In the era of kung fu films, not only a large number of kung fu actors emerged in the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment circles, but also in the 80s of the last century, the mainland also set off a martial arts boom.
Among the many kung fu stars, the kung fu actresses in the mainland martial arts movies are particularly eye-catching, most of them are professional martial arts athletes, so they are very good at fist and foot kung fu, and the flower fist embroidered legs that are posed today are not the same thing, they are all heroic, and some have won the national martial arts championship, let's learn about their stories today!
Ding Lan
Ding Lan, who was born in Luoyang, Henan Province, has been good at singing and dancing since she was a child, and when she was in the second grade, she was sent by her parents to the amateur dance training class of the Luoyang Children's Palace, but her parents are railway workers, and no one in the family is engaged in literary and artistic work. She graduated from Henan Provincial Opera School, and during her studies, she worked as a knife and a flower dan, and practiced a good kung fu.
Now, when the name Ding Lan is mentioned, many viewers will immediately think of the image of the shepherdess girl she played in "Shaolin Temple". She became a household name actor with this role. Influenced by the great success of "Shaolin Temple", Ding Lan was assigned to the Henan Provincial Repertory Troupe after graduating from the drama school.
After becoming an instant hit, Beijing Film Studio extended an olive branch to her and transferred her to Beijing Film Studio in 1984. After Ding Lan entered the factory, he successively participated in a series of classic movies such as "Disciples of Shaolin Temple", "Shaolin Kids", "Shaolin Lay Disciples", "Thirteen Sisters of Chivalry" and so on.
In 1988, Ding Lan married a man from Beijing, and their wedding was held in Beijing.
Three years later, after receiving an invitation from the Singapore Broadcasting Authority, Ding Lan, who wanted to change her working environment, discussed with her husband to go to Singapore for development, but her husband was a native of Beijing and did not agree to go to Singapore with her at all.
After arriving in Singapore, Ding Lan was valued by the Broadcasting Bureau and signed a contract to become a full-time actor, although she came to a foreign country for development, she did not encounter a language barrier in Singapore, and not long after she arrived there, she participated in the TV series "Happy and Sorrowful Years". The following year, she also went to Shanghai with her colleagues in Singapore to shoot the TV series "Dragon and Tiger".
Because Singapore's TV series shooting method is different from that in the mainland, the script may have been obtained temporarily, and Ding Lan was not very suitable for this work mode at the beginning, but after a few years, she has fully integrated into the new film and television environment in Singapore, and has participated in many film and television dramas such as "Family Affairs", "Unfinished Fate", "Lotus Battle" and so on.
In 1993, Ding Lan remarried a Hong Kong civil servant, and settled her home in Hong Kong, after marriage she gave birth to a son, because of work, she and her husband often live in two places, so most of the time the son lives in Hong Kong with his father.
This marriage only lasted for five years, and they came to the point of divorce due to many differences in their living habits, personalities, etc., coupled with less and more separation all year round, the son stayed in Hong Kong to live with his father, and Ding Lan chose to return to Beijing to live, and after ten years of absence, her acting career was no longer able to start from scratch, so she chose to do business.
Ding Lan registered a trading company and was engaged in trade at home and abroad, but the business sea was like a battlefield, and she was anxious about money after doing business, and she was also deceived. Once, she waited for a customer to stand in the rain for two hours, and it took five years to get the company on the right track.
After becoming famous again, there were also people of the opposite sex who took the initiative to pursue her, and when her son grew up, he persuaded her, "Mom, if you meet the right one, I hope you will have another family." However, Ding Lan, who had been hurt emotionally, could not open her heart easily, so she never started a new relationship.
Now, Ding Lan has reached the age of sixties, and her son has become her greatest emotional sustenance. Because her son lives in Hong Kong all the year round, she will visit him in Hong Kong in her free time, and her son will come to Beijing to reunite with her when he has time. Regarding her relationship problems, Ding Lan said that if she meets someone who is destined to make her decide to get married, she will not miss it, and wishes Ding Lan to meet someone who is destined as soon as possible.
Huang Qiuyan
Huang Qiuyan was sent by her parents to Beijing Shichahai Sports School for training at the age of 11, and she is good at practicing guns and swords, and has won the Snake Fist and Double Sword awards in the Beijing Wushu Competition. It was in this sports school that she established a relationship with her junior brother Jet Li, the two of them are childhood sweethearts, and they are also a pair of sisters and brothers.
In 1987, the two of them registered their marriage in a very low-key manner, neither holding a banquet nor worshipping their parents, which was more casual and simple than ancient men taking concubines. After getting married, Huang Qiuyan followed her husband to Shenzhen, where Jet Li founded an international martial arts development company, which closed after only one year due to poor management.
