Shi Xiaolong is a childhood memory of many people.
He created one classic kung fu image after another on the screen, little monk, Zhan Zhao, all of which were remembered by everyone.
Countless people have high hopes for him, believing that he can take over the baton of Jackie Chan Jet Li and become the mainstay of a new generation of kung fu superstars.
But Shi Xiaolong himself didn't think so.
During the most popular period, he chose to quit the entertainment industry and went to the United States to study.
This is six years, and when I come back, I have missed the best opportunity for development and ambroken.
Some people say that It is a wise choice for Shi Xiaolong to maintain a sober mind at the peak and retreat from the rapids to improve his academic qualifications.
However, if you peel back his life history, you will find that the reason why he left his hometown in the first place is not as simple as we think.
Before going abroad, although he was famous all over the country and well-known, he was very tired, and this was not the life he wanted.
One
Before the age of 2, Shi Xiaolong's name was also called Chen Xiaolong.
In 1988, Chen Xiaolong was born in Dengfeng, Henan, the "hometown of martial arts".
Coupled with the family's generations of martial arts training, he has shown outstanding martial arts talent since he was a child.
Not only can you see all kinds of moves once, but also have a look in the movements, and the play is more standard than some martial arts students.
All this was seen by his father, Chen Tongshan, who expected Chen Xiaolong to be a good seedling for practicing martial arts, so he took him to devil training.
It is worth mentioning that Chen Tongshan at that time was the coach of the Shaolin Martial Arts School, and his training style was notoriously fierce.
All of his students were afraid of him, and these students suffered far more than the students trained under other martial arts instructors.
In this regard, Chen Tongshan firmly believes that he is only severe, under pressure to produce talents, so he has not corrected his style.
And perhaps it was precisely because of this that that tragedy that led to the occurrence of that tragedy in the future.
However, at that time, Chen Tongshan could not predict the future.
He put the strictness of the students on his son, even more fiercely than the students.
Whether his son can practice well and how high his achievements are also representative of his face in school and martial arts circles.
Every day before dawn, Chen Tongshan dragged Chen Xiaolong out to practice basic skills, running, splitting forks, lower waist, rain or shine.
If the latter is lazy, he will punch and kick and beat his son to bruises.
At that time, Chen Xiaolong was not yet 1 year old and had just learned to walk.
At first, Chen Xiaolong couldn't get down because he didn't understand the correct fork method.
Chen Tongshan pressed him down hard, the means were simple and rude, and Chen Xiaolong's tears in pain flowed.
But this did not exchange for the comfort of his father, but rather a harsh criticism.
"Manly husband, bleed without tears!"
Such cruel training made many people feel unbearable, including Chen Xiaolong's mother.
Only Chen Tongshan believes that this level of training is far from enough.
Therefore, when Chen Xiaolong was 2 years old, he ruthlessly sent him to the Shaolin Temple and began more demanding closed training.
In this regard, Chen Xiaolong and Shaolin martial arts were officially married, and they learned for 13 years.
The long-term practice life deprived Chen Xiaolong of his normal childhood, but it also laid a solid foundation for his future popularity and popularity.
At the same time, he also worshiped the abbot Shi Yongxin as his teacher, and was given the dharma name by the latter: Shi Xiaolong.
Two
At the Shaolin Temple, Shi Xiaolong's martial arts talents were unleashed.
In just one year, he learned the three major punches of Tong back fist, drunken fist and five element fist.
More proficient in sword and stick and other weapon routines, whenever he competes with his brothers, he always plays the best looking one.
Because of this, when Shi Xiaolong was 3 years old, he was qualified to accompany the Buddhist culture delegation of the Songshan Shaolin Temple to visit Taiwan Province.
And took this opportunity to get a stepping stone to enter the show business circle.
At the performance meeting held by the visiting group, the youngest Shi Xiaolong showed the most amazing professional ability.
Whether it is a knife or a stick, or a boxing technique, all of them are played cleanly and neatly, causing the whole hall to exclaim and cheer continuously.
In this way, he left a deep impression on many people.
Including the great director who was extremely famous in Taiwan at that time, Zhu Yanping.
At that time, Zhu Yanping had just finished filming the last part of the "Good Boy" series, which was starred by three kung fu child stars, and after the release, it was applauded and sold, and Zhu Yanping also earned a lot of money by relying on it.
Zhu Yanping, who tasted the sweetness, planned to continue to work hard, but the three leading actors finally parted ways because of their soaring value, and Zhu Yanping had to look for a new protagonist.
