Wong Fei-Hung (Drunken Master)

Wong Fei-hung was a Chinese martial artist, a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and a revolutionary who lived towards the end of the Qing Dynasty. He became a Chinese folk hero and the subject of several Hong Kong television programmes and films. Beggar So, who plays a supporting role in the film, is also another character from Chinese folklore and one of the Ten Tigers of Canton with the Ng Ying Kungfu style (Chinese: 五形功夫). The Beggar So character is often cast as an associate of Wong Fei-hung or Wong's uncle.

In the English Dub of The Drunken Master, Wong is call Freddie Wong. He reappeared in the sequel The Legend of the Drunken Master. In both films he is portrayed by Legendary Martial Arts actor, Jackie Chan.

History

 * The Drunken Master

The plot centers on a young and mischievous Wong Fei-hung (sometimes dubbed as "Freddie Wong"). Wong runs into a series of troubles. Firstly, he teaches an overbearing assistant martial arts teacher a lesson. Next, he makes advances on a woman to impress his friends, and is soundly thrashed by her older female guardian as a result; his shame is compounded when these two are later revealed to be his visiting aunt and cousin, whom he had not met before. Lastly, he beats up a hooligan who is the son of an influential man in town. His father decides to punish him for his behavior by making him train harder in martial arts.

Wong's father arranges for Beggar So to train his son in martial arts. Beggar So has a reputation for crippling his students during training so Wong flees from home in an attempt to escape his punishment. Penniless, he stops at a restaurant and tries to con a fellow patron into offering him a free meal. As he was about to leave after his meal, he discovers that the man is actually the owner of the restaurant. He fights with the owner's lackeys in an attempt to escape. An old drunkard nearby is drawn into the fight and helps him escape. The drunkard turns out to be Beggar So, the Drunken Master. (Beggar So is known in some versions of the film as Sam Seed, So Hi or Su Hua-chi)

Beggar So forces Wong into his brutal and rigorous training programme. Wong flees again to avoid the torturous training and runs into the notorious killer Yim Tit-sam (known in some versions as Thunderfoot or Thunderleg) by accident. Yim is known for his "Devil's Kick", a swift and deadly kicking style which has never been defeated. Wong provokes and challenges him to a fight and is soundly defeated and humiliated. He makes his way back to Beggar So and decides to commit himself to the Drunken Master's training program.

The training resumes and soon Wong learns Beggar So's secret style of martial arts, a form of Drunken Boxing called "The Eight Drunken Immortals", named after the eight xian that the fighting style references. Wong masters seven of the eight styles with the exception of Drunken Miss Ho's as he feels that her style of fighting is too feminine.

Meanwhile, Yim Tit-sam is contracted by a business rival to kill Wong's father. Wong's father fights with Yim and is defeated and injured by him. Wong and Beggar So arrive on the scene on time and Wong continues the fight with Yim. Beggar So promises not to interfere in the fight. Wong employs the new skills he has learned and outmatches Yim's kicking style. Yim then resorts to his secret technique, the Devil's Shadowless Hand, which is too fast for Wong to defeat. Wong confesses that he did not master the last style so Beggar So tells him to combine the seven styles and create his own version of the last style. Wong follows the instruction and discovers his own unique style of Drunken Miss Ho, which he uses to overcome the Shadowless Hand and finally defeat Yim.
 * Second Film

The story begins in early 20th century China at a crowded train station, with Wong Fei-hung (Jackie Chan), his father, Dr. Wong Kei-ying (Ti Lung), and the family servant, Tso (Ram Cheung), waiting in line. Fei-hung is angry about having to pay a duty on the ginseng that Kei-ying is bringing back for a client. Disobeying his father, Fei-hung hides the ginseng in the suitcase of an employee of the British consul to avoid the tax (as Consul workers are exempt from duties).

When the train makes a stop, Fei-hung and Tso create a diversion to sneak into the first class section (filled with members of the British Consulate and the British Ambassador) to retrieve the ginseng. When Fei-hung gets to the first class luggage car, he spots a Manchurian officer (Lau Kar-leung) stealing an unknown item that is in a similar package as the ginseng. Fei-hung tries to speak with him but the officer hits him. However, Fei-hung retrieves the ginseng, and pursues the officer in revenge for hitting him. A long fight between them ensues under the train, during which the officer calls him a "henchman". Puzzled, Fei-hung angrily tells the officer that he is not a henchman and challenges him to a hand-to-hand kung fu fight. Fei-hung uses his Zui Quan (Drunken Boxing) style of martial arts on him, but it proves ineffective. After the fight, the officer tells Fei-hung that his drunken boxing is slow and powerless. When Fei-hung returns to the train, the Manchurian officer opens the box he stole, only to realize that he accidentally stole the Wongs' ginseng.

Meanwhile, on the train, guards of the British Consulate search for the stolen box and they ask the Wongs to show them their items. Fei-hung discovers that what he thought was his father's ginseng was actually a valuable Chinese antique. But before the officers discover it, a sympathetic son of a Northeast Chinese general (Andy Lau) uses his influence to intervene (in both English dubbed versions, the man is actually a counterintelligence officer). Later, its revealed that the British ambassador (Louis Roth) is corrupt and involved in an operation to smuggle and sell ancient Chinese artifacts. However, buyers won't purchase the collection without the missing Emperor's Jade Seal (the artifact now in Fei-hung's possession). Then he sends his henchman, John (Ken Lo) and Henry (Ho-Sung Pak), to make the workers at a local steel factory work overtime without pay. When the workers refuse, Henry physically overpowers the workers and forces them to submit to the overtime working orders.

