On the 29^th of August (last month), 160 Hung Gar exponents 洪家拳士 from all over the world converged in Foshan, Guangdong (Canton) province to mark the 145^th birthday of their famous Grandmaster, Wong Fei Hung (Huang Feihong in Mandarin). Anybody who have ever watched Hong Kong martial arts movies will surely know of this character, the young, invincible & benevolent Master Wong. This is a man whose legendary existence have continued to inspire HK martial arts flim producers to churn out flick after flick even after he died for 77 years! But is the historical Master Wong like anything portrayed in the old black & white TV series as well as in the movies of today?

Like in the movies, Master Wong had the good fortune to learn both from his family's secret Kungfu manual as well as from many outstanding exponents of that era. His father, Wong Kei Ying 黄麒英, is one of the famous "10 Tigers of Canton" 广东十虎. He is a disciple of Hung Gar ancestor Look Ah Choi 陆阿采, who along with Fong Sai Yuk 方世玉 are members of the "5 Ancestors of (Southern) Shaolin"少林五祖 who escaped from the Shaolin Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian (Hokkien) province when the Qing Government razed it to the ground. Borned in Foshan like his father, Master Wong started to learn Hung Gar Kungfu at the age of 6. At 15, he rescued Lam Fook Seng, the foremost disciple of Teet Kew Sam. In gratitute Lam taught Wong the difficult Iron Wire Form 铁线拳 of Hung Gar & the skill of weight throwing. As for whether he did actually learned the Drunken 8 Immortals Form 醉八仙 & the Snake Form 蛇形拳 from old Beggar So 苏乞儿 like in the <Drunken Master> & <Snake in the Eagle's shadow>, I believe that is ficitional.

In 1872, at the age of 16, Master Wong became the youngest Kungfu teacher in the Southern Chinese martial arts world to open up a school & start instructing students. Later he was also enlisted by the Governor to be the Martial Arts Chief Instrcutor in the army as well the militia of Canton. When he accompanied the army commander Lau Weng Fook to Taiwan, he also helped to fight the Japanese pirates alongside the soldiers. In the years that followed, stories of his other chivalrous exploits spreaded throughout the whole province; like in 1887 when a Gwai Lo in Hong Kong tried to humiliate the Chinese by using his huge dog to challenge martial artists to a fight. To his dismay, Master Wong went all the way down to HK & killed his dog with a single kick. Or in 1912, when a fish seller named Fung Hok Bew was extorted & beaten up by a group of thugs. Master Wong seeked them out & punished everyone of them severely with his Kungfu. Stories like these were heard by many both in Canton & Hong Kong, & they are the very stuff that inspired the young, invincible & benevolent Master Wong that we see in the movies today. Master Wong passed away in 1924 at the age of 68, a poor man, with no money even for his own funeral. Luckily one of his disciples took care of the funeral & had him buried at Bak Wan San 白云山 or "White Cloud Hill". Ironically, his fame grew far greater than when he was alive in the deacdes that followed.

Master Wong had many interesting disciples in the movies, but of this bunch only 2 of them actually existed historically. One of them is Leong Foon 梁宽, his gifted & most famous disciple. Alas Leong did not live long but passed away at the young age of 25. The other one is Lam Sai Weng 林世荣 or better known as Butcher Weng 猪肉荣, as he sells pork for a living. Lam is best known for his Tiger Crane Form 虎鹤双形拳. One of his disciples, Lau Gar Leong 刘家良, directed the <Drunken Master>, the movie that propelled Jackie Chan into fame. Then there is Master Wong's love interest, the 13^th Aunt "Penny" who is actually inspired by the historical Wong's 4^th wife, Mok Gwai Lan 莫桂兰. Madam Mok was only 19 when he married Master Wong, already 59 at that time! There was a whooping 40 year age difference between them. Having a talent in Kungfu, she also became one of his husband's disciples, & was in later years to become one of the most respected teachers in the Hong Kong martial arts circle. They had a son, now known as Sifu Wong Hon Hei 黄汉熙 who continues to be much respected in HK today. However I do not know whether he still lives?

Now in Foshan the new Wong Fei Hung memorial hall has been opened to the public. It stores the only existing photo of Master Wong (seen above), related artifacts, as well as the most complete set of movies that ever featured him, whether as the main character or supporting. They number an impressive 86. A Wong Fei Hung cinema has also been set up, & it will play his movies there the whole day long everyday. Tourists will be able to tour both the memorial hall & the cinema at a price of 20 RMB. Quite cheap, actually. In the near future the officials plan to build a martial arts hall right beside the memorial hall, because out of the "10 Tigers of Canton", half of them originated from Foshan. That makes Foshan the cradle of Southern Chinese Martial Arts 南派武术之乡, & from this cradle came forth its most famous son, the immortal Master Wong.

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