Hong Kong Museum of Wuxia Culture

HONG KONG MUSEUM OF WUXIA CULTURE

Yin Hei Ho (33529582) IC71094A Interpretation, Education and Communication in the Art Museum Goldsmiths College

Vision

At the Hong Kong Museum of Wuxia Culture, we want to invite everyone to explore the unique stories of the wuxia world. We collect, preserve and exhibit our collections of wuxia culture while sponsoring dynamic educational programs to stimulate interest in the enduring legacy of the wuxia culture.

Mission ●

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To collect, preserve, study, present and interpret collections related to the wuxia cultures.

To engage our audiences with wuxia cultures.

To stimulate our audiences to explore the legacy of the wuxia world.

To communicate with our audiences with innovative, inspiring, educational and enjoyable museum experiences.

To support and encourage intellectual, artistic and creative pursuits.

Visit

Location: West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong Admission Fee: HK$30 for Adults HK$15 for Concessions Opening Hours Monday to Friday: 10am to 6pm Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 10am to 7pm Closed on Christmas, Chinese New Year's Eve and the first tow days of the Chinese New Year The box office will be closed 30 minutes before museum closes.

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Director’s Foreword

Director’s Foreword With great pleasure, welcome to the Hong Kong Museum of Wuxia Culture. Opened in summer 2018, we are pleased to invite you to join our adventures in the fascinating wuxia world. Walking in this 'Museum among the Bamboos', you can find out the legacy of the wuxia culture through literature, comics, films and other related collections.

In Hong Kong, since the publications of the 'New Wave' wuxia novels during the 1950s and 1960s, the genre became immensely popular.

The popularity of the genre was not solely due to its entertainment value. It became the most prolific genre in not only Hong Kong, but also in most of the Chinese-speaking communities, because the genre provided a historical and cultural connection to our societies.

'Wuxia' consists of two Chinese characters which literally means 'martial art' (wu) and 'hero' (xia). Wuxia is originally a genre of Chinese fiction usually telling the adventures of the characters who try to right the wrong and bring justice to their communities. The xia's role has had a long history in traditional Chinese literature and it provides more than a channel of escapism in these tales; instead, these stories draw an idea of challenging the dominant power structure. Fighting against the corrupt and tyrannical regimes or striking back at the imperialists, audiences from different time and spaces find their way to connect their identities with the wuxia stories.

Nowadays, thanks to the talents and efforts of numerous novelists, film makers and artists, the wuxia culture becomes an important part of our popular culture, from renowned novels, popular television series to exciting video games. In the collection of 'Exploring the Wuxia World', although I do not know if my colleagues have hidden any scriptures of martial arts inside, we will tell you the development of wuxia cultures by presenting our superb collections including manuscripts of Jin Yong's wuxia novels, movie posters of new wave wuxia pian, first print of wuxia manhua and etc.

Wuxia stories usually are set in ancient or pre-modern China. While some are based on a vaguely-defined period, other are based on a specific historical setting and important to the story. For example, many anti-Qing revolutionary wuxia stories have described the mystery of the origin of Emperor Qianlong. These historical and cultural elements of Chinese societies are both important structures

of the tales. Characters in the tales usually come from a traditional Confucian community. Some of them like ink painting, Guqin (a traidiontal Chinese instrument) playing or even poetic writing. And these stories can be happened in a temple or in a yamen (a local administrative office in imperial China). Despite different backgrounds, the Chinese element is definite part of a wuxia stories.

In the collection of 'Wuxia and Chinese Culture', you can find some precious collections about Chinese culture that related to wuxia cultures, such as the portrait of Emperor Qianlong borrowed from The Palace Museum.

Wuxia is not only a genre of popular culture. Many contemporary artists find inspirations from the wuxia tales. Some of them try to configure a hero in their imaginations, while other want to describe a chaotic society without a hero. In the collection of 'Wuxia in Jianghu', we will show you how different artists construct and present the balance or the imbalance of the turbulent world by presenting work like the Taichi Series by Ju Ming.

If you are not from a Chinese-speaking background and find the concept of wuxia difficult to understand. You can go to visit the collection of 'Wuxia and Hero' first. You will then find out the heroic philosophy in wuxia tradition can be compared to other cultures such as the Japanese Samurai, Medieval Knights or the Wild West cowboy. You can compare heroes in different cultures here in our collection like Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Musashi on the Back of Whale.

Besides our wonderful collections, you can also find different kinds of activities in the museum. If you are an intellectual or real wuxia lovers, please come and join our talk and conference series about 'Transnational Flow of Wuxia Culture' in Fall 2018. If you are coming with your friends and families, why don’t you join our Taichi workshop in the Green outside the bamboo forest? Or you can have a taste of traditional metal moveable-type painting and create your own bookmark with your favourite Chinese characters.

What are you waiting for? Come and visit us in the Hong Kong Museum of Wuxia Culture!

Sincerely, Yin Hei Ho, Director Hong Kong Museum of Wuxia Culture 5

Location & Architecture

Location and Architecture Located in the harbourfront of the largest cultural hub in Asia, Hong Kong Museum of Wuxia Culture is highly complementary to the core arts and cultural facilities in the West Kowloon Cultural District. Occupying a prime location near the Victoria Harbour, the museum is easily accessible by public transport or cycling.

The museum consists of two buildings - the Gallery and the Hall - together form the Hong Kong Museum of Wuxia Culture.