Soon after, they went to the United States as visiting scholars, and their first daughter, Li Si, was born at that time. After having children, Huang Qiuyan devoted herself to her family and taking care of her children, and almost abandoned her acting career.
Stills from "Dragon in the World".
If it weren't for Luo Wei who came to invite Jet Li to act in a movie, it is estimated that the couple would have been engaged in martial arts promotion and education in the United States. When the crew of "Dragon in the World" sent an invitation to Jet Li, Huang Qiuyan, who wholeheartedly supported her husband's career, encouraged him to seize the opportunity, but this laid the groundwork for the failure of the marriage between the two.
Stills from Li Zhi's "Dragon in the World".
Because when making this movie, Jet Li and Li Zhi fell in love at first sight, and he desperately devoted himself to new emotions, regardless of the young age of his two young daughters, he immediately made a long-distance call to Huang Qiuyan in the United States and filed for divorce from her.
Although Jet Li chose to leave the house and left the house in the United States to his ex-wife and daughter, the house had a loan, and because Huang Qiuyan was unable to repay the loan later, the house was finally taken away by the court. At one point, the mother and daughter were living on the streets, but fortunately they were taken in by a kind woman who placed them in a windowless basement.
In order to continue her life, Huang Qiuyan had no choice but to send her two daughters to Beijing and leave them in the care of Jet Li's mother, while she herself went to a beauty school in Hong Kong to learn beauty techniques. Just like the character "Sanfeng" she played, with a stubborn and tenacious spirit of not accepting fate, Huang Qiuyan successfully got a job as a beautician in the United States.
A few years ago, at the 33rd anniversary party of "Shaolin Kid", Jet Li and Huang Qiuyan attended together, and when they took a group photo, they invariably chose to avoid contact with each other. The relationship between them is a regrettable mistake, maybe Jet Li never really loved Huang Qiuyan from beginning to end.
Huang Qiuyan (middle)
During her time in the United States, Huang Qiuyan met a partner who could be with her for the rest of her life, and her husband opened a restaurant in the United States, and after remarriage, the couple lived a plain and warm life. From Huang Qiuyan's bright smile, you can feel that she has long been relieved of the unbearable failed marriage, and as for her current life, she should be very satisfied and happy.
Ge Chunyan
"Wuying" athlete Ge Chunyan, at the age of 13, entered the martial arts class of Beijing Shichahai Sports School to practice martial arts, and later was selected into the Beijing Wushu team with Jet Li and others, becoming one of the first members of the team. She is the 19th generation of Chen-style Taijiquan and the second generation of Mixed Yuan Taijiquan, and has won the championship in the national martial arts competition with Baguazhang many times.
Ge Chunyan has participated in films such as "Wulin Zhi", "Big Sword King Five", "The Military Order of the Female General of the Yang Sect is Like a Mountain", "Dongying Ranger" and other films.
In 1994, she moved to Singapore and taught in various martial arts groups and schools. In order to promote and pass on martial arts skills such as Baguazhang, she founded the Bafang Martial Arts Training Center in 2004.
When Wong Kar-wai was preparing for the filming of the movie "The Grandmaster", he specially invited Ge Chunyan to serve as Zhang Ziyi's Baguazhang instructor. Professionals in the industry commented on Ge Chunyan like this, saying that her Baguazhang kung fu is light and elegant, unpredictable, strong and graceful, which makes people fascinated.
Chen Yongxia
Due to the influence of her family, Chen Yongxia began to practice martial arts at the age of four, and when she grew up, she was specially recruited to study in the martial arts department of Wuhan University of Physical Education. She is a national first-class martial arts coach, a national first-class martial arts referee, and at the same time, she is also a famous kung fu movie actor.
After completing her studies at university, Chen Yongxia returned to Wudang Mountain and became the 14th generation of the Wudang Xuanwu School. She has played the heroine Miao Cuihua in the "Fang Shiyu" series of movies twice, and has been recognized by the audience for this role. After that, she also participated in movies such as "Wind and Dust Woman Lu Siniang" and "Golden Dart Huang Tianba", and was praised by the media as "the first heroine of martial arts films in the new era".
After becoming famous in the film and television industry, Chen Yongxia still did not forget her original intention of practicing martial arts, and later she completely gave up her acting career and devoted herself to martial arts education to promote Wudang kung fu and culture. After many years of retination, she only participated in the action movie "Kung Fu Invincible" in 2007.
In 2015, after 30 years of painstaking research, Chen Yongxia's book "Nine Palaces Rotating Twelve Pile Methods" was officially published, which filled the gap in Chinese Wudang martial arts and caused a strong response in the martial arts community. Now Chen Yongxia is also in her sixtieth year, but she is still engaged in martial arts research and promotion.
