the wuxia tradition as it developed in the early Shanghai cinema in the late 1920s, and from the 1950s onwards, in the Hong Kong and Taiwan film industries. Key attractions of the book are analyses of: The history of the tradition as it began in the Shanghai cinema, its rise and popularity as a serialized form in the silent cinema of the late 1920s, and its eventual prohibition by the government in 1931. The fantastic characteristics of the genre, their relationship with folklore, myth and religion, and their similarities and differences with the kung fu sub-genre of martial arts cinema. The protagonists and heroes of the genre, in particular the figure of the female knight-errant. The chief personalities and masterpieces of the genre - directors such as King Hu, Chu Yuan, Zhang Che, Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou, and films such as Come Drink With Me (1966), The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), A Touch of Zen (1970-71), Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004), and Curse of the Golden Flower (2006).

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