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In honor of the Kickstarter for Fa Sheng: Origins #3 , Gene Ching wrote a short series of reviews for Immortal Studios on films shot on location at the original Shaolin Temple of China.  In this fifth and final installment, Gene looks at the 2011 film Shaolin and the involvement of Payhuan Shiao, Founder, Creator, CEO of Immortal Studios. Please find the previous reviews in the series below: Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple: Shaolin Temple (1982) https://www.immortal-studios.com/post/films-from-fa-sheng-s-temple-shaolin-temple-1982 Films from Fa Sheng's Temple: The Shaolin Temple Trilogy (Part 2 & 3) https://www.immortal-studios.com/post/films-from-fa-sheng-s-temple-the-shaolin-temple-trilogy-part-2-3 Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple: Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple https://www.immortal-studios.com/post/films-from-fa-sheng-s-temple-holy-robe-of-shaolin-temple   Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple: Master of Zen https://www.immortal-studios.com/post/films-from-fa-sheng-s-temple-master-of-zen Shaolin (2011) The movie Shaolin  breaks from the form of our Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple series because it wasn’t filmed at Shaolin Temple. However, it is worthy of inclusion because it was the first film to be officially endorsed by the Abbot, venerable Shi Yongxin. He is credited as “Chief producer.”  When the project was initially announced in 2009, it was initially promoted as a redux of the original Shaolin Temple  (1982) and Jet Li was attached. The Chinese title is Xin Shaolinsi  (New Shaolin Temple). However, Li later denied knowing anything about the project so that announcement was likely an early promotional grab. Ultimately, Shaolin  has a completely different story than the 1982 film: it set in the early 20th century during China’s warlord period, while the original is based on a legend of how the Shaolin monks helped the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shinmin (598-649 CE). That event was hailed in a stele set within Shaolin Temple, which still stands there today.  When the actual cast was announced, it included Chinese A-listers Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, and Nicholas Tse. Zhou Xun was also in early discussions, but she demurred and was replaced by Fan Bingbing. Benny Chan was directing with Corey Yuen serving as the action director.  Beyond Jackie Chan, the film had three notable martial arts stars. First was Yu Hai, the wushu champion who played the head monk in the 1982 original. He was cast appropriately as the abbot. Also added was Wu Jing, another wushu champion, who has since risen to become one of China’s top A-listers and leading action stars.   Author Gene Ching with Yu Hai Last but not least, the cast included Xing Yu, who was an actual former warrior monk from Shaolin Temple. Xing Yu brought the traditional Shaolin Kung Fu form of Qixingquan (seven star fist) into the film. It is shown in most of the training sequences and some of the combat applications appear in the fight choreography within the film. Like with Immortal Studios projects, Shaolin  endeavored to include authentic Shaolin Kung Fu, and what better way than to bring a genuine Shaolin monk into the cast? Author Gene Ching with Shaolin Monk Shi Deren, American Shaolin  author Matthew Polly, and Xing Yu The author of this review, Gene Ching, had the honor of training with Xing Yu back in the mid-nineties at the Shaolin Temple Wushuguan. After leaving the Shaolin order, Xing Yu has gone on to appear in over sixty films such as Kung Fu Hustle , Ip Man , Kung Fu Jungle , Ride On , Striking Rescue  and others. Qixingquan became widely popular as a demonstration form for schools within Shaolin diaspora and for tournament competitors for several years in the wake of Shaolin . When film production began, a blessing ceremony was held at Shaolin Temple, overseen by Abbot Shi Yongxin. However, as mentioned earlier,  Shaolin  wasn’t shot at Shaolin. Instead, it was filmed in life-sized replica built in Zhejiang province. Within the film, the temple is burned, and that was not possible to stage at the real location.  Shaolin premiered during the Chinese New Year film rush. The story was well written, leaning heavily into the dramatic chops of Andy Lau. Lau gives his role plenty of gravitas, but it detracts somewhat from the final fight, as he isn't known for his martial skills. Fortunately, there's lots of other fights in the film, however the choreography relies heavily on wire work and CGI. Many of the wire work jumps look hokey. The wire work falls are good, however. There are some spectacular falling stunts.  Jackie Chan is very Jackie Chan. He injects some much-needed humor in what is a generally depressing film about war ravaged peasants and brutal warlords. Jackie's scenes really stick out. Yu Hai, Wu Jing and Xing Yu all turn in some decent fights, once you get past the wire work. Their acting performances outshine their choreography, however.  