At first, his idea was to find a few alternatives and continue to make "Good Boy".
But after meeting Shi Xiaolong, Zhu Yanping's thoughts changed.
From the former, he saw a whole new possibility of making money.
The first time the two met, Shi Xiaolong was only 3 years old,
Looking at the entire film and television circle, it is impossible to find such a young kung fu child star, even the three small actors he looked for when filming "Good Boy" were all over ten years old.
That alone is enough to fill up the gimmick.
Coupled with the cute appearance of Shi Xiaolong's milk and the routine of the hard bridge and hard horse, these are the advantages that the three leading actors of "Good Boy" did not have.
Zhu Yanping almost expected that after Shi Xiaolong's participation in the film, the box office would explode.
Therefore, he directly gave up the IP of "Good Boy", rewrote the script, and tailored a new film for Shi Xiaolong.
Unfortunately, due to various factors and some force majeure effects, Zhu Yanping's plan did not succeed at the beginning.
He and Shi Xiaolong really reached a cooperation two years later.
In 1993, Zhu Yanping personally went to Dengfeng to discuss with Chen Tongshan about letting Shi Xiaolong step into the show business circle.
At first, Chen Tongshan considered the child's young age and was a little hesitant.
But at that time, he was carrying forward the expectations of his ancestors to promote Shaolin martial arts, and he urgently needed money to expand his influence, so after several struggles, he still reached a cooperation with Zhu Yanping.
In this way, two people got one person, one got the money, and everyone was happy.
But Shi Xiaolong, who is an important link, is like a pawn at the mercy of others, no one takes care of his emotions, and can only obey.
This also laid the groundwork for his future discord with his father.
Three
In the same year, under the leadership of his father, 5-year-old Shi Xiaolong signed a contract with Taiwan's Changhong Film and Television Company, officially opening his own film and television circle.
His first play was "Laughing Forest Boy", in order to start this door-opening cannon, Zhu Yanping paid a huge amount of painstaking efforts.
Not only invited Lin Zhiying, the "little whirlwind" who was red and purple at the time, to star, but also found a partner for Shi Xiaolong, Hao Shaowen.
Facts have proved that Zhu Yanping's casting level is indeed very high.
As soon as Shi Xiaolong and Hao Shaowen cooperated, they immediately produced a wonderful chemical reaction.
One of the two is responsible for playing cool and selling cute, the other is responsible for playing treasure funny, after the release of "Laughing Forest Boy", it immediately gained extremely high popularity, and many viewers remembered these two cute little guys.
However, the Taiwanese media questioned the film.
They think that Shi Xiaolong is only 5 years old, and he shoots kung fu movies, not to mention the danger, but also bitter and tired, some are not suitable.
What's more, this matter was elevated to Zhu Yanping's character, saying that in order to make money, he did not care about the actor's life or death.
When "Good Boy" was first filmed, the lead actor was only eleven or twelve years old, and now it is even more excessive, looking for a 5-year-old child.
The power of public opinion should not be underestimated, and for a moment, Zhu Yanping was pushed to the cusp of the storm, and no matter how he defended, it was of no avail.
At this time, the appearance of a person helped Zhu Yanping resolve this crisis.
His name was Wu Dun, and he was the boss of Changhong Film and Television Company at the time, but this was just one of his multiple identities.
Wu Dun's biggest identity is that he is the chief protector of the Bamboo Gang, one of the three major gangs in Taiwan, and he has a very heavy right to speak in both black and white in Taiwan.
After the release of "Laughing Forest Boy", the box office exploded, and he also saw the strong commercial value of Shi Xiaolong.
So when Zhu Yanping was "tragically blacked" by the Taiwan media, Wu Dun appeared and said that he had adopted Shi Xiaolong as a dry son, and no matter what scene he filmed, he would protect him with the greatest strength.
At the same time, He also invited Shi Xiaolong's father to supervise the work of the crew.
If the former thinks that an action is dangerous, it will be deleted directly and will not be filmed again.
These remarks seem to be a promise to the outside world, but in fact, they are knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger, warning the Taiwan media not to be nosy.
And the fact is also as Wu Dun expected, after he came forward, the Taiwan media immediately dumbfounded, did not dare to raise criticism again.
Zhu Yanping was able to withdraw from the whirlpool of public opinion and concentrate on filming.
However, at that time, Shi Xiaolong, because he was homesick and did not want to suffer hardships, was actually unwilling to continue filming.
