Wong Fei-hung (born Wong Sek-cheung with the courtesy name Tat-wun ; 19 August 1847 – 17 April 1925) was a Chinese martial artist, physician, and folk hero . His recent fame was due to becoming the protagonist of numerous martial arts films and television series. The role of Wong Fei-hung has been played by numerous well-known stars of Hong Kong and Chinese cinema, including Gordon Liu , Jackie Chan , Kwan Tak-hing , Jet Li , Vincent Zhao , and Sammo Hung . Even though he was considered an expert in the Hung Ga style of Chinese martial arts , his real public fame was as a physician who practiced and taught acupuncture , Dit Da and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine in the now famous Po Chi Lam ( 寶芝林 ; 宝芝林 ; Bǎozhīlín ; Bou-zi-lam ), a medical clinic in Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong Province . A museum dedicated to him was built in his birthplace in Foshan , Guangdong.
41-485: Wong's original given name was Sek-cheung or Xixiang ( 锡祥 ; 錫祥 ; Xīxiáng ; Hsi-hsiang ; Sek-coeng ) before it was changed to Fei-hung ( Feihong ). His courtesy name was Dat-wan or Dayun ( 达云 ; 達雲 ; Dáyún ; Ta-yun ; Daat-wan ). Wong was born in Luzhou Hamlet, Lingxi Village, Xiqiao Country, Foshan, Nanhai County, which is a present day part of Foshan City , Guangdong Province , during
82-620: A close resemblance to his son, whose photo was the first to be often mistaken for his own father's back then. His fourth spouse Mok Kwai-lan once stated that her husband was quite superstitious and believed that having photos taken of oneself would shorten one's lifespan, so Wong only had one picture of himself taken in his lifetime, namely the one taken by his student Kwong. Over 100 films and television series featuring Wong have been produced since 1949, mostly in Hong Kong . The Hong Kong actor Kwan Tak-hing starred as Wong in over 70 films between
123-465: A courtesy name was significant, intended to express moral integrity and respect within the cultural context. A courtesy name is a name traditionally given to Chinese men at the age of 20 sui , marking their coming of age . It was sometimes given to women, usually upon marriage. The practice is no longer common in modern Chinese society. According to the Book of Rites , after a man reached adulthood, it
164-651: A deadly illness. His fourth and final wife stayed with him from 1915 up till his death. The personal names of his first three wives are unknown. He had four known children. At present, there is no information on Wong's two daughters. Wong had at least three grandsons and six granddaughters. His descendants currently live in Australia, Latin America and Southeast Asia. In 1996, the Wong Fei-hung Lion Dance Martial Arts Museum
205-461: A group of 30 gangsters on the docks of Guangzhou with a staff. Among Wong's students, the more notable ones include Lam Sai-wing (林世榮; Lin Shirong), Leung Foon (梁寬; Liang Kuan), Dang Fong (Deng Fang), and Ling Wan-kai (凌雲階; Ling Yunjie). Wong is sometimes incorrectly identified as one of the " Ten Tigers of Canton ". His father, Wong Kei-ying , was one of the ten but Wong himself was not. Wong
246-577: A martial arts school in Shuijiao ( 水腳 ) in Saikwan ( Xiguan ), which is a present day location of Liwan District , Guangzhou City . His students were mainly metal labourers and street vendors. In 1886, Wong opened his family's medical clinic, Po Chi Lam (寶芝林; Baozhilin), in Ren'an ( 仁安 ), which is a present day part of Xiaobei Road, Yuexiu District , Guangzhou City. In legend, around the 1860s or 1870s, Wong
287-494: Is also sometimes referred to as the "Tiger after the Ten Tigers". According to a folklore, So Chan also taught Wong Fei-hung in drunken boxing . After his first wife died of illness in 1871, Wong was widowed for 25 years. In 1896, he married his second wife and had two sons and two daughters with her. Some time after she died of illness, Wong remarried again in 1902. His third wife bore him two sons before falling victim to
328-556: Is headquartered in Yuexiu District. The area of Xiaobei, within the district , has been a significant Muslim community in the area for decades. Xiaobei, which has been nicknamed "Little Africa" and "Chocolate City" due to the number of Sub-Saharan Africans who live and work in the area, hosts a diverse population of Muslims from Central and Northwest China , Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East , North Africa , and
369-666: Is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou , the capital of Guangdong Province , China , located west of the Tianhe District and east of the Liwan District . It is the commercial, political and cultural centre of Guangdong and noted for its high-quality education. The area has served as a regional administrative center for nearly 2,000 years, and assumed its current boundaries in September 2005. The Guangdong provincial government and