Outside the buildings is the Green, an open space for leisure and relaxation. The design, conceived by an outstanding team led by Kris Yao, intends to create a 'Museum among the Bamboos'. The Gallery and the Hall are surrounded by numerous vertical tubes of different heights. This vertically linear elevation creates a bamboo forest that invites audiences to discover the legacy of wuxia cultures.

Bamboo cultures have rooted in our culture for a long history.

Bamboo's long life makes it a symbol of uprightness and thus Chinese endow it with the title of 'gentleman' among other plants.

At the same time, you can always find a fighting scene in a bamboo forest in a wuxia film. A Touch of Zen (1971) by King Wu, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) by Ang Lee, Hero

(2002) by Zhang Yimou - you name it. The scene in the bamboo forest becomes a signature of wuxia film, just like the canyon and valley in a classic Western film. It does not only serve a purpose of aesthetic but also creates a concept of transgression where momentum offensively breaks the equilibrium of nature. Just like the characters in wuxia stories, they usually need to challenge the stale value. In this 'Museum among the Bamboos', we want to break down the perception of the boredom of an art and cultural museum and provide audiences with innovative and enjoyable museum experiences.

The Gallery has 7,600 square metres of space dedicated to our permanent collections and speical exhibition. The base level of the Gallery will be an open entrance connecting to the Green with a series of outdoor sculptures. The curtain wall of the Gallery allows full utilization of daylight and allow audiences with magnificent views of the surrounding harbour. The Hall has a 400-seat lecture theatre for screenings and conferences.

Other museum facilities include activity rooms, cafes, a restaurant and shops.

The Green is the heart of the downtown featuring a variety of green plantings and large-scale outdoor installations. The Green also provides an open space for performances as well as other activities like the amazing Taichi workshops.

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Lee Chi Ching. The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

Collections

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Collections

Gallery: Exploring the Wuxia World In ancient China, there is an old saying by philosopher Han Fei, 'Xia uses his force to fight against the ordinance.' Wuxia stories have rooted in Chinese history for more than 2,000 years since historian Sima Qian had written about five notable knighterrants in his masterpiece of ancient histories of China, Shiji.

Since then, many wuxia works were produced, such as Nie Yinniang, Water Margin and the Justice Bao stories from Sanxia Wuyi. However, many wuxia works were banned at various times due to their anti-government elements and thus many works produced were lost.

The modern wuxia genre was rediscovered in the early 20th century. The xia's value was highly encouraged as a symbol of rebellion against the Confucian values during the New Culture Movement. A 'new school' of wuxia fictions, including works by Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng, emerged later in the post-war period due to improvements in living standard and the needs of entertainment.

Legend of the Condor Heroes on Hong Kong Commercial Daily on Jan 2, 1957.

The wuxia pian is one of the oldest genres in the Chinese cinema. In 1925, Tianyi Studio, established by the Shao brothers, produced the first wuxia film Swordswoman Li Feifei.

Since then, the wuxia pian has remained popular to the present day. Wuxia genres also appear in the comic world. Oriental Heroes, created by Tony Wong in 1970, was the first wuxia manhua title in Hong Kong. It established a new genre of manhua and these works usually incorporated the wuxia literature.

In this gallery, you can explore the thrilling wuxia world by looking into our precious collections like manuscripts of Jin Yong's wuxia novels, original print of wuxia serials on newspapers, illustrations of wuxia fictions, movie posters of new wave wuxia pian, first print of wuxia manhua and etc.

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils published during 1963-1964.

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Gallery: Exploring the Wuxia World

Wang Sima (1940-1983), wuxia novel illustration of chapter 48 in Jin Yong's Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, 1963-1966.

A book illustration is a visual interpretation of the story by an illustrator. The origin of modern book illustration can date back to the fifteen-century block books, in which the text and the image were craved into the same block. The content of these books was usually about religious.

Jin Yong's wuxia novels are influential across the globe. The illustrations in the Chinese version of Jin Yong's novels were mainly painted by Wang Sima and Jiang Yunxing. Jiang's illustrations were more realistic while the works of Wang were in a freehand brushwork style. Due to the printing technology at that time and the ink painting-like style of Wang, the illustration printed was not good. Therefore, there was a misunderstanding that Wang's paintings were not as good as those of Jiang. In fact, both of their works were excellent.

In chapter 48 of Jin Yong's Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, the throne contender Duan Yanqing recalled the unforgettable night with a fairy-like beauty when he was traumatized and helpless.

Later he found out that the lady was actually the heir Duan Yu's mother and he was Yu's natural father and hesitated if he should kill him for the crown. Wang used the technique of blank-leaving in Chinese ink painting in this illustration. The lady in white dress and the bright moonlight were regarded as a symbol of hope to devastated Duan Yanqing.

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Gallery: Exploring the Wuxia World

Tony Yuk Long Wong (born 1950), manhua cover of Oriental Heroes issues no. 1, 1975.

Manhua are comics created in the Chinese language.

Due to the lack of entertainment and the low cost of manhua, Hong Kong manhua, especially action and wuxia genre, became very popular in the late 20th century. The circulation of Hong Kong manhua once ranked the third in the world during the 1970s to 1980s, just following those of the United States and Japan.

Popular manhua titles like Oriental Heroes and Chinese Hero were mostly about how the characters from the lower social class fought against the gangsters and criminals. Tony Wong's Oriental Heroes was the first among all to incorporate wuxia elements in his manhua.