The sets and costumes are spectacular. The costumes ranged from opulent for the warlords and ragtag for the monks. The monks were depicted very compassionately - a bit of an over-romanticized view of Shaolin monks but it worked for the film. Shaolin also has cartoonish Caucasian villains, common in films set in this period of China’s history. Foreign powers were carving up China for themselves. This is the time of the Boxer Uprising, and the same era when Fa Sheng’s story is set. Immortal Studios Founder, Creator, CEO, Payhuan Shiao had a hand in  Shaolin . At that time, he was working with the Shaolin Cultural Communication Company which was set up by the Shaolin Temple to oversee Shaolin representation in media collaborations such as this. Through this cooperation, Shiao worked on developing several Shaolin movie projects under that banner especially for the global market. Beyond Shaolin , he worked on a Shaolin-based TV show and a reality show. For the reality show, K-Star, Shiao worked with the temple and the producers of The Biggest Loser .  Abbot Shi Yongxin and Immortal Studios Founder, Creator, CEO, Payhuan Shiao at the red carpet premiere For Shaolin , Shiao was mostly making sure that the historical elements were accurate. “Benny Chan, the director, was very seasoned,” reflects Shiao, “He had a huge amount of adoration and respect for the temple, as did Andy Lau. So there wasn’t too much to be done, to be truthful. All of those things were resolved at the concept level.”  Shiao was also at the premiere of Shaolin  with all the stars, which was held at the Hong Kong Film Festival. “We walked the red carpet together,” remembers Shiao fondly, “But I wouldn‘t say that I was a mover and shaker in that movie by any stretch.” Nevertheless, today Payhuan Shiao is the ultimate mover and shaker when it comes to Shaolin-based comic books. Remember to support our Fa Sheng: Origins #3 Kickstarter !  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer

In honor of the Kickstarter for Fa Sheng: Origins #3 , Gene Ching is writing a short series of reviews for Immortal Studios on films shot on location at the original Shaolin Temple of China. When it comes to films shot on location at Shaolin Temple, Master of Zen  is by far the quirkiest. Also known by the title Bodhidharma , this Hong Kong production is a Kung Fu take on the life of Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu. There’s a lot to unpack here for the uninitiated. Bodhidharma was the Indian monk in the direct transmission lineage of the Buddha, who travelled to China to spread the dharma during the 6th century. In Chinese, he is known by the phonetic translation Putitamo, or Tamo for short. As a significant historical and religious figure, there are many tales about him. One of the most notable is that he faced a faced a stone wall in a cave on Shaoshih peak above Shaolin Temple for nine years in meditation. According to legend, he fell asleep once during this period and became so upset with himself that he cut off his eyelids. His eyelids fell to the ground and sprouted the first tea plants to aid monks in prolonged meditation. He faced the stone wall for so long that a rock from that wall bears his image. When he emerged from the cave, he brought Zen Buddhism to the world, or Chan as it was originally called in Chinese. What’s more, he developed a series of qigong exercises, Yijinjing (muscle tendon sutra) and Xisuijing (marrow washing sutra), which became the foundation of Shaolin Kung Fu.  While most scholars find Tamo’s connection to Kung Fu apocryphal, the cave still exists and is open to tourists who wish to make the climb up Shaoshih peak. And the image stone is now kept within Shaolin Temple as a holy relic. As fanciful as it may be, Tamo is the legendary source point of Kung Fu. A Kung Fu take on Tamo is a natural for the Kung Fu wuxia genre. And it surely amuses pious Zen practitioners for its absurdity. Master of Zen (1994) Master of Zen  stars Derek Yee in the titular role. He plays Tamo in Indian brown-face, complete with a bald cap and a semi-TNG-Klingon forehead, made up to look like he’s concentrating hard all the time. Some Hong Kong films of the nineties were absurdly racist and sexist. Under all the makeup, Yee looks more Filipino than Indian. The early part of the film is set in India, so the cast is mostly comprised of Chinese actors playing Indians by adding big mustaches and turbans. Somewhat redeeming is that the locations where this was shot are spectacular. Yee’s Tamo got serious Kung Fu chops and busts out in some major fights throughout the film. Then there's a lot of reenactments of famous Tamo moments, like crossing the Yangtze on a bamboo reed. That's done with crazy somersaulting wirework, not at all as any classical artist imagined it. There are also several funny demonstrations of Tamo's divine power: catching arrows with his fingertips, ejecting needles piercing his body, holding back horses with his bare hand – all good fun. Yee is a veteran actor with well over fifty films to his credit, ranging from action to drama. He now sits in the director’s chair with twenty films to his credit; his most recent In Search of Lost Time  came out in 2022. His characterization of Tamo is as a Kung Fu superhero.  