If Jackie Chan hadn’t inadvertently revealed that his younger brother Yuan Kui had "left" when he wrote a document commemorating the 65th anniversary of the founding of Yuanjiaban, the public simply didn’t know that Yuan Kui had passed away two years ago, becoming the first of the "seven little blessings" in Hong Kong, and he was actually older than his brothers Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan.
Yuan Kui, born in 1951, has been a student of traditional Chinese opera, a martial artist, an action director, a producer and a director all his life. Although his fame is not as good as that of Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan, he is already a rare lucky man in this industry.
Behind Yuan Kui, a man commonly known as "Dragon and Tiger Martial Master" made a living by fighting body double.
A dragon and tiger warrior who fights for his life
The term "Dragon and Tiger Martial Arts Master" refers to the action stuntman in charge of martial arts in Cantonese opera and film industry, referred to as Martial Arts Master for short. In addition to being responsible for martial arts performances of action films such as Kung Fu, Martial Arts, Fighting, Police Bandits and Gangsters, they also act as stuntmen, such as body double and Hanging Wire. The martial artist of Hong Kong action movies was once a unique presence in the world movies.
In the early 1970s, Bruce Lee was born, and Kung Fu movies attracted investors’ enthusiasm. In 1972, 21-year-old Yuan Kui worked as a walk-on with her brother Jackie Chan in Bruce Lee’s Jingwumen. However, the sudden death of Bruce Lee in the following year triggered a great decline in kung fu films.
In the late 1970s, kung fu action movies also began to pick up again. Only at this time, the action film has gone back to the old road of Shaw Kung Fu movies, which has been difficult to sell. The audience in front of the screen needs more intense stimulation, more dazzling scenes and more explosive life.
Fractures, burns, vomiting blood, coma, are all common occurrences every day. Jackie Chan’s adult class filmed, and there was a van parked at the gate of the studio, which was called "white car". All the seats inside are flat, and whoever has an accident will be taken away and sent to the hospital immediately.
Even in the high-risk industry, where people are fighting for their lives, there is still a lot of involution: you don’t want to make a difficult move today, and tomorrow I have to make a more difficult, exaggerated and outrageous scene-otherwise the movie will not be competitive and the audience will not buy it. The whole martial arts industry ecology is like the Colosseum in ancient Rome, and even the audience is similar.
In order to make a living, the martial artist had to fight for his life.
Since it is dangerous, why do people keep coming to fight for their lives? Interest is the primary driving force.
Hong Kong’s first batch of martial artists were all children from poor families, and they were sent to learn drama at home since childhood. For example, Master Yu Zhanyuan, Yuan Qing (Yuan Heping), Yuan Long (Sammo Hung), Yuan Lou (Jackie Chan), Yuan Kui (Yin Yuankui), Yuan Qiu (Zhang Zhuan) and other "Yuan Jia Ban" ranked by stage names also came from this. Later, with the decline of traditional Chinese opera and the rise of movies, Yuan Jiaban switched from singing opera to being a martial artist.
In the golden age of Hong Kong movies, Kung Fu movies, as the most popular type, produced a huge volume every year. There are more plays and more money.
Sammo Hung gave Hong Jiaban a monthly salary of HK$ 15,000, but it didn’t happen. In 1987, Xiong Xinxin came to Hong Kong from the mainland to do martial arts, earning 8,000 Hong Kong dollars a month, which was close to the ten-year salary of mainlanders at that time. Most martial arts players have a low level of education, and even some people have never studied in primary school. They lack other skills to make a living, so high salary is naturally very tempting.
Too many people flock to this business, and no matter how dangerous it is, people do it. Yuan Biao said, "You must do some actions knowing the danger. If you don’t do it, you will lose your job and be eliminated. Who has never broken his waist, feet and hands to earn the money from martial arts? "
In 1996, Yang Ziqiong starred in the Xu Anhua film "The Story of Ah Kin", which narrated the embarrassment of the Dragon Tiger Martial Master in his twilight years, and wrote that she played Ah Kin once retired from the Jianghu and returned to martial arts. As a result, she was afraid to jump off a bridge. Sammo Hung roared, "Are you used to living a comfortable life and cherishing your life?" She pushed her down. In reality, this push almost led to Yang Ziqiong’s paralysis, ending his career as an actor ahead of schedule.
Today disappears into the public opinion field, and tomorrow disappears into memory.
After the 1990s, the martial arts ecology began to change gradually. Kung Fu films, represented by Huang Feihong by Tsui Hark and Jet Li and Xinlongmen Inn by Cheng Xiaodong, are mainly characterized by natural and unrestrained, relaxed and elegant aesthetic feeling.
With the popularity of computer technology and CG special effects, the audience has begun to feel tired of the scene of crashing and jumping off a building. Not only did Sammo Hung begin to decline, but Jackie Chan also racked his brains to innovate on "how to be amazing" instead of simply "how to be desperate". In 1991, Terminator 2 was released in the United States, and the visual effects that are still not outdated in the film have sounded the death knell for the traditional martial arts that can make money as long as they dare to work hard.
After the golden age, Hong Kong films have reached a low ebb: Jackie Chan is old, Zhou Xingxing is out of fashion, the studio has closed down, and the cinema is depressed. Hong Kong films, which used to be characterized by "all over the top, all crazy", show few signs of revival at present.
"Dragon and Tiger Martial Master" was released for more than a week, and the box office was less than 1 million. Many martial arts, which once bought movie arc at the cost of life-threatening, disappeared in the absence of interest. Among the golden generation of martial arts in Hong Kong, few are well known, and more people are unknown for life. Tsui Hark said Hong Kong martial arts, "What they did before, no one will be able to do in the future". Behind Yuan Kui’s death, an industry that once traded its life for brilliance gradually quieted down: today it disappears into the public opinion field, and tomorrow it disappears into memory. (Text/photo According to Red Star News)
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