However, the criticism of the violence and pornography in manhua led to the establishment of the Indecent Publication Law in 1975. As the law only applied to publication in portrait orientation, Tony Wong decided to publish a daily newspaper which one page consisted of two rows of manhua. Stories were collected and published weekly in landscape orientation.

In this manhua cover of Oriental Heroes, you can find out several characteristics of Hong Kong manhua at that time.

Manhua artists used thick lines to outline the characters and exaggerated light contrast to describe their muscle. Unlike Japanese black and white manga, Hong Kong manhua were usually full colour.

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Gallery: Wuxia and Chinese Culture Wuxia stories are commonly set in ancient China. Cultural element of traditional Chinese society is an important structure of these stories.

Authors such as Jin Yong and Huang Yi like to incorporate different historical elements or folk legends in their stories.

Fictitious characters might witness a real historical event or fight in the Forbidden City. For example, Huang Yi's Datang Shuanglong Zhuan (The History of the Tang Dynasty Two Dragons) was the adventure of two orphans who luckily obtained secret martial abilities and assisted Li Shimin to become the emperor of the Tang dynasty.

Ciyan tu (Granting Banquet) in Vol.8 of Comprehensive illustrated record of the grand wedding of Zaitian, Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

Although other authors like Gu Long usually set their stories in a vaguely-defined historical background, you can still find Chinese cultural elements in their stories easily. For instance, a tradition inn is a recurrent setting in the wuxia stories providing a stage of people from all walks of life. Some authors will write about the occupations or clothing of guests in the inn while some will describe different types of food or the architecture of the inn.

Whatever which types of wuxia stories you enjoy more, you will still get in touch and fall in love with different kinds of Chinese cultures. In this Gallery, you will discover a real wuxia world through different artworks and artefacts like an ink painting of an old street in Ming dynasty, a calligraphy piece mentioned in Jin Yong's novel, a sword of a Qing warrior and an ancient Guqin music score.

Zhang Daqian. Yunshan Moxi.

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Gallery: Wuxia and Chinese Culture

unknown, scroll, ink and colours on silk, Thriving Southern Capital (Nan du fan hui tujuan), Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

Many wuxia stories were set in Ming dynasty. It was closely related to the political and social condition at that time. The Chinese imperial examination system contributed to a narrowness of intellectual life. Those who failed or refused to fall into the system chose to break the social norms and travel freely like a 'xia'. Some of them practiced martial arts for selfdefense during their journey. Therefore, many schools of martial arts were born during that period. Also, the mystery imperial secret spy and police agency like Jinyiwei guard and Eastern Depot in Ming dynasty has inspired many creators.

This handscroll described a bustling Nanjing life at the latter part of the Ming period. It depicted the daily life of people and the landscape of the city. The whole scroll is 3.5 metres wide.

The panoramic painting revealed the diversity of urban life by showing more than a thousand people from all walk of life and a hundred shops in the city.

Custom painting is a typical genre of Chinese painting which is inspired by daily life and records realistic scenes of the times. It is also an important historical material on the social development of a period by offering glimpses of economic activities, architecture, clothing and etc.

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Gallery: Wuxia and Chinese Culture

Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), ink and colour on silk, The Qianlong Emperor in court dress, 1736.

Qing dynasty was a popular historical setting in wuxia stories.

Since it was a relatively recent time, it was easier to find information about different characters and events. The rise of anti-Qing underworld gangs and the rumors of the imperial family also provide a lot of material for wuxia stories.

The birth of Qianlong Emperor was one of the rumors that Jin Yong has written in The Book and the Sword. The novel revolved around the rumor that Qianlong was actually not a Manchu people but an offspring of a Han merchant. He was taken to the palace shortly after he was born. He was later persuaded to acknowledge his ethnicity and overthrow the Qing Dynasty.

In fact, there is no evidence showing that Qianlong was a Han people. Being the longest-living ruler in the history of China, he was mentioned in many stories and folklore and became one of the most renowned Chinese emperors.

The portrait depicted the Qianlong Emperor, 25 years old, wearing his court dress and sitting in the dragon chair solemnly.

It was done by the Jesuit missionary-artist Giuseppe Castiglione who took a Chinese name Lang Shining. He had painted many portraits of emperors and their consorts during his three decades of service in the court. Being a court artist, he incorporated Western techniques of shading and atmospheric perspective with Chinese materials that suited the imperial taste. For example, he usually reduced the intensity of the light in the portrait because the Emperor preferred no shadow on his face.

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Gallery: Wuxia in Jianghu Wuxia stories operate in a network of communities that distance from the common society and the rule of law, called Jianghu or Gianghu. The term Jianghu literally means 'rivers and lakes', is less comprehensible to a non-Chinese speaker. It is close to 'underworld' but Jianghu actually describes a broader scope of society which includes everyone other than those first-class elites.

Every people in the Jianghu work themselves up into a lather to earn a living. At the same time, they want to avoid any troubles by keeping their distance from any officials or gangsters. In other words, they are all struggling to find out the equilibrium in a disordered world, so as many contemporary artists.

Yangping Jin. Wuxia Series No. 3.

Some artists like to construct a real Jianghu out of the wuxia novels. Some of their works depict heroes in their imaginations while others describe a desperate society without heroes. And some works are demonstrating the balance or imbalance between calm and chaotic in our society. In this Gallery, you can look into a real wuxia world in the turbulent society by discovering how contemporary artists describe their Jianghu or how they present their wuxia worlds. Highlihgts of the collection include Ju Ming's Taichi Series, Lee Chi Ching's ink paintings and Chow Chun Fia's Painting on Movie series.

