The Five Ancestors

"The Five Ancestors" is a children's series written by Jeff Stone about five, young Chinese warrior monks who are the only survivors of the destruction and raid of their home, Cangzhen Temple. Each of the warriors specializes in an animal kung fu and possesses a Cantonese animal name: Fu (Tiger), Malao (Monkey), Seh (Snake), Hok (Crane), and Long (Dragon). The warriors must seek their past and fight their former brother Ying (Eagle) and others that bring harm. Each monk will begin to uncover their own past and learn surprising facts about themselves. Betrayal, trust, friendship, and skills along the way between the monks' families, friends, and among themselves.

Plot summary

Cangzhen, meaning Hidden Truth, is a secret martial arts temple founded by Shaolin monks resembling the Shaolin Monastery.

The Five Ancestors are: Fu(Tiger), Malao(Monkey), Seh(Snake), Hok(Crane) and Long(Dragon). Each has a Cantonese name of their mastered animal Kung Fu style. All of these children and animal Kung Fu masters, who mastered their fighting styles when they were eleven. In the beginning of the first book, Cangzhen temple is destroyed. They are told by the Grandmaster of the temple to uncover the secrets of their pasts, find their families, and change their former temple "brother" Ying and the current Emperor of China, who is making life impossible for many.

Ying became corrupted after his best friend, Luk (deer) was killed while carrying out a mission for the current emperor. Because of this,and because his father, Cholong (Loud Dragon)was killed by Grandmaster, Ying has always blamed him for ruining his life. Grandmaster did not think is wise to train Ying as a Dragon,and so he was trained as an Eagle instead. Both Grandmaster and Ying's father are Dragon fighters. Ying grows angry of being robbed of his true name, Saulong (meaning Vengeful Dragon) and being raised of something other than a Dragon which Ying believed he was destined to be.He leaves the temple, and later joins the Emperor's army and destroys Cangzhen with his troops. He kills 101 monks in the temple, including Grandmaster, but the Five Ancestors manage to escape.

The Five anncestors scatter into the four winds, each seeking alies, and some even teaching others their Kung Fu.

Fu makes friends with villagers from a nearby village and teaches each child he befriends a tiger Kung Fu move,

Malao circles back to Cangzhen and helps his "brother" Hok bury Grandmaster.

Seh meets his father, Mong (Python) who is the leader of a group of bandits who he hopes can help him in his quest. In book three, he learns from his mother that his birth name was actually Choy (wealthy).

Like Malao, Hok also circles back to the temple. She decides to spy on Ying and his troops, but is unfortunately caught. Later on, Fu and Malao help her escape, and she heads toward Shaolin temple.(Note: Hok is really a girl named OnYeen, which means Peaceful. Although girls are not generally allowed into Cangzhen, Hok was a special case. By book 3, Fu and Malao know her secret; Seh and Ying knew this fact long before the attack on Cangzhen. As Long refers to Hok as "her" in the fourth book, Crane, but never had contact with any other of the ancestors before Crane, we can assume he figured out Hok's secret without being told.)

Long has traveled to Jinan and enlisted himself in the Jinan fight club, which is led by a man named LaoShu. Long rose to the top and became the best fighter in the club. Long is alright and plans to help change Ying and the emperor from within-by earning a high rank in the army. He believes that he would have some influence over the emperor in that way. Long is also known as Golden Dragon.

In Ying's army, there is a man who looks like Seh and is later revealed to be his half-brother. This man is named Tonglong, Praying Mantis in Cantonese. He is apparently looking for the secret dragon scrolls (Each animal style has scrolls that teach the students to become masters of the style. Ying burned all the secret scrolls apart from the dragon scrolls and now, by book 3, Ying and Seh have one each, and AnGangseh has two. The one Seh has turns out to be a map that nobody recognizes.) for something greater than Ying's purposes, and is helping Seh's mother. The two are called Python (Mong) as the father, and AnGangseh (Cobra) as the mother. Tonglong betrays Ying in the third book, and frames him, thus causing the Emperor to be enraged and arrest Ying.

Books in the series:1. Tiger2. Monkey3. Snake4. Crane5. Eagle

Coming Soon6. Mouse7. Dragon

[Characters] Grand Master

Status:Deceased Cause of death:decapitaitionFamily:Ying - GrandsonWanSow - Daughter in lawHas sons but names remain unknown

Ying/Saulong - or Vengeful Dragon Age 16-17Family:Grand Master - Grandfather WanSow - MotherCoulong- father

LukStatus:DeceasedCause of death: qiang ball through sideFamily:Unknown

Hok/Onyeen - or peaceful oneStatus: AliveAge:12-13Family:Bing - MotherGongjee -sisterUnnamed Dutch fatherMalao - cousin (on her mother's side)The Monkey King- uncle and Bing's brother

Seh/Choy - or wealthyStatus:Alive, Blinded by poison(not love)Age:12-13Family: Mong - fatherAnGangseh - motherTonglong - half brother

MalaoStatus: AliveAge:11Family: The Monkey King - fatherBing - auntHok - cousinGongjee - half cousinCharles - half cousinUnnamed mother

FuStatus:AliveAge:12Family: Sanfu Unnamed mother

Translation of Cantonese words

* Fu - Tiger
* Malao - Monkey
* Seh - Snake
* Hok - Crane
* Long - Dragon
* Ying - Eagle
* Tonglong - Praying mantis
* Hung - Bear
* Mong - Python
* AnGangseh - Cobra
* Bing - Ice
* Sanfu - Mountain Tiger
* HukJee- Black Pig
* Gao - Dog
* Luk - Deer
* NgGung - Centipede
* Cheen - Shallow
* WanSow- Cloud Hand
* Sum - Deep
* Tsung - Monk (Mandarin)
* Cholong - Loud Dragon
* Saulong - Vengeful Dragon
* Ho Dao - Forgiving
* Ma - Horse (Mandarin)
* PawPaw - Grandmother (Mandarin)
* OnYeen - Peaceful
* GongJee - Princess
* HaMo - River Toad
* LaoShu - Rat
* Choy - Wealthy
* Qiang - Gun
* Xie - Scorpion
* ShaoShu - Little Mouse
* GumLong - Golden Dragon
* Guai Lo - White Man / English people
* Hukjee - Black Pig

External links

* [http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/fiveancestors/ Official website]
* [http://www.fiveancestors.co.uk/ UK Official website]

References