Jackie Chan posted: Yuan Kui has left
2024-08-13
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On August 12, Jackie Chan posted a group photo on social media to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the "Yuen Clan", in which he mentioned the memory of his departed fellow student Yuan Kui. This news was like thunder from the blue sky, causing everyone to be surprised and sigh. Another member of the "Seven Little Fortunes", a veteran who once lifted up the golden age of Hong Kong movies, has quietly passed away.
A Beijing Youth Daily reporter learned from insiders that the news of Yuan Kui's death was heard last year. At that time, it was heard that his family hoped not to make it public, so not many people knew about it.
According to public information, Yuan Kui was born in Hong Kong, China on November 30, 1951. In 1970, he worked as a martial arts stuntman. In 1972, the action movie "Fist of Fury" was released. In 1977, the costume martial arts film "Chu Liuxiang" was released. He has participated in the action directing of many films such as "Dragon Master", "Royal Sister", "God of Gamblers" and "Fang Shiyu". After going to Hollywood, he served as the action designer of "X-Men" and also cooperated with director Luc Besson in "The Transporter" and "The Transporter 2".
The "Seven Little Fortunes" is a collective name for the seven students of the Peking Opera martial arts student Yu Zhanyuan when he opened the Chinese Drama Research Institute in Hong Kong in the 1960s. The Seven Little Fortunes originated from the fact that Yu Zhanyuan selected Yuan Long (Sammo Hung's stage name at the time), Yuan Lou (Jackie Chan's stage name at the time), Yuan Biao, Yuan Kui, Yuan Hua, Yuan Wu (real name Zhou Yuanjun), and Yuan Tai as the protagonists of "Seven Little Fortunes" during a Peking Opera performance.
"Yuen Clan" reunites, Jackie Chan reveals his death
In the group photo released by Jackie Chan, everyone is wearing red short-sleeved shirts with the Chinese character "Yuan" written on them, smiling, with Sammo Hung sitting in the middle and Jackie Chan beside him. The group of people who were once full of vigor and vitality have now reached the age of white hair and beard.
Jackie Chan wrote: "We entered Master Yu Zhanyuan's Hong Kong Chinese Drama Academy when we were six or seven years old. We sang, recited, acted and fought together, practiced hard together, got beaten by our master together, and learned a lot of real skills that would allow us to make a living in the future. Later, we entered the film industry one after another. We helped each other and gradually made our own way. The 'Seven Little Fortunes' from the Yuen Clan became more and more popular with the audience. Many of them became great action directors, leading actors and directors in the film industry and had their own representative works. Just like that, decades later, all of us have wrinkles on our faces, our hair has turned gray, and we can no longer easily perform many actions. However, as Big Brother Sammo Hung said, it is a miracle that we can still be together in good health after a lifetime of fighting and going through all kinds of things."
He also mentioned that they took advantage of this gathering to remember their departed Master, Master's Wife, Senior Sister Yu Suqiu, Yuan Lin, Yuan Yin, Yuan Ru, Yuan Kui, Yuan Rong and other brothers and sisters. Thus, he accidentally revealed the news of Yuan Kui's death, but Jackie Chan did not mention more details.
Later, Tin Kai Man, former president of the Hong Kong Film Workers Association, confirmed that Yuan Kui had passed away two years ago: "Yuen Kui died of COVID-19 about two years ago, but due to his family's wishes, it has not been made public. As far as I know, he moved to Canada in his early years."
Being one of the "Seven Little Fortunes" with Jackie Chan made Jet Li famous
Born in 1950, Yuan Kui has many titles. He is not only a well-known Hong Kong actor and director, but also a martial arts instructor and producer. In his early years, Yuan Kui, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao were all taught by Peking Opera master Yu Zhanyuan. The seven of them were known as the "Seven Little Fortunes".
After leaving stage performance, Yuan Kui entered the film set as a martial arts instructor and directed dozens of films, including "Fong Sai-yuk", "Comic Dragon", "God of Gamblers", "New Fist of Fury 1991" and other masterpieces. Yuan Kui also won the Best Action Director Award at the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards for "Fong Sai-yuk".
Not only did Yuan Kui collaborate with Liu Zhenwei to direct "God of Gamblers" and make Stephen Chow famous, he also promoted a number of action actors. It was they who later supported half of the Hong Kong film industry, including Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li.
In 1988, Yuan Kui was invited by Jet Li to develop his career in Hollywood and served as his martial arts instructor, achieving quite dazzling results. The actions designed by Yuan Kui were unanimously recognized by Hollywood, and he later participated in the action design of many Hollywood blockbusters.
In recent years, Yuan Kui has returned to the Chinese-language film industry and participated in the design of action scenes for many works such as "Red Cliff" and "Shaolin Temple".
“An era is slowly passing by”
After Jackie Chan published the long article, hundreds of messages flooded into the comment section. Some mourned the death of Yuen Kwai, some recalled the glorious days of Hong Kong movies, and some lamented the passing of time. In a blink of an eye, decades have passed, and those heroes who once illuminated the dreams of young people have grown old, and "an era has slowly passed."
One fan left a sad message: "Yuen Kwai has always been low-key, there is no news, if Jackie Chan didn't tell us we wouldn't know." Another fan wrote: "In that era of material poverty and spiritual poverty, Hong Kong movies and TV series were the light that illuminated an ignorant boy. The martial arts and action were gorgeous and eye-opening. If I could, I really want to go back to my childhood and just watch movies so simply."
(Yangcheng Evening News·Yangcheng School compiled from China News Network, Beijing Youth Daily, Xiaoxiang Morning News, etc.)