Le Peng. Kongfu Fish No. 2.

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Gallery: Wuxia in Jianghu

Ju Ming (born 1938), wooden sculpture, Taichi Series: Sparring, 1991.

Taichi is a Chinese internal martial art practice. The term taichi also refers to the balance of Yin and Yang which simply explains the principle of taichi. In Chinese philosophy, Yin and Yang, literally means 'dark and light', describes how opposite forces ('Qi') may actually be reciprocal, interdependent and interrelated in the natural world. The purpose of taichi is to cultivate the harmony of qi inside our body by controlling our movements and breathing. Taichi as a low-stress exercise becomes popular around the world due to its benefits to physical and mental health.

The Taichi series by Ju Ming can be divided into two categories, individuals demonstrating their skills and sparring pairs examining the complementary relationship between contradictory forces. In this pair of wooden sculptures, the dynamism is captured in the static material. Ju Ming has created a rich rhythm and a natural charm by large surface cutting and rough processing.

Ju Ming is a sculptor who was born in Taiwan and later moved to New York. He trained as a woodcarver and had applied his skill to a variety of media. His work such as Taichi Series and Living World Series were highly successful and earned him various awards and recognition. You can find most of his sculptures at the Ju Ming Museum in Taiwan.

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Gallery: Wuxia in Jianghu

Chow Chun Fai (born 1980), enamel paint on canvas, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Escape the Giang Hu world, 2006.

In the year 2000, Ang Lee re-introduced the world the genre of wuxia by presenting his Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Based on the wuxia serial by Wang Dulu, the film has won over 40 awards and became the all-time highest-grossing foreignlanguage film in the United States. After its success, international audiences have rediscovered the fascination of the wuxia world.

In this painting, Chow Chun Fai captured a moment in the film that the protagonist Li Mu Bai thought that he could escape the Jianghu by giving up his sword 'Green Destiny'. However, the fame of the Green Destiny attracted a lot of enmity which forced Li to face.

The painting was the first of the artist's most characteristic Painting on Movie series. The series painted stills from the movies. The scene drew his attention because he thought there was a mistranslation in the subtitles. He later found that the mistranslation may lead to a misunderstanding of identity and thus explored the misunderstanding continuously through his movie painting series. The series earned him a reputation and it depicted the intricacies of Hong Kong culture which is defined by its special political situation.

Chow is a Hong Kong artist who actively engages in politics. He ran unsuccessfully for a post in the Legislative Council in 2012.

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Gallery: Wuxia and Hero People from non-Chinese cultures may not be familiar with the wuxia culture. However, the fundamental of wuxia can be compared to the heroic philosophy of other cultures. For example, the chivalry associated with the medieval knights established commandments to respect and defend all weaknesses, while ancient Japanese had developed Bushido, the samurai code of honour and moral values which included sincerity, righteousness and courage.

Different cultures have their own mythic traditions about heroes.

Whether or not their heroes were gifted or trained with good combat skills, most of them were brave and fearless to bring justice to their communities.

Frederic Remington. A Dash for The Timber.

In an era that egoism becomes overwhelming, it is a good time to review how our ancestors shaped and depicted their heroes who were willing to sacrifice for a greater good. In the Gallery, you will join the journey with heroes from all around the globe by looking at Miyamoto Musashi in the Japanese ukiyo-e, European paintings of knight-errant in the Middle Ages and even an original copy of the American superhero comic titles.

Edmund Blair Leighton. The Accolade.

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Gallery: Wuxia and Hero

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), woodblock painting, Musashi on the Back of Whale, 1848-1854.

Miyamoto Musashi was one of the most renowned samurais in Japan. He was famous for his double-bladed combat style and the undefeated record in duels. He was also a philosopher, writer and artist. His Book of Five Rings which explained the principles of strategy is still a guidebook in management for many modern Japanese.

In these three screens of ukiyo-e by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Musashi rode on an enormous whale in the great waves and tried to use his sword to stab in the back of the whale. It was drawn based on the legend of the whale eradication by Musashi in the early Edo era.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi was a great master of the Japanese ukiyoe style of woodblock paintings. The themes of his paintings were varied included landscapes, Kabuki theatre and cats but he was best known for his paintings about legendary samurai heroes.

In this woodblock print, Kuniyoshi depicted a Japanese hero who was fighting against a strong enemy. It attracted the curiosity to guess whether the whale represented the incompetent Shogunate government or the Westerns who attempted to break the isolationist foreign policy of Japan in the late Edo period.

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Gallery: Wuxia and Hero

Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), ink on paper, Bucking Horse and Cowgirl, ca. 1925.

In American, the adventurous spirit of the Western pioneers in the 19th century symbolizes the confrontation of nature and civilisation. The courageous, freedom and independence of these cowboys opened up the history of the United States. The cowboy and Western heritage has often been romanticised in print and in the media and has affected generations of Americans.

This sketch by Charles Russell depicted a lively cowgirls riding a bucking horse easily. Women had been overlooked for their contributions to the Western culture and history. However, many artefacts, documents and photographs revealed the Western women's strength, hard work and commitment to the family.

