Learning from David Chiang

David Chiang


I have been thinking about David Chiang for some time. David Chiang is a Hong Kong icon and legend and is well regarded as one of Kung Fu`s Top Action Heroes. Born in Suzhou, China in 1947 to popular movie stars parents, Hung Wei and Yim Dut, David Chiang naturally started his acting career at a very early age, having appeared in black and white movies when he was just four years old. Personally, I started becoming aware of David Chiang the star only in the 7os through movies like The New One Armed Swordsman and The Generation Gap where he acted with Li Ching and Agnes Chan respectively. It was said that Hong Kong famed director, Chang Cheh discovered David Chiang just when there was a need to fill the vacuum left by the popular Shaw action star Wang Yu when he departed suddenly from the entertainment scene. When Shaws Mandarin movies lost their popularity, I thought David Chiang dissapeared with the crowd but then of course, I was not following the Hong Kong entertainment scene and did not know that David Chiang did not just dabble in scrip-writing, directing and producing but he was also acting in Cantonese comedies and TV series. The other day when I was watching TV, I happened to catch him in an episode of TVB costume drama, The Land of Wealth where he played a successful banker with a powerful enemy. In one scene when a poisonous centipede runs past him, his loyal employee tries to kill it in an attempt to stop the creature from harming the employer. The employer discourages the employee by saying, You can let it go and still live. Man can live side by side with wild, poisonous, deadly animals, I suppose. One doesn't have to go all out to kill deadly creatures. If one doesn't have the preconceived idea that the animals are going to harm you, it may not harm you at all unless you set all the necessary conditions for it to act thus. I suppose then when one recites Pāātipātā veramaī sikkhāpada samādiyāmi,one can undertake the training rule to abstain from taking life, more so with mosquitoes.

Comments

Unknown said…
I fell in love with Hong Kong movies watching the Friday night Kong Fu Theatre.
It was an amazing experience to see the stunts and the martial arts.
As a Buddhist I hold life sacred and I am teaching my kids to do the same.
My daughter wants to be a veterinarian because her love for the animal world.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and your kind comments!
Be loved!
footiam said…
Kung Fu Theatre in TV? We don't have that here. It's really amazing how creative people can be , coming up with all those stunts. It's just for entertainment, not to kill really and as you say, life is sacred. Your kids are lucky! You would be a fine teacher.
Liudmila said…
I would like to go in such a theater too. But I'm not sure, the exhibitions are "real" there.
Unfortunatelly I've never seen any of the artists you tell here about.
footiam said…
These stars are famous among the Chinese communities. There used to be a film studio in Hong Kong which churned out these films and the films are played in their theatres all over South East Asia. those days, there is very little we can see from TV and there is no video, DVD or internet.