Chen Zhen (fictional character)

Chen Zhen
Created by	Ni Kuang
Portrayers	Bruce Lee, Bruce Leung, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Wu Yue, Jordan Chan
Information
Gender	Male
Affliations
Sects and organizations	Chin Woo Athletic Association
Teachers	Huo Yuanjia
Skills and abilities
Unarmed combat skills	Hong Fist[1], Karate[2], Mizong Fist[3]
Armed combat skills	Nunchaku-do[4]

For other people named Chen Zhen, see Chen Zhen.

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chen.

Chen Zhen
Traditional Chinese	陳真
Simplified Chinese	陈真
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Chén Zhēn Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Can4 Zan1

Chen Zhen is a fictional Chinese martial artist and hero created by Hong Kong writer Ni Kuang. He made his debut appearance in the 1972 film Fist of Fury, which starred Bruce Lee. In the film, Chen Zhen is depicted as a student of the martial artist Huo Yuanjia, founder of Chin Woo Athletic Association (also known as Chin Woo School or Jingwu School). After Huo Yuanjia allegedly died from illness, Chen Zhen discovers that his master was poisoned and the Japanese from a dojo in Hongkou District, Shanghai, are responsible for his master's death. He seeks to bring the murderers to justice and embarks on a quest to avenge Huo Yuanjia and revive his master's legacy, the "Jingwu Spirit".

Since 1972, Chen Zhen has become the subject of numerous films and television series, including remakes and adaptations of Fist of Fury. Many notable martial arts film actors have portrayed Chen Zhen on screen, including Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Donnie Yen. Chen Zhen's story varies in the different remakes and adaptations, but almost each ultimately leads to his final quest to avenge Huo Yuanjia and shares a similar ending to Fist of Fury.

The character of Chen Zhen is believed to be based on Liu Zhensheng (劉振聲), a real student of Huo Yuanjia.^[5]

Character features

During the premiere of Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen in September 2010, Donnie Yen was asked by reporters on how different his character is as compared to the earlier versions of Chen Zhen. Yen replied that there are significant difference, and gave his definition of the character, "Chen Zhen is Bruce Lee". He said that the image of Chen Zhen was crafted by Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury (1972), and personally he is a fan of Lee. He further explained that certain features of his character were inherited from Bruce Lee's, such as the white Mao suit worn by Chen Zhen and the use of nunchaku, but still there are differences in movements and overall character design between his Chen Zhen and Lee's. Since Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen pays tribute to Bruce Lee, Yen decides to retain the white Mao suit and the use of nunchaku, as well as repeating Chen Zhen's famous catchphrase, "The Chinese people are not sick men of the east!" (中國人不是東亞病夫).^[6]

Media appearances

Films

• Fist of Fury (精武門), a 1972 film starring Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen. This was the first appearance of Chen Zhen in media.

• New Fist of Fury (新精武門), a 1976 sequel to Fist of Fury. In this film, Chen Zhen's fiancee (played by Nora Miao) meets a young Taiwanese boy, Lung (played by Jackie Chan), who will become Chen Zhen's successor.

• Fist of Legend (精武英雄), a 1994 film starring Jet Li as Chen Zhen. In the film, Chen Zhen fought to salvage Jingwu School's reputation after the death of Huo Yuanjia. He defeated a Japanese general who was responsible for his teacher's death and escaped from Shanghai.

• Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (精武風雲 - 陳真), a 2010 film starring Donnie Yen as Chen Zhen. In this film, Chen Zhen leaves China to help the Allies fight the Germans in France during World War I after avenging his master Huo Yuanjia. He returns to China after the war to join an underground resistance movement in Shanghai in stopping the Japanese from invading China.^[7]

Television

• The Legendary Fok (大俠霍元甲), a 1981 Hong Kong television series based on the life story of Huo Yuanjia. Wong Yuen-sun played Huo Yuanjia and Bruce Leung played Chen Zhen.

• The Fist (陳真),^[8] a 1982 sequel to The Legendary Fok. Bruce Leung reprised his role as Chen Zhen with a new storyline. This ATV production co-starred Candice Yu, Lau Wai-man, Choi King-fai and Bill Tung. In this version, Chen Zhen becomes a wanted criminal after avenging Huo Yuanjia. With assistance from the mayor of Shanghai, he manages to escape by faking his own death and moves to Beijing with Huo's son^[9] where they led a reclusive life under new names. Chen's identity is eventually revealed when he comes into conflict later with the Japanese official Sato. His life was placed in danger but it also ignited his nationalist fervor. While Sato plans his revenge, Chen resolves to reopen Huo Yuanjia's Chin Woo Athletic Association to spread the Chin Woo spirit, his late teacher's legacy.

• Fist of Fury (精武門), ^[1] a 1995 television series based on the 1972 film of the same title, produced by ATV and starring Donnie Yen as Chen Zhen. Yen has become homonymous with this role in other countries populated by Chinese people other than Hong Kong, such as Taiwan and mainland China.

• Chen Zhen (陳真後傳), a 2001 Chinese television series that tells the story of Chen Zhen after Huo Yuanjia's death. Bruce Leung played Chen Zhen. The supporting cast includes He Qing, Ding Haifeng, Chen Baoguo, Shen Junyi and Jin Qiaoqiao.

• The Legend of Huo Yuanjia (霍元甲), a 2002 Chinese television series that focuses on Huo Yuanjia's life story, with Chen Zhen's story as a subplot. Vincent Zhao played Huo Yuanjia and Wu Yue played Chen Zhen.

• Jingwu Yingxiong Chen Zhen (精武英雄陳真), a 2002 sequel to The Legend of Huo Yuanjia. Wu Yue reprised his role as Chen Zhen, while Vincent Zhao appeared as Huo Yuanjia in flashbacks.

• Huo Yuanjia (霍元甲), a 2008 remake of The Legendary Fok. Ekin Cheng played Huo Yuanjia and Jordan Chan played Chen Zhen. The fight scene in the last episode and the ending is reminiscent of Fist of Fury and the earlier adaptations.

• Jingwu Chen Zhen (精武陳真), a 2008 sequel to Huo Yuanjia. Jordan Chan reprised his role as Chen Zhen.

Notes and references

1. ^ ^{a b} Fist of Fury on Donnie Yen's website
2. ^ Chen Zhen learns karate during his overseas studies in Japan in The Legend of Huo Yuanjia
3. ^ Huo Yuanjia teaches Chen Zhen the Mizong Fist in most of the adaptations (especially television series). In Fist of Legend, Huo Yuanjia's son Huo Ting'en teaches Chen Zhen the skill.
4. ^ Chen Zhen uses a nunchaku in Fist of Fury, Fist of Fury (TV series) and Jingwu Chen Zhen.
5. ^ (Chinese) 陳真和劉振聲 誰是霍元甲的真徒弟?
6. ^ (Chinese) Donnie Yen: Chen Zhen is Bruce Lee
7. ^ "LEGEND OF CHEN ZHEN REVIEW". Twitch Film. http://twitchfilm.com/reviews/2010/11/legend-of-chen-zhen-review.php. Retrieved 2011-02-08. 
8. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
9. ^ http://www.yesasia.com/us/1010727994-0-0-0-en/info.html

External links

• (Chinese) Chen Zhen on Baidu Baike