Russell was a self-taught American artist who created paintings of the landscapes, Indians, cowboys and cowgirls of the West during the late 1800s and early 1900s. His paintings captured not only the beauty of the Wild West but also an important time in American history. Documentation showed that he clearly appreciated the value of cultural diversity and had a good relationship with Native Americans.

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Exporting Wuxia cultures

Exporting Wuxia cultures

Transnational flow of Wuxia Culture Yin Hei Ho, Director Hong Kong Museum of Wuxia Culture

Wuxia is one of the oldest and the most popular genre of Chinese literature, films, television programmes, comics and video games at all times. Wuxia which cannot be translated accurately into English literally means ‘martial arts hero’. Wuxia stories usually describe an adventure of how the protagonist who is skillful in martial art technique rights the wrong and brings justice to the community. Due to the mythical conceptions of the wuxia world, many regard wuxia stories as the fairy tales for adults and compare it with the western genre of fantasy. However, unlike its western counterparts which have grown into a global culture and share a large piece of the international market, the wuxia genre seems falling behind. This article will review the transnational flow of wuxia culture and find out how wuxia culture can be shared to more international audience.

Wuxia culture has rooted in the Chinese societies for so long, even historians recorded the stories of several knights-errant.

Despite the suspension from various authorities, popular wuxia literature with anti-government nature such as Water Margin was published continuously in ancient China. The modern wuxia genre emerged in two periods. During the early 20th century, well-known wuxia fictions like The Swords people from Shu Mountains were proliferated in northern China. The first ‘wuxia pian’ was also played on the silver screen at that time. In 1925, Swordswoman Li Feifei produced by Tianyi Studio was shown in the cinema.

The early transnational flow of wuxia culture started during the first golden age of wuxia genre which was driven by economic

factors (Teo, 2005). Mingxing Film Company, the rival of Tianyi Studio, was a Shanghai film production house which also produced a pioneer wuxia movie The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple in 1928. In the late 1920s, Mingxing tried to monopolize the market by unifying other companies and imposing a ban on screenings of Tianyi’s movies. To relieve the financial struggle, Tianyi opened their branch in Singapore in 1928 and wanted to increase the market share in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. They also established a branch in Hong Kong in 1934 which later developed in the famous Shaw Brothers Studio. It inspired other Chinese film production companies to set up their branches in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The migration was accelerated by the banning of wuxia genre after Chinese Civil War and it brought the second golden period of the wuxia genre in Hong Kong. Two wuxia stories published in serialized form in Hong Kong newspaper marked the start of a ‘new school’ of the wuxia genre. These were Longhu Dou Jinghua (The Battle of Tiger and Dragon) by Liang Yusheng in 1954 and The Book and the Sword by Jin Yong in 1955. The emerged ‘new school’ of wuxia genre depicted more than the fist and sword fighting between heroes but also embed characteristics from western literature, like the tragedy from Greek myths, the Shakespearean revenge and the European detective fictions. In the cinema, two directors usually credited for the new style of wuxia films were King Hu and Chang Cheh.

King Hu’s Come Drink With Me and Chang Cheh’s One-Armed Swordsman were presented to the audiences by the Shaw Brothers Studio in 1966 and 1967 respectively.

After the war, the hunger of recreational need was triggered by the economic boost in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Another wave of transnational flow of wuxia culture started spreading from Hong Kong to Taiwan and other diasporic Chinese society.

Living in a colonized city, Hong Kong audience found the wuxia genre not only as a way of escapism, but they also tried to 35

Exporting Wuxia cultures

connect themselves with an idealized China (Cho, 2004). On the other hand, diasporic audiences could experience their Chinese identities through the historical and cultural elements in these wuxia works outside China. The wuxia genre became very popular in the diasporic Chinese societies globally in the mid-20th century.

It was also the time when the Western audience first got in touch with the wuxia culture because of the director King Hu. King Hu, described by Ang Lee, was nearly the first director who cared about the art of film ("Ang Lee on King Hu - A Touch of Art", 2017) and seemed to be the only Chinese director to be taken seriously by the Western audiences (Teo, 1997). His wuxia film A Touch of Zen in 1971 which won the Technical Grand Prize award at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival was the first Chinese-language movie to be awarded in any international film festival. British film critic Tony Rayns recognizing the film as ‘the first art house martial arts film’ ("Tony Rayns on Touch of Zen - Art House Martial Arts", 2018). At that times, more wuxia films were dubbed in English and exported to the west.

However, the oriental trend of wuxia film did not last long and was replaced by Kung Fu film quickly in the 1970s. Although Kung Fu films were also telling the story of martial arts hero, it was not entirely the same as wuxia film. Typically associated with Hong Kong superstars Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, Kung Fu film usually set in a more realistic and contemporary background and emphasized real fighting techniques.

The transnational flow of wuxia culture did not stop by the hurdles in the West. It turned East to Japan. In the 1990s, the wuxia films based on Jin Yong’s novels like The Book and the Sword and The Smiling, Proud Wanderer appealed a lot of Japanese audiences. Tokuma Shoten Publishing Company took this opportunity to introduce wuxia fictions to the Japanese audiences (Zhang, 2017). They invited Okazaki

Yumi, a professor of Chinese Literature and a wuxia enthusiast, to translate the whole set of Jin Yong’s wuxia literature.