410-551: Is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere , particularly in China , Japan , Korea , and Vietnam . Courtesy names are a marker of adulthood and were historically given to men at the age of 20, and sometimes to women upon marriage. Unlike art names , which are more akin to pseudonyms or pen names , courtesy names served a formal and respectful purpose. In traditional Chinese society, using someone’s given name in adulthood
451-671: The Indian subcontinent . As of 2023, Yuexiu District has a gross domestic product of 381.024 billion renminbi . Creative Power Entertaining is headquartered in the Wuzi Building in the Yuexiu District. The Mainland China offices of Dairy Farm Group are located at the Guangdong Mechanical Sub-Building in the district. Due to the notable Muslim population within the Xiaobei neighborhood,
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#1732772829678492-567: The Northern Qi dynasty asserted that whereas the purpose of a given name was to distinguish one person from another, a courtesy name should express the bearer's moral integrity. Prior to the twentieth century, sinicized Koreans , Vietnamese , and Japanese were also referred to by their courtesy name. The practice was also adopted by some Mongols and Manchus after the Qing conquest of China. Yuexiu District Yuexiu District
533-550: The Qin dynasty were one syllable, and from the Qin to the 20th century they were mostly disyllabic , consisting of two Chinese characters . Courtesy names were often relative to the meaning of the person's given name, the relationship could be synonyms, relative affairs, or rarely but sometimes antonym. For example, Chiang Kai-shek 's given name ( 中正 , romanized as Chung-cheng) and courtesy name ( 介石 , romanized as Kai-shek) are both from
574-416: The yù (豫) hexagram 16 of I Ching . Another way to form a courtesy name is to use the homophonic character zi ( 子 ) – a respectful title for a man – as the first character of the disyllabic courtesy name. Thus, for example, Gongsun Qiao 's courtesy name was Zichan ( 子產 ), and Du Fu 's was Zimei ( 子美 ). It was also common to construct a courtesy name by using as the first character one which expresses
615-576: The 1940s and 1980s and earned himself the nickname "Master Wong". Other prominent actors who portrayed Wong on screen include Jet Li in the Once Upon a Time in China film series and Vincent Zhao in the television series Wong Fei Hung Series . The Chinese folk song "On the General's Orders" ( 将军令 ; 將軍令 ; Jiāng-Jūn-Lìng ; Zoeng-Gwan Ling ) is popularly associated with Wong Fei-hung because it
656-671: The Guangzhou city government are both located in the Yuexiu District. Yuexiu District has 18 subdistricts under its jurisdiction. The total area is 33.8 square kilometres (13.1 sq mi). According to the 2020 Chinese Census , the permanent population of Yuexiu District was 1,038,643. The name Yuexiu comes from Yuexiu Hill . However, according to archaeological discoveries, it has been confirmed that there were inhabitants settled in Guangzhou region at least three to four thousand years ago. The area of present-day Yuexiu District
697-529: The area has attracted a cluster of Halal butchers , restaurants , and various stores. Yuexiu is currently served by four metro lines operated by the Guangzhou Metro : The American International School of Guangzhou elementary school campus is on Ersha Island in the district. Previously the École Française Internationale de Canton , the French international school of Guangzhou, was located at
738-414: The bearer's birth order among male siblings in his family. Thus Confucius , whose name was Kong Qiu ( 孔丘 ), was given the courtesy name Zhongni ( 仲尼 ), where the first character zhong indicates that he was the second son born into his family. The characters commonly used are bo ( 伯 ) for the first, zhong ( 仲 ) for the second, shu ( 叔 ) for the third, and ji ( 季 ) typically for the youngest, if
779-618: The chaotic early years of the Republican era, many businessmen who operated places of entertainment in Guangzhou decided to hire guards (or bouncers ) to protect their businesses on-site in case trouble broke out. As Wong was trained in martial arts, he was hired by various businesses to be one of such guards. In 1919, when the Chin Woo Athletic Association opened a branch in Canton, Wong was invited to perform at