When the Wongs return home from their train ride, trouble brews for Fei-hung when his father's client, Mr. Chan, comes to retrieve the ginseng root. Fei-hung takes the root of his father's prized ancient bonsai tree, discreetly gives it to Mr. Chan and tells him that it is the ginseng. Knowing that the bonsai tree root could be deadly for Mr. Chan if he decides to brew it, Fei-hung's step-mom, Ling (Anita Mui) decides to temporarily loan her necklace to one of her friends in exchange for some money to buy ginseng. This leads some of Master Wong's friends to believe that the Wongs are having financial troubles, and they offer him a collection, which a confused Master Wong declines. Meanwhile, Fei-hung and Ling do not realize that Henry and his men are following them, having (correctly) suspected Fei-hung of stealing the jade seal. Assuming that the bag Ling and Fei-hung are carrying is the stolen artifact (although it's actually Ling's necklace), they attempt to steal the bag, which starts a fight between Fei-hung vs. Henry and his men. During the fight, Ling encourages Fei-hung to use drunken boxing against them to impress the crowd and gain publicity for the Wongs' school, Po Chi Lam. She and her friends take a bunch of alcohol from a country club and give it to Fei-hung, which allows him to do drunken boxing properly, and then he impressively defeats Henry and his henchmen in front of the crowd. However, Master Wong Kei-ying arrives as the fight ends, and Fei-hung's drunken behavior embarrasses the family. He takes his son and wife home and lectures them, saying they are destroying his reputation by fighting and drinking in public, and for making others believe that they are broke. He beats Fei-hung for fighting and using drunken boxing (which Master Wong forbids). To make matters worse, Mr. Chan's wife comes by to tell Kei-ying that her husband is very sick from the bonsai tree root (which is poisonous if consumed). An infuriated Master Wong beats Fei-hung even more and disowns him, kicking him out of the house.

Fei-hung goes to a restaurant and drinks heavily in sorrow. John arrives with a beaten Henry and the rest of the henchman from earlier to confront him. Fei-hung is now clearly too drunk to fight, and John beats him. Fishmonger Tsang (Felix Wong), a fellow Choy Li Fut instructor and friend of Fei-hung, arrives and tries to intervene, but is unable to when a vat of hot liquid he was carrying spills on him. The next morning, Fei-hung and Tsang are found knocked out beaten, with Fei-hung stripped with a banner hanging from him that says "King of Drunken Boxing." Master Wong brings Fei-hung back into the home, and explains that the reason why he forbids drunken boxing is because it is difficult for drunken boxers to find the right balance of alcohol consumption. The following night, the Manchurian officer from the train arrives at the Wong's residence to speak to Fei-hung. Master Wong recognizes him as Master Fu Wen-chi, the "last decorated Manchu officer." The next day at a restaurant, Master Fu explains to Fei-hung that the artifact that ended up in Fei-hung's possession (and what Master Fu meant to steal from the train) was the Emperor's Jade seal. He tells him about the theft of precious ancient Chinese artifacts by foreigners and asks him for help in stopping it, which Fei-Hung agrees to do. Moments later, an enormous gang of axe-wielding thugs (known as the Axe Gang), apparently paid for by the British Consulate, try to kill them. After a long fight, Fei-hung and Master Fu make an escape, and Fishmonger Tsang, Fun, and Tsang's student, Marlon (Lau Ka-yung) join the fight, as they recognize Master Fu. But a British consulate guard fatally shoots Master Fu when he runs down an alley, and they take back the Jade seal. Fu Wen-chi pleads with them to get it back before dying.

The following night, both Tsang and Fei-hung break into the consulate disguised as consulate guards to retrieve the Jade seal, but are both eventually caught. They are jailed, beaten, and held for ransom by the British Ambassador, who demands that Wong Kei-ying sells the land where Po Chi Lam and Fishmonger Tsang's schools are. Master Wong reluctantly agrees to do so and the Consulate releases Fei-hung and Tsang. Then, the ambassador orders the steel mill to be closed down and for all of the steel shipments to be sent to Hong Kong. Angry, steelworkers Fo-sang (Chin Kar-lok) and a man named Uncle Hing (Hon Yee-sang) break into the steel mill later that night to find out what the British are up to, and they discover the steel shipment boxes are filled with ancient Chinese artifacts. However, they are caught and they fight the consulate's henchman. Fo-sang escapes and informs Fei-hung and Ling about what is happening.

Later, Fei-hung, Tsang, Fun, and Marlon arrive at the factory where the workers are staging a protest that becomes violent against the Consulate's abuses. Once inside the factory, Fei-hung takes on all of the henchmen until only Henry and John are left. Fei-hung easily fights off Henry but John proves to be a tough opponent due to his fast and unpredictable kicks. When John and Henry gain the upper hand and are about to finish him off, Fei-hung uses the industrial alcohol in the steel mill to light Henry on fire, and then drinks it. Disposing of Henry, Fei-hung defeats John in a wild fight scene with his drunken boxing.

Later, the Wongs are rewarded by a Chinese general for their help in stopping the British Consulate's crimes, which includes a sum of money and the return of Tsang's and Wong's schools.

Trivia

 * When Mr. Feng eats cannon candy he gets hyper, and can't control himself. As Surely comments "that's a lot of sugar for a little guy". This could be a reference to the Drunken Master as Jackie's character can't control himself after drinking too much alcohol.