Japanese audiences enjoyed wuxia genre a lot because of its similarities and differences. In Japan, they got used to reading heroic stories about legendary samurai like Miyamoto Musashi, so they easily fell in love with the sword fighting plot in the wuxia stories. In addition, they were curious about the mystery in the wuxia world which they could not find any reference in Japanese literature. The transnational flow went on in the 2000s when wuxia manhua The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Hong Kong illustrator Lee Chi Ching became immensely popular in Japan.

In the year 2000, international audiences rediscovered the wuxia genre because of Ang Lee Oscar-winning movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. As a Mandarin-language film with subtitles, no one expected it to be a global blockbuster.

However, the film surprisingly broke box office records for foreign-language movies in many Western countries and became the all-time highest-grossing foreign-language movie in Northern America. The film also received ten Oscar nominations and won more than 40 awards in international film festivals.

Adapted from Wang Dulu’s wuxia novel serial, the film described a wuxia hero tried to escape from Jianghu but unfortunately attracted to more troubles. Neither wuxia nor Jianghu were universal concepts that non-Chinese audience could easily understand. However, the movie was hailed in the West because of the martial arts choreography and strong emotions in the film. Since then, more and more wuxia films were introduced to the West, like Hero (2003) and House of Flying Daggers (2004) by Zhang Yimou, and later The Grandmaster by Wong Kar-wai in 2013. Although none of them can copy Crouching Tiger’s path to success on box office and international reception. These directors successfully provide a multi-directional culture flow that not only from the West to the East (Wu & Chan, 2007). Moreover, DreamWorks Animation has produced their Kung Fu Panda franchise since 2008 which received a positive reputation among both Chinese and 37

Exporting Wuxia cultures

international audiences. The series paid a lot of attention on describing Chinese as well as wuxia cultures. The production team was advised by martial arts master Li Feng-shan who inspired them to create the blank martial arts manuals (Yang, 2008).

From the early 20th century to the present day, wuxia genre was exported in various forms like novels, movies, comics and video games from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China to other places including other Chinese-speaking society and the West. It is hard to determine if the exportation was a success. The genre has enriched and diversified the homogeneous global cultures based on Western ideology. However, the transnational culture flow is still asymmetric. If you compared the transnational flow of the genre of fantasy, you can find that J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter have dominated the cultural market since the 2000s. All of their films were global blockbusters and drove the economy by movie sequels, theme park, peripheral products and etc.

The current multidirectional process of transnational culture can also be reviewed by the online fan community. These communities play an important role in the amateur distribution of foreign culture products (Lee 2017). Nowadays, you can easily find the new episode of US drama series dubbed in Chinese or Korean drama series dubbed in English on the online platform such as dramafever.com less than 24 hours after its release.

Most of these ‘fandubbings’ are illegal, but it helps achieve the domestication of global culture. According to Lee (2017), enthusiasts who fandub and actively share related information on the fan community always want to seek an alternative cultural experience through media consumption. International audiences have been fascinated by these cultural differences.

Wuxia presents a world of an imagined Chinese society, so it can also be found on these communities where foreign fans want to experience a different culture. For instance, you can quickly find all episodes of newly released wuxia television

programme The Flame’s Daughter dubbed in English the day after its release. However, the amount of English dubbed Korean television programmes or Japanese anime outnumbered the dubbed wuxia genres or other Chinese programmes. It showed that the market share of wuxia genre in the transnational flow from the East to the West was still smaller than its counterparts.

Although some wuxia pieces were prominently important in the global cultures, the transnational wuxia flow to the West may not be as successful as other Eastern cultures. Stakeholders have a lot of hard work to do to introduce and share wuxia genre to the world. The first and foremost is to produce new contents. Lucifer Chu, the Chinese translator of The Lord of the Rings, thought that when there is a rising number of famous novelists after the publication of Tolkien’s trilogy, the popularity of Jin Yong did not inspire a huge outbreak of wuxia literary production (TAIWAN OUTLOOK – Translation & Innovation, 2008). Lucifer’s comment may be exaggerated but the fact is adaptations of Jin Yong’s novels appeared in Chinese television channels every year. For example, different versions of The Legend of the Condor Heroes were produced once every five years from 1994 to 2017 and those of The Return of the Condor Heroes appeared on the television once every four years from 1995 to 2014. Although these novels are all masterpieces, audiences may eventually feel fatigue in watching the same stories every year. New contents of wuxia genres need to be produced and thus new creative producers need to be cultivated. To achieve this, reading and writing habit should be encouraged and the freedom of the press should be protected to safeguard creativity. For instance, Qidian.com, famous for original web fictions in fantasy and wuxia, is an online platform operated by China Literature Limited. They allow community members to publish their stories online, collect subscription fees from readers and pay contribution fees to writers.

Besides creating new content, engaging with new partners will 39

Exporting Wuxia cultures

be another way to share wuxia culture. Both the translation of existing wuxia works and the transformation of wuxia genres into films or television programmes requires a large financial support. International corporate with massive financial resources can be a good wuxia cultivator. Tencent Pictures, a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Tencent Holdings Limited, recently obtained the copyright of all Gu Long wuxia stories. Their plan is to produce different adaptations of the novels, such as movies, television series, video games and comics. On the other hand, Netflix, one of the largest production and distribution company, has produced and released the sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The sequel, Sword of Destiny, was also an adaptation of Wang Dulu’s novel and shot in English. It was released worldwide on the streaming platform in 2016.

Although wuxia is one of the oldest genres in China, audiences nowadays are still fascinated by the charm of wuxia. The transnational flow of the genre also has started a long time ago in the 20th centuries. Its influence is widespread in Chinesespeaking communities and some Southeast Asian countries.