Master of Zen  follows Tamo’s journey from his life as an Indian prince, all the way to Shaolin Temple. It's shot there and in the surrounding area. There's a spectacular swordfight at the base of the big Guanyin at Longmen Grottoes. The Longmen Grottoes have some of the finest Buddhist carvings and statues in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Master of Zen  catches Shaolin Temple a year before the 1500th Anniversary, when it was just starting to open to the global community. Back then, Shaolin Temple was a little wilder and a lot less polished.  What’s more, Tamo’s first disciple, Huike, is played by Louis Fan Siu-Wong. Fan also played Riki Oh. If you don’t know Riki Oh: Story of Ricky , (1991) that is most sanguineous movie for Kung Fu gore fans – a cult classic but not for the faint of heart.   However, above all that, this movie drops some major Zen, or Chan as it is called in Mandarin. Respect. Passages from The Transmissions of the Lamp  and some koans ( gungan  in Mandarin) are recited as part of the reenactments. It hits a lot of mythic points, such as Tamo talking about his robe being passed to the 6th Patriarch. The 6th Patriarch was Huineng, and his Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a highly influential text in Chan. Master of Zen  should not be confused with Shaolin Monk , which is also a Kung Fu take on Bodhidharma made eighteen years earlier in 1976. Shaolin Monk  is also known as Fighting of Shaolin Monks or my favorite,  Killer Priest. Starring as Tamo is Sing Chen, a Thai martial arts action star who began in with a supporting role in Return of the One-Armed Swordsman  (1969) and has over 140 films to his credit.  Shaolin Monk  was not shot at Shaolin Temple. There is a beautiful waterfall which doubles for the Yangtze where Tamo does his crossing the river on a bamboo reed thing, although more conventionally in this film. Tamo propounds his 18 Styles (another myth states that on top of the two qigong forms, Bodhidharma also created the 18 basic movements of Kung Fu) but Chen underdelivers. He was a practitioner of Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate and served as a Royal Hong Kong Prison Cop in real life. But in this film, Tamo’s 18 Styles looks like a woefully weak version of Hung Gar Tiger Crane. This is the kind of film where a villainous mantis master is painted green.  In our next installment of Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple , we’ll examine more recent film about Shaolin Temple that involved our founder, creator, and CEO, Payhuan Shiao. Until then, tune in, turn on, and support our Fa Sheng: Origins #3 Kickstarter !  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer

In honor of the Kickstarter for Fa Sheng: Origins #3 , Gene Ching is writing a short series of reviews for Immortal Studios on films shot on location at the original Shaolin Temple of China. Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple  (1985) Squeezed in between the last two installments of the previously mentioned Shaolin Trilogy was another film shot on location at Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin came out in 1984 followed by Shaolin Temple 3: Martial Arts of Shaolin in 1986. Nestled neatly in between was Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple  in 1985, another attempt to capitalize on the success of the original Shaolin Temple  film in 1982 . Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple  was shot at Shaolin Temple AND at the temples of Wudang. It starred another cast of top Wushu champions, and an opera-trained star who went on to become one of Asia’s leading action stars. The main villain was played Yu Rongguang. Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple  was his first film. Yu is the son of Peking Opera performer Yu Ming Kui. Like Bruce Lee, whose parents were Chinese opera stars, and Jackie Chan, who was trained in classical opera skills from childhood, Yu’s foundation is in opera-style Kung Fu. It’s perfect training for action films because it’s so theatrical.  Since Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple , Yu, who sometimes goes by Ringo, has starred in over a hundred films. He is most remembered for playing Dr. Yang in Iron Monkey  (1993), a wild wuxia film from action director virtuoso Yuen Woo-Ping. Also starring Donnie Yen as Wong Kei-Ting, the father of Wong Fei Hung. In this film, Wong Fei Hung is a child, so he was played by Tsang Sze-Man (or Angie Tsang) back when she was a child Wushu champion. After making the film, she continued to win international Wushu championships. She joined the Hong Kong Police Force in 2003 and retired from competing in 2006. To this day, she still works for the Hong Kong Police.  