Previously, it was said on the Internet that Chunli had three archetypal characters.
Mao Ying's film characters are contrasted with Chun Li
The first one is mao Ying, a famous martial arts actress in Hong Kong. Chun Li is good at leg techniques, and this Lady Mao Ying also often shows the serial leg method in movies, and is the first Chinese martial arts empress to be seen and recognized by the world, so she is known as the "female version of Bruce Lee".
Mao Ying was born in Hong Kong in 1950 with a ancestral home in Zhejiang. Joined Jiahe Film Company in the 1970s.
Poster for the movie "Breaking the Ring"
In 1977, a movie called "Breaking the Ring" was released, and Mao Ying played a role called Liu Jielian. In the film, he wears a two-sided bun head and wears a costume shape with blue pants. Compare the Chunli in Street Fighter 2, and because of her beautiful shape, Mao Ying also has a nickname, called "Deadly Chinese Doll".
Poster of the official American version of the movie "Aikido"
In 1972, the movie "Aikido" was released, starring Mao Ying and Hong Jinbao, and the poster of the movie showed Mao Ying's moves very similar to ChunLi's slalom kicks, so the common saying is that Chun Li referred heavily to Mao Ying's movements and shapes when designing and producing.
This second one is from Japan, called Shiho Mieko.
Shiho Mieko
In 1974, Japan filmed several martial arts films called "Female Killer Fist". In the film, the character played by Shiho Mieko is called Li Honglong, who steps on high heels and lives a double knuckle stick, which is a tribute to Bruce Lee.
Poster for the movie "Female Killer Fist"
In this work of "A Crisis of Female Must Kill", she holds a double knuckle stick and wears a blue coat, and her feet step on white long heels. Some people mentioned that this shoe was very similar to Harukari's white shoes, so when they proposed Chunli's design, it was also inspired by Shiho Mieko. In the movie, she also has a bridge section against the iron claw man, which is more reminiscent of Chun Li against the Baroque.
Poster for the movie "Women Must Kill Fist Crisis"
The third person mentioned that the prototype of Chunli's character may be actress Li Saifeng.
Poster for the movie "Angel Action"
In 1987, she starred in "Angel Action" with Yuki Ogari Oshima, which everyone should have seen. This statement also expresses the love for this actress.
"Street Fighter 2" designer Ryo Nishitani
But none of the above three statements are explained to the root. Because there is an official theory about the birth of Chunli, Ryo Nishitani, the designer of Street Fighter 2, mentioned the origin of Chunli. He saw a name in a martial arts magazine at the airport– Zhili. But I didn't know how to pronounce these two words, so I called her CHUN LI according to the glyph of the Chinese. It was this woman in this martial arts magazine that gave him the inspiration to design Chunli. After returning to Japan, he coined the name Chunli with the word "false loan character".
Poster for the game Street Fighter
In 1991, "Street Fighter 2" came out, and Ryo Nishitani recalled that he saw Chunli in the martial arts magazine at the airport in 1990, and there is a saying that martial arts magazines are really limited, especially if they are sold in conspicuous places at the airport. I think there's a possibility that it's actually an entertainment magazine, but there's a lot of discussion about a martial arts movie, which makes foreigners think it's a martial arts magazine.
Poster for the movie "The Dragon at the End of the World"
Nishitani saw the name Zhili in a conspicuous place, probably because this lady was the protagonist of the film, I guess he saw the promotion of the 1989 movie "The Dragon in the End of the World", and the actress in the magazine was probably the star of the film, Jet Li's wife Li Zhi. As for the difference in li characters, whether it is English mixed with Chinese characters, so the memory is slightly confused.
Lee Chi
Starring Jet Li, Stephen Chow and Li Zhi, Dragon in the End of the World tells the story of a Chinese martial arts team performing in San Francisco. Of course, all this is only my guess, and I can't find the magazine with limited time.
Screenshot of "Strike the Wyvern"
In addition, in 1989, Capcom produced a game called "Attack on the Dragon", in which there was a female character named Dongfeng. Some people have asked the author many times whether he referred to the East Wind when designing Chunli, and after years of denial, he later replied that it was more or less a reference, so dongfeng may also be the source of Chunli.
Characters from China, also related to the East Wind, sound quite emotional.