Their popularity may not be immense in a global context but there were remarkable pieces like A Touch of Zen and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that have moved the Western audiences. Although there will be many efforts to be made to export the wuxia cultures, it is affirmative that more wuxia works will be created and wuxia cultures will travel further internationally in the future.

Activity If you want to know more or contribute to the transnational flow of wuxia genre, please come and join our conference series titled ‘Transnational Flow of Wuxia Culture' in Fall 2018.

Reference Ang Lee on King Hu - A Touch of Art [Interview]. (2017, October 31). Retrieved April 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=C86B5_lPOX0 Cho, A. (2004). The Hong Kong Wuxia movie : identity and politics, 1966-1976 (T). Retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/ cIRcle/collections/831/items/1.0091507 Lee, H. (2017). A ‘real’ fantasy: Hybridity, Korean drama, and pop cosmopolitans. Media, Culture & Society,40(3), 365-380. doi:10.1177/0163443717718926 TAIWAN OUTLOOK - Translation & Innovation [Interview by Taiwan Macroview TV]. (2008, December 25). Retrieved April 28, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir2_zFlPOZg Teo, S. (1997). The Dao of King Hu. In Hong Kong Cinema: The Extra Dimensions(pp. 87-96). London: British Film Institute.

Teo, S. (2005). Wuxia Redux: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as a Model of Late Transnational Production. In Hong Kong Connections: Transnational Imagination in Action Cinema(pp. 191-204).

Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Tony Rayns on Touch of Zen - Art House Martial Arts [Interview].

(2018, March 26). Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SJi9M26VGU Wu, H., & Chan, J. M. (2007). Globalizing Chinese martial arts cinema: The global-local alliance and the production of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Media, Culture & Society,29(2), 195-217. doi:10.1177/0163443707074252 Yang, Z. (2008, August 10). Xian Dai Huang Fei Hong, Gong Fu Xiong Mao Zhen Tian Xia [Contemporary Wong Fei-hung and the famous Kung Fu Panda]. Pchome Online. Retrieved April 28, 2018, from http://fund.pchome.com.tw/magazine/report/po/ubnweekly/176/1 21829760056688005001.htm Zhang, S. (2017, March 5). Gang Qi You Mei: Ri Ben Ren Du Dao Di Jin Yong Shi Me Yang? [Okazaki Yumi: how does the Japanese read Jin Yong?]. The Initium. Retrieved April 27, 2018, from https://theinitium.com/article/20170305-culture-novelmartialarts-translation/ 41

Learning & Education

Learning and Education We offer an inspiring opportunity for schools, family groups as well as the public to engage with the Wuxia cultures.

Schools Get hands-on with objects and try on costumes, students can learn about the past through being a wuxia apprentice in ancient China. We offer different activities and resources for schools to learn about Chinese cultures out of the classroom, include: ●

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Design costumes for the apprentice through appreciating the text extracted from wuxia novels; Investigate objects first-hand and find out how to earn a living in the Jianghu; Find out the martial art grandmaster by studying an interactive map of ancient China; Copy a secret martial arts manual in a way of calligraphy by using brush and ink; And many interesting activities.

We make learning fun in the Museum! School sessions last two hours. Sessions can be tailored to cater for different age groups and for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

Family Learning The Museum is a place for your family to have fun together and experience the beauty of wuxia cultures. There will be two workshops offering in the Museum this summer. Check our website for the schedules.

Paper-cutting workshop

In Jin Yong's A Deadly Secret, Qi Fang recognised Di Yun by a pair of paper cutting butterflies. The art of paper cuttings can date back to the Eastern Han Dynasty and is an important folk art in China. They are usually used to decorate doors and windows, especially during Spring Festival and weddings. There are different cutting styles in different regions. You will learn this traditional craft in the workshop and design a unique graphic of paper-cutting for your family.

Metal moveable type workshop

The 'new school' wuxia stories were firstly told in the newspaper column in Hong Kong in the 1950s. At that time, the printing of newspaper used a technology called metal moveable type. Printing worker selected suitable moveable-type characters based on the manuscript, edited the layout and then sent to print finally.

Nowadays metal moveable type is outmoded and replaced by other printing systems. In this workshop, your family and you can learn more about this technology and create your own bookmark with metal moveable printing.

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Learning & Education

Learning and Education Public WU-Martial art classes

Martial art is one of the most important features in the wuxia stories. Nearly every wuxia novel lovers have imagined that they can one day move swiftly in mid-air or use internal force to paralyse others.

Although we will not provide any secret manuals allowing you to attain these techniques, we offer regular classes taught by masters from different schools of martial arts. This summer, you can experience the ancient Chinese martial art Wing Chun which focuses on developing your strength and flexibility.

Public Taichi workshop

Held on the Green every first Sunday of the month. Taichi is popular due to its benefits to the physical and mental well being. Everyone is welcome to join us. Let's settle your mind with Taichi movement and breathing under the blue sky!

Screening The wuxia pian is one of the most popular genres of all time in the Chinese cinema. These sword fighting movies not only entertained thousands of audiences but also provided a cultural registration of identity of the diasporic Chinese everywhere.

Since the early 20th century, a lot of wuxia pian have been introduced to the audiences. Screenings of these movies from the 1920s to the present day will be held in the lecture theatre daily.