But back to Ringo Yu, he is also remembered as the Imperial Guard chasing Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon  (2000) or more recently, the Kreese Sensei role of Master Li in the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid  with Chan and Jaden Smith. Yu is still very active in filmmaking. The most recent of his films that got international distribution was Ride On  (2023), again with Chan. He released two more films in China, the last one was last year, and he’s got three more films on the way for 2025, two of which are in the can.  In Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple , Yu plays the villainous Qi Tianyuan, betrayer of Shaolin Temple who attacks its abbot attempting to seize abbacy. He demands the holy robe, the cassock of the founder of Shaolin Temple’s Zen sect, Bodhidharma, or Tamo in Chinese. In Buddhism, the transition of the previous abbot’s robe symbolizes lineage transmission. The current abbot of the real Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin, says he has the robe of his predecessor, Shi Xingzheng, who passed away in 1987. But back to the movie, the Shaolin monks set out to hide the holy robe from Qi, so he cannot be ordained as the new abbot of Shaolin Temple.  The monk leader of this renegade Shaolin squad is Hui Neng (Xu Xiangdong). Hui Neng (638-713 CE) is known as the Sixth Patriarch of Chan, in the lineage of direct transmission recipients from the First Patriarch, Bodhidharma (Chan is the original Chinese word for what the Japanese call Zen). Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch  preserves Hui Neng’s teachings and stories, and is a significant Buddhist sutra from his period to this day.  Hui Neng is played by Xu Xiangdong. Xu was the main force of the Hebei Wushu team and known for his mastery of Yingzhaoquan (Eagle Claw fist). He continues to serve the Wushu community as a judge and made over two dozen films since Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple . His most recent movie came out this year. He had a role as Elder Liang in Tsui Hark’s 2025 Lunar New Year blockbuster Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants .  Accompanying Xu in Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple  was the fellow Wushu champion, Wu Qiuhua playing Second Sister Lin Yi. After racking up some major championships in the National Games of the PRC, she immigrated to California and took the name Xena. Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple  was her only film.  The fight choreography of Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple  is top notch. There are plenty of long complex acrobatic scenes, the sort of which both opera Kung Fu and wushu excel in filming. It’s very derivative of the original Shaolin Temple .  There’s a scene at the beginning that echoes the iconic training scene in Shaolin Temple ; it’s a clip with some fine wushu demonstrations, but it’s a scene we’ve seen before. There’s also a scene that makes absolutely no sense. SPOILER ALERT Hui Neng is on the run, accompanied by a Shaolin brother and some Shaolin kid novices (a.k.a. Shami). After being chased through the streets by the Royal Guard, and they get pinned between their pursuers and some archers. The archers release a volley of arrows, only sticking the eldest monk. Then suddenly, the kids are watching him die by the riverside, far from where they were, with no pursuers in sight. It’s a jarring, confusing cut, as if the filmmakers just bailed and went to the next scene without rhyme or reason. I wondered if there was a scene in between that was omitted but I can’t imagine anything that could resolve the plot flaw.  END SPOILER Beyond the historic locations, the marvelous martial arts fights, and the martial twist on one of Chan’s earliest legendary monks, there’s some outstanding horsemanship demonstrated in this film. And stealing the spotlight is an absolutely death-defying fire stunt that will literally burn into the back of your retinas forever. Back in 1985, there weren’t any kind of special effects like we have today, so the horsemanship showcased, and that intense fire stunt, have so much more impact for being 100% real.  It's ironic to see a founding monk like Hui Neng depicted as a Kung Fu hero, but that’s just the way Chinese pop culture goes sometimes. While it appears irreverent, paradoxically, it is respectful in its own peculiar way. And when it comes to quirky Kung Fu movies about Buddhist founders, you ain’t seen nothing yet. In our next installment of Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple , we’ll examine another film shot at Shaolin Temple about Bodhidharma – Tamo himself as a Kung Fu master. Until then, tune in, turn on, and support our Fa Sheng: Origins #3 Kickstarter !  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer

