Learn Chinese through Chinese Movie- June 2011
-少林寺 "Shaolin temple"
"Shaolin temple" 少林寺( in pinyin: shàolínsì
English translation: Shaolin temple )
The film was set during the transition period between Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty.
The film opens with the scene of a novice (Jet Li) about to be accepted into the Shaolin monastery. When the novice is asked about the vows of abstentions, the film goes into a flashback showing how he came to the Shaolin Temple; the novice was a conscripted laborer who was forced, with his father, into service of the warlord Wang Shichong, who ruled from Luoyang and assigned to oversee defences at a region near Shaolin monastery against rival warlords.
Directed by Zhang Xinyan
Movie star: Li Jianjie(Jet Li)
Genre: Action
Release date(s): 1982
Country: China
Language: Mandarin/Cantonese
Provoked into retaliating against harsh treatment, the father was killed by the guards, but the son managed to escape and found refuge in Shaolin Temple, and was given the name Jueyuan. In the temple, Jueyuan eagerly sought to learn martial arts in order to avenge his father. During a failed assassination attempt of Wang Renze (Yu Chenghui), he saved a local girl, Bai (Ding Lan), who turned out to be daughter of one of his instructors from the temple.
Later, Jueyuan and Bai saved a man who was spying on Wang Renze's defences. The spy turned out to be Li Shimin, son of a rival warlord who founded the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan. Li Shimin was discovered by Wang Renze's men, but managed to escape with the help of a group of martial monks from Shaolin. After Li Shimin escaped, Shaolin temple came under attack by an army for aiding Wang Shichong's enemies, but the army was defeated with the timely arrival of Tang's forces. After Wang Shichong was defeated, Li Shimin returned to the temple to reward the monks and proclaimed high honours for the temple.