820-791: The east and borders Tianhe District ; it faces the Pearl River in the south and faces Haizhu District across the river; it extends to Renmin Road in the west and is adjacent to Liwan District ; it reaches the foot of Baiyun Mountain in the north and is adjacent to Baiyun District and Tianhe District . It is the old central city of Guangzhou. The total area of Yuexiu District is 33.8 square kilometers. Yuexiu has administrative jurisdiction over 18 subdistricts ( Chinese : 街道 ; pinyin : jiēdào ), which then in turn administer 222 residential communities ( Chinese : 社区 ; pinyin : shèqū ). The Guangdong Department of Education
861-404: The family consists of more than three sons. General Sun Jian 's four sons, for instance, were Sun Ce ( 伯符 , Bófú), Sun Quan ( 仲謀 , Zhòngmóu), Sun Yi ( 叔弼 , Shūbì) and Sun Kuang ( 季佐 , Jìzuǒ). Reflecting a general cultural tendency to regard names as significant , the choice of what name to bestow upon one's children was considered very important in traditional China. Yan Zhitui of
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#1732772829678902-433: The late 1990s and early 2000s, a number of sub-Saharan Africans began to move to Guangzhou, many of whom settled area of Xiaobei, within Yuexiu District. The area had already been inhabited by a number of Muslim internal migrants from Central and Northwest China since the 1980s. Local crackdowns on visa overstays have sporadically taken place since the early 2010s. Yuexiu District starts from Guangzhou Avenue in
943-485: The opening ceremony. In the same year, Wong Hon-sam, one of Wong's sons, who was working as a bodyguard in Wuzhou , Guangxi , was murdered by a rival known as "Devil Eye" Leung ( 鬼眼梁 ), who was apparently jealous that Wong Hon-sam was better than him in martial arts. Wong was so affected by this incident that he stopped teaching his other sons martial arts. Between August and October 1924, Wong's medical clinic, Po Chi Lam,
984-506: The present-day area being including portions of Huifu District, Taiping District, Yonghan District, and Dadong District. In September 1952, Guangzhou reorganized its urban area into just 6 districts: East District, West District, North District, Central District, Henan District, and Zhujiang District. The former districts which once occupied present-day Yuexiu District were split between Central District, East District, and North District. In July 1960, North District underwent an enlargement, and
1025-706: The provincial capital of Guangdong Province, where his father peddled medicine and performed martial arts in the streets. When he was 13, he encountered Lam Fuk-sing (林福成; Lin Fucheng), an apprentice of "Iron Bridge Three" Leung Kwan , in Douchi Street in Foshan Town. Lam taught him how to use the sling and the essential moves of the martial art Iron Wire Fist . Later, he learned the Shadowless Kick from Sung Fai-tong (宋輝鏜; Song Huitang).. Wong Fei-hung
1066-534: The reign of the Daoguang Emperor in the Qing dynasty . His ancestral home was in Luzhou Hamlet, Lingxi Village, Xiqiao Country, Foshan, Nanhai County, Canton Prefecture, Guangdong Province, which is now part of Xiqiao Town , Nanhai District , Foshan City. At the age of five, Wong started learning Hung Ga from his father, Wong Kei-ying . He often accompanied his father on trips from Foshan to Guangzhou,
1107-522: The seat of government for numerous successive administrative divisions, including Lingnan Circuit [ zh ] and Xingwang Fu ( Chinese : 兴王府 ). It would continue to form part of Panyu County until 1921, when the it merged with Nanhai County to create Yuexiu District, and placed under the jurisdiction of the city of Guangzhou. The area came under the control of the People's Republic of China on October 14, 1949. In December 1949, Guangzhou
1148-553: The song in Mandarin in the second film. The version "A Man Should Better Himself" is the best known rendition of the song to date. A rearranged version was rewritten and sung by Dayo Wong as the theme song of Men Don't Cry . Courtesy name A courtesy name ( Chinese : 字 ; pinyin : zì ; lit. 'character'), also known as a style name , is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition
1189-526: Was a master of Hung Ga . He systematised the predominant style of Hung Ga and choreographed its version of the Tiger Crane Paired Form Fist, which incorporates his Ten Special Fist techniques. Wong is famous for using the Shadowless Kick . He named the techniques of his skills when he performed them. Wong was adept at using weapons, such as the staff and southern tiger fork . One tale, possibly fictional, recounts how Wong defeated
1230-721: Was built in his hometown in Foshan. A Wong Fei-hung Memorial Hall was built in 2000 and was officially opened in January 2001 in his honour in Foshan , Chancheng District . The first alleged photo was said to have been provided by his fourth spouse Mok Kwai-lan to Leung Ting of the Real Kung Fu ( 真功夫 ) magazine in 1976. Decades later, it was first exhibited at the Wong Fei-hung Memorial Hall in 2000 and
