Yuan Heping, a son of a martial arts family from Hong Kong, has written a magnificent chapter of "Chinese Kung Fu" in the field of film with his life! From the beginning of his career as a martial arts instructor following his father Yuan Xiaotian into the film industry, he bravely took on the responsibility until he eventually grew into an outstanding talent for directing films independently.
He is passionate about traditional martial arts and is constantly innovating to breathe new life into martial arts films.
Although Yuan Heping, the "No. 1 martial artist in the world", is nearly ninety years old, his enthusiasm for movies and martial arts is still the same. In this era of information explosion, many people may have gradually forgotten the unique charm of Chinese kung fu.
However, Mr. Yuan firmly chooses to use film to spread and promote this traditional Chinese culture.
He has done his best to serve as an action director for a series of domestic action blockbusters, and is committed to promoting Chinese martial arts to the world stage. Unfortunately, with the death of Mr. Yuan in recent years, the once popular domestic kung fu movies have also fallen into a trough.
There are very few new generation actors and directors who can truly inherit his martial arts spirit with their hearts, and the market is flooded with a lot of shoddy action movies that rely on special effects. However, we firmly believe that as long as there are still people who have a pure heart that loves martial arts, the precious legacy left by Yuan Heping will not fade away.
Perhaps at some point in the future, a new generation of "Yuan Heping" will appear, bringing new vitality and glory to Chinese kung fu films.
In any case, this great pioneer who pioneered the genre of "Chinese kung fu movies" will leave a brilliant light in the history of cinema forever.
2. Reminiscing about childhood martial arts
When it comes to Yuan Heping, people will naturally think of his background in a martial arts family. In 1945, he was born into a martial arts family in Hong Kong, and his father Yuen Xiaotian was one of the first martial arts instructors in Hong Kong.
Under the influence of such a family atmosphere, Yuan Heping has developed a strong interest in martial arts since he was a child. Recalling his childhood, whenever he had free time, he always sat quietly at the head of the bed, engrossed in the world of martial arts novels.
The chivalrous stories of the rivers and lakes made him frown at times, and sometimes show a surprised expression, as if he was in it and experienced those thrilling scenes.
When night fell and everything was silent, he fell into a deep contemplation of whether one day he could soar through the rivers and lakes like the heroes depicted in the book, swaying his blood, and opening up a new territory for the martial arts career.
With the passage of time, Yuan Heping's love and longing for martial arts have become more and more intense. He yearns for it, hoping that one day he can become a martial arts master, just like his fathers, and compose his own legend of the rivers and lakes.
It is worth noting that martial arts have long been deeply rooted in his soul, as if they were an indispensable part of his life.
3. Leading the new wave of kung fu comedy
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, 25-year-old Yuan Heping finally stepped into the dream film world and began his career as a martial arts instructor. It wasn't long before he got to know Jackie Chan, the important partner who would completely change the course of his life.
At that time, the Hong Kong film industry was in the midst of a profound change, and the once popular martial arts films were gradually declining, and were replaced by comedies that were loved by audiences.
However, Yuan Heping has always maintained his love for traditional martial arts films, believing that as long as comedy elements are skillfully integrated, this ancient art will be brought back to life.
When many well-known movie stars politely declined, Yuan Heping finally found the person he had been looking for - Jackie Chan, a young actor who was unknown at the time. Although Jackie Chan did not have high hopes for this plan, he reluctantly agreed to participate in it.
Unexpectedly, Jackie Chan is exactly the ideal candidate that Yuan Heping has been looking for.
In 1978, the duo's first work "Serpentine Trickster" was released, which immediately aroused enthusiastic responses throughout Hong Kong Island. Jackie Chan's unique performance style and flexible martial arts skills perfectly interpret Yuan Heping's innovative concept, and the tacit cooperation between the two can be called a perfect match.
This action comedy, which cleverly incorporates comedy elements, created a new film genre of "kung fu comedy" in one fell swoop, and also made Jackie Chan a hot superstar.