As a result, this wish was ruined by Wu Dun's intervention.
Later, the crew invited his father Chen Tongshan, which made him see a glimmer of hope again.
However, this time, the father did not side with him, but was more ruthless than the rest of the crew.
When filming, there are many actions to hang Weiya, Zhu Yanping and Chen Tongshan discussed to find a stand-in for Shi Xiaolong.
Unexpectedly, Chen Tongshan actually refused.
He said, "Boy, this bit of suffering can be eaten." ”
Even his biological father said so, and Shi Xiaolong had to fight himself.
But hanging Weiya is really hard, and in addition to completing his own shots, Shi Xiaolong also has to make a stand-in for Hao Shaowen's martial arts shots.
After a few scenes, Shi Xiaolong was injured and couldn't help but cry.
All this was seen by Chen Tongshan, and instead of comforting him, he rebuked him:
"Don't cry, aren't you a man?"
Such a desperate act, even Zhu Yanping could not see it anymore.
He let Shi Xiaolong rest and heal his injuries, and said to Chen Tongshan: "At such a young age, what a man." ”
The super intense pressure, although it made Shi Xiaolong suffer a lot, but it ensured a very high degree of completion of the film.
The image of him holding a pacifier has become a screen classic, and his partner with Hao Shaowen has also become a childhood memory of countless people.
In addition, his value has also soared in just a few years, and the partners of cooperation have become more and more popular.
At its peak, I can even play against superstars like Jackie Chan and Andy Lau.
Yang Ziqiong and Zhen Zidan, on the other hand, could only act as green leaves at that time, matching Xiaolong.
At that time, Shi Xiaolong was undoubtedly the brightest child star,
There are countless journalists and fans on the doorstep, and they are all watched.
But Xiaolong himself was not happy because of this.
In the end, he is just a child, more than the aura and honor, or more eager for the companionship and love of his parents, as well as normal school life.
To this end, Shi Xiaolong made his wish to his father countless times, hoping to stop filming and go home to school.
Each time, the latter refused.
At that time, Chen Tongshan had already relied on the money earned by Shi Xiaolong to found the country's first children's martial arts academy and the first children's art troupe.
Later, he invested 50 million yuan, opened a brokerage company, created a martial arts club, and transformed from a coach to a big boss of several companies.
Such a life is something that Chen Tongshan has never experienced before.
What's more, after having money, his dream of promoting Shaolin martial arts can be easily realized, how can he die in the middle of the way?
Therefore, Chen Tongshan directly ignored Shi Xiaolong's wishes, but instead joined Zhu Yanping and more vigorously took over the role for him.
From the Hong Kong and Taiwan film circles all the way to the north, they also extended their hands to the mainland television circle, intending to blossom in an all-round way.
Under the manipulation of his father, Shi Xiaolong's career reached a new height.
At the same time, it is also his last glory.
With the fame accumulated in his childhood, Shi Xiaolong's mainland star path is exceptionally smooth.
The first play was the popular "Young Bao Qingtian",
He once again established a classic screen image by showing his role.
After that, he continued to shoot big dramas such as "Oolong Breaking through love", "Nine-year-old County Grandpa", "Young Huang Feihong", etc., either the protagonist or the male second, and the roles were very heavy.
In the stage of development in the mainland, Shi Xiaolong's fame reached the peak of his life.
Not only has he become a well-known kung fu boy, but he is also known as the "successor of kung fu stars", and his future is unlimited.
However, behind this great glory, there is an increasingly irreconcilable contradiction between him and his father Chen Tongshan.
Chen Tongshan's absolute control over himself made the growing Shi Xiaolong very suffocated.
He wants to live his own life and control the future for himself, rather than being a puppet and obeying other people's arrangements.
Such thoughts became stronger and stronger over time, and in the end, they guided Shi Xiaolong to make the decision to withdraw from the circle.
Four
In 2003, after filming "Water Moon Cave Heaven", Shi Xiaolong announced the suspension of filming and went to the United States to study.
As soon as this news came out, it immediately caused an uproar in the outside world.
After all, at that time, he was a hot red star, and he chose to interrupt when he was red, and the cost was too great.
Countless people advised him not to be impulsive, including his father Chen Tongshan.
In anger, he tried to make Shi Xiaolong change his mind on the grounds of cutting off his living expenses.
However, this time, Shi Xiaolong showed great determination,
Despite the enormous resistance, he resolutely stepped on the plane to the United States.
