- Lau Kar-leung persuaded Gordon Liu, who learned kung fu from his father Lau Charn, to go into films. His scenes in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin were memorable
- Liu plays a mythical monk, a graduate of the Shaolin Temple who passes through its 35 chambers before becoming a roving martial arts teacher
In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong martial arts cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the career of its greatest stars, and revisit some of the lesser-known aspects of the beloved genre.
The entire middle section of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978), a classic kung fu movie by a master martial arts director, is devoted to the training of the hero as he works his way up from novice to master.
Director Lau Kar-leung (also known as Liu Chia-liang) trained in southern martial arts styles " the lineage of his instructors can be traced back to Cantonese hero Wong Fei-hung himself " and has said that the main reason that he made movies was to "exalt the martial arts".
The exceptionally talented Gordon Liu, the star of the film, studied the hung ga fighting style under Lau Kar-leung's father, Lau Charn, and moved into films at the director's behest. In The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Lau and Gordon Liu deliver some of the most powerful and elegantly choreographed kung fu scenes of the genre.
The story, set during the early 18th century when China was ruled by the Manchus, is loosely rooted in history and legend. Gordon Liu plays Liu Yude, a student whose parents are killed by the Manchus because he dares to speak out against their rule. Fleeing for his life, Liu Yude heads for a Shaolin Temple because he has heard the monks possess powerful kung fu skills which he can use to avenge his parents.
Liu Yude is accepted into the temple as a novice, and begins the arduous task of learning kung fu. This entails working his way through 35 chambers, each of which teaches a different skill. Nine training chambers are shown in the film, including balance, wrist strength, head strength, and visual attention.
Liu Yude is a star student, and when he completes the 35 chambers " changing his name to San Te, or "Three Virtues", on completion " he asks if he can return to life outside the monastery to teach the anti-Manchu rebels Shaolin kung fu. San Te's roaming martial arts school becomes known as the 36th Chamber of Shaolin.
The Shaolin Temple is based on a real monastery which still exists. The Buddhist monastery was founded in AD495 in the Songshan mountain range 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Luoyang in Henan province. The monks trained in martial arts, and developed the Shaolin kung fu styles around AD700.
The monks used their skills to defend the monastery from bandits, and fought in military battles. Martial arts became integrated with Buddhist practice at Shaolin, and Shaolin kung fu became well known in the 16th and 17th centuries. Shaolin kung fu is commonly regarded as the greatest of all the Chinese martial arts styles. The monk San Te may also have existed.
In The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Gordon Liu uses the powerful hung ga style of kung fu, a southern form which, according to legend, was developed by a Shaolin monk at the "Southern" Shaolin Temple in Fujian, although the southern temple is generally considered to be a myth.
Gordon Liu has said in interviews that he sustained injuries while shooting the film. A sequel, Return to the 36th Chamber, was released in 1980.
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