Learn about Peter Shiao, Founder of Immortal Studios, and his vision for the company, the importance of telling inspirational and immersive stories based on Wuxia, and awakening the hero in each of us. Welcome to Immortal: Home of Modern Wuxia Stories for Martial Arts Fantasy Fans What does being a hero mean? PETER SHIAO Founder and CEO Peter is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer, leading Immortal Studios in creating a new story universe to awaken the hero within everyone and defining a new business model centered around direct user engagement. Peter has a decades long career leading innovative entertainment and media ventures between the East and West, and has been active in empowering underserved communities. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Shiao In His Own Words Reading Wuxia novels was my favorite past time growing up. In that ancient and mystical world of martial heroes’ journeys, I discovered a reality that inspired and excited me. Through them I discovered the possibility of greatness and freedom born from self-empowerment and connecting to Spirit. Even now, many years later, those feelings are still with me – in fact, they’ve only grown stronger. We are all living during a challenging time, and the enormity of the tasks and difficulties at hand can feel dispiriting and overwhelming. These are also EXACTLY the backdrop for the emergence of heroes. I believe that stories can be an ignition to help us meet the challenges of our lives with courage and grace – and that Wuxia, and its heroes of all sizes, shapes and colors -- are its vanguard. In re-awakening my own hero to create a modern and elevated home for this timeless genre, we hope to awaken – and unleash – yours too. Here, I also dedicate Immortal to the memory of my father, who awakened my hero.

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Immortal is an original content studio dedicated to telling authentic and contemporary Wuxia stories, with a mission to Awaken the Hero within each of us. The Adept, Assassins G and The Chronicles of the Immortal Swordsmen are cornerstones of our Storyverse. ABOUT An original content studio with an INTERCONNECTED STORY UNIVERSE dedicated to authentic, contemporary WUXIA ENTERTAINMENT Mission Awaken the Hero in everyone! Immortal is the global home for the Wuxia genre About Immortal Immortal is an original content studio dedicated to awakening the hero within each of us. We take a modern approach to the Wuxia tradition to share stories of empowerment, self-discovery and connection with the world around us. The martial arts fantasy genre, or Wuxia , is an embracing one. Though founded in ancient traditions, we believe the genre represents values critical to modern times. While our heroes certainly have "superpowers," these abilities are founded on the concept of qi, and are acquired through self-cultivation, training, willpower, and connecting to Nature/spirit. This means that literally everyone can become a hero. We want to create content that inspires discovery because we believe in each of us is a hero waiting to be awakened or reawakened. Our goal is to take Wuxia to the global mainstream. We want to do this with an authenticity and respect of the tradition that we believe is missing in other representations of the genre and by interacting with contemporary ideas and situations. It is also very easy to overly indulge in the martial component of Wuxia where there is just endless fighting, revenge and violence. Here, while we absolutely are committed to great martial capabilities, we want to “elevate” the genre by including the chivalrous, the self restraint, the anonymity, and transformation of the genre – ultimately the “Xia” archetype that has been missing from Wu (Martial) xia (Hero). We are also founded on principles of radical fan engagement. We believe community is critical to process of creating stories and the power of the communities to take those stories to the world. Thus our goal is to cultivate a community of fans that embody the ideals of Wuxia, inspire them to seek their own stories and even take part in the Immortal Storyverse. Ultimately, we envision Immortal as a lifestyle, an attitude and spirit, dedicated to the bringing about an environment for service, empowerment, representation, empathy, authenticity and enlightenment. Even though we are a company, the underlying reason for our existence is to elevate and unite our world in positive action through stories and culture through. We believe our vision for Wuxia can uniquely accomplish just that. Immortal's Mission Creation of an authentic and transformational Wuxia universe for the world through a vibrant direct to audience approach encompassing content, lifestyles and products. Awaken the Hero (Xia) in Everyone. To cause the remembrance of our inherent nobility as to undertake actions that are of benefit to oneself, and the world at large. Uniting the East and West – to bring the world together in positive common action through shared heroes and stories.