Lin Qiuping
Lin Qiuping, the "Flower of Tai Chi", has won the women's Tai Chi championship in the national martial arts competition six times. She has not participated in many film and television works, but in "Kapok Robe" directed by Xu Xiaoming, she played the heroine Lin Ying, and the style of galloping on the vast grassland is so beautiful, I still remember it vividly.
Lin Qiuping's screen image is portrayed very gently and movingly, although she became popular with the film, but she has not been nostalgic for the film industry since then. It is rumored that Lin Qiuping immigrated to Germany with her husband, where she founded a martial arts gym with the aim of promoting Chinese martial arts culture.
Zong Qiaozhen
Zong Qiaozhen is from the Jiangsu martial arts team, especially known for her long boxing and swordsmanship, and many viewers know her through the movie "Southern Boxing King", in which she played Liang Yuqing.
She has also participated in films such as "A Generation of Gun Kings", "Invincible Mandarin Duck Legs", "Life and Death Flying Dragon" and other films. After leaving the film industry, Zong Qiaozhen entered Nanjing, and the martial arts team became a martial arts coach.
Lin Quan
Lin Quan's famous work is the movie "Wudang", and I believe many viewers still remember the scene where she bit her braids when she was in the ring. Lin Quan is outstanding in long boxing and swordsmanship, and has won the national women's long boxing championship, southern boxing champion before becoming an actor, and has the reputation of "a flower in the southern country".
She also participated in films such as "New Fang Shiyu", "The Heroine of the Melon Shed", "The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple", and later Lin Quan went behind the scenes and participated in the production of some film and television works and martial arts instruction and other related work.
Zhang Xiling
When she was young, Zhang Xiling was a Dai girl from Yunnan, she was also a martial arts athlete, and she won the national martial arts championship in Jinquan.
Zhang Xiling played Princess Yinling in the movie "The Young General of the Yue Family", her facial features were delicate and three-dimensional, her temperament was extraordinary, and she left a deep impression on the audience with her pretty appearance.
After that, she also played Chai Ziyu in "Princess Wencheng", Ah Da in "The Mystery of the Double-headed Eagle", Xiaolan in "Invincible Mandarin Duck Legs", and Lin Yilian, Wang Zuxian and others in "Rhapsody of Part-time Work", but it never became popular.
Zhang Xiling (left)
Zhang Xiling married an outsider, gave birth to two children after marriage, and the family was harmonious and beautiful, and lived a very happy life.
Wang Xiuping
Wang Xiuping was a member of the Beijing martial arts team, and she has outstanding looks and extraordinary temperament, which is more beautiful than many professional film actors. She has starred in films such as "The Strange Love of Wutai Mountain", "Suspicious Shadow of Xiajiang", "Treasure Hunting Outside the Plug", "Southern Boxing King" and other films.
In "Treasure Hunting", she played the role of the little sister Jing Tianfeng, whose natural and simple performance style portrayed this role as smart and cute, but due to the mediocre response after the release of the film, Wang Xiuping's wonderful performance did not receive more attention from the outside world.
In 1993, Wang Xiuping starred in "Heroes and Heroes: Su Qier" starring Donnie Yen, in which she played the role of the Fire Lotus Sect Jade Girl, which was her last appearance on the big screen, and then completely faded out of the public eye and has not been heard from since.
Zhang Xiaoyan
Because she was frail and sickly since she was a child, Zhang Xiaoyan was sent to the city sports school by her mother, became a martial arts student, and later became a "martial arts" athlete. At first, she didn't have a concept of martial arts, and thought it was just learning to dance, but she didn't think that there was not much inevitable connection between martial arts and dance.
Zhang Xiaoyan is good at snake boxing, and her boxing style is unique, with both the softness of women and the unique strength of people who practice martial arts. In 1983, she participated in the movie "Heroes from Ancient Times", in which she played the role of a little daughter-in-law, which was in stark contrast to the "big husband" who couldn't do kung fu.
In this film, her performance of the snake fist is superb, her skills are very good, and her heroic appearance left a deep impression on the audience.
She has also participated in films such as "The Decisive Battle of Heaven" and "The King of Chinese Gamblers". Although she became famous, Zhang Xiaoyan did not continue to engage in acting, but rejoined the martial arts industry.
After retiring from the provincial team, Zhang Xiaoyan went to France to develop, and served as the head coach of the French national wushu team for 12 consecutive years. In 2008, she resigned as head coach and established the "Chinese Traditional Wushu Society" in France, which has been committed to spreading traditional Chinese martial arts culture.
Do you have anything to say about these mainland kung fu actresses?