1271-406: Was buried at the foot of Baiyun Mountain . Wong's fourth wife, Mok Kwai-lan , and his sons, along with his students Lam Sai-wing and Dang Sai-king (鄧世瓊; Deng Shiqiong), moved to Hong Kong and opened martial arts schools there. Wong's grave location is currently unknown. It is also believed that his grave, along with others within the cemetery were long expunged for future developments. Wong
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1312-408: Was considered disrespectful among peers, making courtesy names essential for formal communication and writing. Courtesy names often reflect the meaning of the given name or use homophonic characters, and were typically disyllabic after the Qin dynasty . The practice also extended to other East Asian cultures, and was sometimes adopted by Mongols and Manchus during the Qing dynasty . The choice of
1353-460: Was controversially seen and even promoted by martial artists as a photo of Wong Fei-hung. This was dismissed in 2009 by New Martial Hero' s article that the man in the photo was of that of his fourth son, Wong Hon-hei. In 2005, another alleged photo of Wong Fei-hung once taken by one of his students Kwong Kei-tim ( 鄺祺添 ) was discovered by the museum staff in Hong Kong. The man in the photo bears
1394-755: Was destroyed when the Nationalist government was suppressing the uprising by the Guangzhou Merchant Volunteers Corps. Wong felt so dejected and saddened by the loss of Po Chi Lam that he fell into depression and became ill. He died from illness on 17 April 1925 in Chengxi Fangbian Hospital ( 城西方便醫院 ), which is the present day location of the Guangzhou First People's Hospital ( 廣州市第一人民醫院 ) at Panfu Road in Guangzhou's Yuexiu District . He
1435-481: Was disrespectful for others of the same generation to address him by his given name . Thus, the given name was reserved for oneself and one's elders, whereas the courtesy name would be used by adults of the same generation to refer to one another on formal occasions or in writing. Another translation of zi is "style name", but this translation has been criticised as misleading, because it could imply an official or legal title. Generally speaking, courtesy names before
1476-608: Was divided into 28 different districts , with the area of present-day Yuexiu District including Xishan District ( Chinese : 西山区 ), Dexuan District ( Chinese : 德宣区 ), Huifu District ( Chinese : 惠福区 ), Jinghai District ( Chinese : 靖海区 ), Xiaobei District ( Chinese : 小北区 ), Taiping District ( Chinese : 太平区 ), Yonghan District ( Chinese : 永汉区 ), Dongshan District ( Chinese : 东山区 ) Dadong District ( Chinese : 大东区 ), and Qianjian District [ zh ] ( Chinese : 前鉴区 ). In June 1950, Guangzhou consolidated its 28 districts into 16, resulting in
1517-696: Was once the capital of the Nanyue Kingdom. Thirty-three years after the incorporation of Lingnan into the Qin Empire , Qin Shi Huang forced most of the Yue tribes out of Guangzhou and assimilated the rest. In 111 BCE, the area was reorganized as Panyu County, within the Nanhai Commandery . The area of present-day Yuexiu District served as the capital of both. The area would serve as
1558-727: Was recruited by Liu Yongfu , the commander of the Black Flag Army , to be the medical officer and martial arts instructor for the regular soldiers and the local militia in Guangzhou. He also followed the Black Flag Army to fight the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895. In 1912, the Republic of China was established following the collapse of the Qing dynasty . During
1599-420: Was renamed to Yuexiu District, while East District was renamed to Dongshan District . In August 1961, five subdistricts from Yuexiu District were transferred to the jurisdiction of Dongshan District. Slight adjustments to the border of Yuexiu District and Dongshan District would continue throughout the 1990s. In September 2005, Dongshan District was abolished and merged into Yuexiu District. Beginning in
1640-495: Was used as the theme song in various Wong Fei-hung movies. It was the opening theme of the 1978 film Drunken Master , starring Jackie Chan . In the Once Upon a Time in China film series , the song's title was changed to A Man Should Better Himself ( 男儿当自强 ; 男兒當自強 ; Nán-Ér-Dāng-Zì-Qiáng ; Naam-Ji-Dong-Zi-Koeng ). It was sung in Cantonese by George Lam and its lyrics were written by James Wong . Jackie Chan sang
1681-564: Was very personable like his father and made many friends in the Martial and Medical World i.e. 10 Tigers of Guandong etc. With these friendships and chance meetings he was able to be exposed to vast amounts of knowledge that were openly shared with him. For this reason he was able to enhance his father's teachings to formulate a style that included much of what is seen in Southern Chinese Styles today. In 1863, Wong started