A series of Chor Yuen's films is offered this season. Recipient of Hong Kong Film Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018, Chor Yuen is a Hong Kong-based film director who renowned for his series of films adapted from Gu Long's wuxia novels. There will also be talks discussing the success and failure of different book-to-film adaptations. For the full schedule, please visit our website.

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Plans for the future

Plans for the future The Hong Kong Museum of Wuxia Culture is not only a place that preserves tradition and artefacts, but also is a catalyst for developing wuxia culture. We believe that the best way to preserve a culture is to participate and share. Therefore, we will have two significant projects in the coming years.

The first plan will be developing a writing scheme that encourages teenagers to write their own stories. Literature is the fundamental of wuxia culture, including good wuxia novels and movie scripts. We will invite students and young writers to form a writing group which will be advised and mentored by published authors or screen playwrights.

Mentors will review their writing and help mentees solve their problems. The programme will help emerging writers publish their works and bring them to the global networks.

The second will be a wuxia literature in translation programme. Sixty years after its publication, Jin Yong's popular wuxia novel Legends of the Condor Heroes has been finally translated into English and is published in Britain in 2018. However, there are still many outstanding wuxia novel and manhua that are not translated into English or other languages. The Museum will gather translation talents and financial support to initiate the translation programme and introduce more wuxia stories to the world.

To preserve and continue the legacy of wuxia culture, there will be a lot more we need to do. However, we cannot accomplish these without your support. If you would like to get involved, please contact our Development department.

We would be delighted to hear from your view of changing the Museum into a better place to present the unique wuxia world.

Image Sources Page 2, 6: Architecture of museum http://www.krisyaoartech.com/en/projects/cultural/New-Taipei-Museum-of-Art Page 8: Lee Chi Ching, The Legend of the Condor Heroes. https://bkb.mpweekly.com/cu0001/20160507-23309 Page 10: Legend of the Condor Heroes on Hong Kong Commercial Daily on Jan 2, 1957. http://u.osu.edu/mclc/2018/04/14/chinas-best-selling-author/ Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils published during 1963-1964 http://www.mingpaocanada.com/van/htm/News/20150715/HK-goa2_r.htm Page 12: Wang Sima (1940-1983), wuxia novel illustration of chapter 48 in Jin Yong's DemiGods and Semi-Devils, 1963-1966. http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_1440c3ebb0102vty3.html Page 14: Tony Yuk Long Wong (born 1950), manhua cover of Oriental Heroes issues no. 1, 1975. http://www.hkmakslo.edu.hk/it-school/homepage/s200001331/hkcomic.htm Page 16: Ciyan tu (Granting Banquet) in Vol.8 of Comprehensive illustrated record of the grand wedding of Zaitian, Qing dynasty (1644-1911). http://www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/en_US/web/hm/exhibitions/data/exid239.html Page 17: Zhang Daqian. Yunshan Moxi. http://auctions.artemperor.tw/2017_summer/details/3165 Page 18: unknown, scroll, ink and colours on silk, Thriving Southern Capital (Nan du fan hui tujuan), Ming dynasty (1368-1644). http://www.chnmuseum.cn/tabid/212/Default.aspx?AntiqueLanguageID=220 Page 20: Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), ink and colour on silk, The Qianlong Emperor in court dress, 1736. https://aforteantinthearchives.wordpress.com/2016/05/30/sorcerers-and-soulstealers-haircutting-panics-in-old-china/ Page 22: Yangping Jin. Wuxia Series No. 3. http://www.artlinkart.com/cn/artist/wrk_sr/115bsyl/2b3gsxm Page 23: Le Peng. Kongfu Fish No. 2. http://www.artnet.com/artists/lu-peng/kongfu-fish-no-2-3X87awGxTqBFxPm4XhJZdw2 Page 24: Ju Ming (born 1938), wooden sculpture, Taichi Series: Sparring, 1991. https://www.insiangallery.com/artist-1938JM.html Page 26: Chow Chun Fai (born 1980), enamel paint on canvas, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Escape the Giang Hu world, 2006. http://www.chowchunfai.com/artwork_paintingmovie.html Page 28: Frederic Remington. A Dash for The Timber. https://enid.okpls.org/library/lets-talk-about-it-oklahoma-the-cowboy/ Page 29: Edmund Blair Leighton. The Accolade. https://it.pinterest.com/pin/526780487650475425/?lp=true Page 30: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), woodblock painting, Musashi on the Back of Whale, 1848-1854. https://www.adachi-hanga.com/ukiyo-e-en/items/kuniyoshi023/ Page 32: Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), ink on paper, Bucking Horse and Cowgirl, ca. 1925. http://www.cartermuseum.org/artworks/2424 Page 42: Paper-cutting workshop http://jeuxipad.info/chinese-paper-cutting-craft.html Page 42: Metal moveable type workshop http://www.classes.com.hk/workshop/%E5%85%89%E8%8F%AF%E5%8D%B0%E5%8B%99 Page 44: WU-martial art classes http://www.jiemian.com/article/2028448.html Page 44: Public Taichi workshop http://www.pinsdaddy.com/qigong-in-thepark_QBsghmHxFX7bqG4qxtS9bLGzsrzko5uWGvkDf2biOnQ/ Page 45: Wuxia pian poster https://neofilmshop.com/products/death-duel-1977-dvd-english-subtitled-hong-kong-version Page 45: Chor Yuen http://www.ihktv.com/next-1281-chu-yuan.html

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