People's hearts are all flesh, and at this step, Chen Tongshan is no longer stubborn,
Even because Shi Xiaolong was far overseas, he pulled out the gentle fatherly love that he had never had before.
This fatherly love also slowly melted Shi Xiaolong's heart, and the rigid relationship between father and son began to break the ice.
Shi Xiaolong's overseas study career lasted a total of 6 years.
In the past 6 years, although he mainly studied studies, he actually had a deep thought about filming in his heart.
Starting from the age of 5, a decade-long career in the entertainment industry has made the identity of an actor a brand carved in the bones of Shi Xiaolong.
This is not something he can escape if he wants to.
Driven by such a mentality, Shi Xiaolong finally made the decision to return to the entertainment industry.
Unfortunately, it will already be 2009, he has been away from this circle for 6 years, and the circle has already changed the old face and changed the sky
Once a beautiful man, he now has no name, let alone the protagonist, and even a supporting role is difficult to find.
At the beginning, Shi Xiaolong tried to start with a big start, taking over the filming of "Ip Man 2", starring as one of Ip Man's disciples, Xu Shichang.
This role is a very small supporting role, with only a few scenes in the movie, but Shi Xiaolong sees him as a new beginning and tries his best to play it well.
To this end, he was also slapped by the protagonist Zhen Zidan many times, and finally even his face was swollen.
This incident was once full of storms in the city that year, and some people said that Zhen Zidan deliberately embarrassed Shi Xiaolong.
Because in the 1995 release of "Gamble Saint 2", the 32-year-old was a match for the 7-year-old Shi Xiaolong, who served as the background board for an entire movie, so he held this breath until now, communiqué a private vendetta.
The specific reasons are unknown to outsiders, but what is certain is that Shi Xiaolong's status is indeed much worse than before.
He appears more often in some small-budget dramas with word-of-mouth box office hit the street, or in big dramas, soy sauce, brush the edge of the eye.
But these scenes have never made Shi Xiaolong popular, from 09 to 11 years, he made a total of 3 movies, 4 TV series,
The heat of all the scenes added up to not be as high as when his relationship with He Jie was exposed.
From the superstar who was popular all over the country to such a situation, the gap is not insignificant, but Shi Xiaolong did not complain about regret, but learned to slowly look away.
Although his career has fallen to the bottom, at least he can now control his own life, rather than being manipulated by others and making money as a tool.
However, what happened later made Shi Xiaolong sober, and it turned out that he had not escaped the control of others.
In 2019, some media broke the news that a 6-year-old girl died mysteriously in a martial arts school.
The founder of this martial arts school is None other than Shi Xiaolong's father, Chen Tongshan.
Witnesses said the girl was only two days from school to her death.
Subsequent autopsy reports showed that the girl's face and mouth were bruised and somewhat blackened, and there were bruises on her left chest and abdomen, suspected of being beaten.
Although the school authorities have repeatedly denied it, saying that "the girl was already sick and the school did not beat anyone." ”
But when everyone thinks of Chen Tongshan's teaching style, they don't think this is any convincing at all.
Pulling out the radish to bring out the mud, there are also people who have broken out, and this martial arts school has had a similar incident as early as 2017, and the reason is still unknown.
For a time, Chen Tongshan and the school were pushed to the cusp of the storm,
And Shi Xiaolong, as the spokesperson of the school, is naturally difficult to get out,
Almost overnight, he was brought into the eye of the storm by public opinion.
Although Shi Xiaolong came out at the first time to issue a statement and respond, his reputation was still damaged to a certain extent.
This thing is just a primer.
In addition to the martial arts school, Chen Tongshan has nine companies under his name, ranging from film and television to catering, each of which bears the name of Shi Xiaolong.
This means that once something goes wrong with these companies, Shi Xiaolong is bound to be implicated.
Only then did Shi Xiaolong realize that his so-called freedom was actually just control over his body.
In addition to his body, his reputation, there are many more things, but they are still firmly tied by his father and used as a tool to make money.
Perhaps one day in the future, Shi Xiaolong will be able to completely escape his father's control, but at the moment, he will not be able to escape passivity.
In fact, there are many native families like Shi Xiaolong in the world.
Children from such families do what they do based on their parents' ideas, and they have no right to control life and escape.
In a way, it's a tool.
But the reason why a person is human, the key is that he is an independent individual, even if he is restrained by his parents, he must try to fight for it, find his own opinion as soon as possible, and gain control of his life.