"LINGNAN HUNG-KUEN ACROSS THE CENTURY: KUNG FU NARRATIVES IN HONG KONG CINEMA AND COMMUNITY" EXHIBITION

Hong Kong is one of the most important Chinese martial arts centres and, since the mid-20th century, the de facto capital for kung fu cinema. The interaction between kung fu as community practice and as cinema is not only a defining characteristic of Hong Kong culture, it also played a key role in forging transnational Chinese identity and engendering a global fascination with Chinese martial arts. Kung fu became one of the most powerful symbols for Chinese culture, while film representations came to dominate popular perception of Chinese martial arts. Significantly, the interactions between kung fu practice and cinematic representations began with Lingnan Hung Kuen.

Hung Kuen was a preeminent kung fu style in Guangdong in the early 20th century, while its patriarch, Lam Sai Wing (1860–1943), spearheaded the movement to modernise and popularise Chinese martial arts in Southern China. In the 1930s, Lam Sai Wing and his family established a foothold in Hong Kong, which eventually became their headquarters, and in so doing contributed to making Hong Kong an important kung fu hub. From the 1960s, as students of Lam Family Hung Kuen migrated overseas, Hung Kuen became internationalised, and in time grew into one of the most popular kung fu styles around the world.

Lau Jaam, one of Lam Sai Wing’s students, was the first actor to be cast in his master’s role, thus merging real kung fu with the world of make-believe. Building on his legacy, his son, the legendary kung fu actor, choreographer and director Lau Kar Leung (1934–2013) created a new cinematic language founded on his profound knowledge of traditional martial arts, taking kung fu cinema to new heights in the 1970s and 1980s. His influence continues to be felt today.

Hung Kuen and its masters inspired several popular novels, notably the biographical novels of Wong Fei Hung (1847–1924) and Lam Sai Wing, which later became the subject of a popular radio show “Wong Fei Hung and Lam Sai Wing”. The popularity of these works led to film adaptations, resulting in the iconic black-and-white Wong Fei Hung films. Through the legendary Lam and Lau families, this exhibition traces the parallel development of kung fu practice and cinema in Hong Kong over the course of the past seventy years.