This unprecedented success undoubtedly gave Yuan Heping endless confidence and motivation. Soon after, they joined forces again and jointly launched Jackie Chan's masterpiece "Drunken Fist". Compared with its predecessor, the action design in "Drunken Fist" is more avant-garde and bold, full of Muay Thai-like disorderly and coherent tension beauty.
Not only that, but it also incorporated many wonderful and hilarious comedy scenes, which instantly aroused the enthusiastic response and applause of the audience. In the end, in the bustling and dazzling Hong Kong Island area, it achieved a record-breaking, shocking box office performance of more than 600 million Hong Kong dollars.
On the big screen in South Korea, it has broken many records and led a cultural boom to sweep the whole territory!
The magnificent and poetic "Drunken Fist" can be regarded as a profound expression of Yuan Heping's excellent design ideas and a perfect textbook-like confirmation. It's a pity that from the moment he and Jackie Chan joined forces to create outstanding performing arts, a fate-changing major accident quietly came - the boss of his agency ruthlessly poached Jackie Chan, and Yuan Heping lost this right-hand partner.
Since the early 80s of the 20th century, except for the performance of "Qimen Dunjia", he has not been able to create a martial arts classic as popular as "Drunken Fist", and his life has briefly fallen into a downturn at this moment.
4. Jet Li's era - the golden years of Hong Kong-made kung fu films
However, after this low period, the god of fate opened a new chapter for Yuan Heping. When he stepped into the 90s of the 20th century, he was fortunate to get acquainted with the actor who was known as the destined Huang Feihong - Jet Li.
Jet Li is a martial arts athlete who has won many gold medals at the National Games. Later, due to injuries, he moved to the film and television industry, and established his superstar status in the film industry with a world-stunning "Shaolin Temple".
In 1991, the talented director Tsui Hark decided to reboot the Wong Fei Hung film series, and repeatedly invited Yuan Heping to be the action director.
The first time he met Tsui Hark, Yuan Heping had insight into the other party's unique design intentions. So he was inspired and tailored the later famous "Foshan Shadowless Feet" stunt for Jet Li, so that the director's visual imagination could be perfectly presented on the big screen.
As soon as this blockbuster martial arts blockbuster was released, it immediately caused a sensation on Hong Kong Island, and Jet Li re-established his supremacy in the Hong Kong film industry.
Since then, Tsui Hark's "Wong Fei Hung's Domestic Production Part II" has directly followed Yuan Heping's action direction team. In the face of a series of difficult challenges proposed by the director, Master Yuan was not afraid in the slightest, but showed an innovative spirit, creating a breathtaking "Seven Consecutive Legs" stunt, which injected endless spectacle into the action scenes.
In the course of these two successful collaborations, Yuan Heping deeply felt that Jet Li had extraordinary talent and excellent comprehension, and finally found a martial arts superstar who could perfectly interpret all his design concepts.
Since then, the two personalities have written a legacy of close collaboration for more than a decade. What is admirable is that in 1994, Jet Li resolutely decided to work his own and filmed his first landmark work as a director and starring in a dual role - "Jingwu Hero", he did not hesitate to choose his confidant and friend Yuan Heping as the first choice for action director.
For this film, Master Yuan skillfully integrated Jet Li's unique personal skills, boldly integrating various martial arts genres, so that the precious essence of Chinese martial arts can be fully displayed.
Chen Zhen's upright tough guy image, combined with the majestic fight scenes, made the audience's blood boil and their hearts surged.
Not only was "Heroes of the Warriors" a huge success in Hong Kong, but its influence swept the world like a storm, causing a warm response in many countries and continuing to this day.
This classic, which is known as elevating Hong Kong-made kung fu films to a new level, has also become one of Jet Li's masterpieces.
After that, Yuan Heping and Jet Li joined hands again to create many masterpieces such as "Tai Chi Zhang Sanfeng". It is particularly worth mentioning that in "Tai Chi Zhang Sanfeng", although Jet Li only received a short period of training, under the careful guidance of Master Yuan, he successfully created the image of this ancient martial arts master, and is recognized as one of the most outstanding Tai Chi martial arts masterpieces in the history of Chinese cinema.