Wuxia movies are not kung fu movies as such, although the two often have many overlapping elements. Wuxia movies were banned in mainland China in 1931, which is why the popular genre transferred to Hong Kong, then a British colony. “Wuxia” basically means “martial hero”, and can refer to a great variety of heroic figures – often called knight-errants in English – who are proficient in either use of weapons (typically the sword) or traditional martial arts, and most often display attitudes of chivalry and righteousness. The genre grew out of the time-honoured Chinese literary “wuxia” tradition, which in turn came to silent cinema in the 1920s. That glorious product of the Hong Kong film industry, the kung fu movie, did not start – and certainly did not end – with Bruce Lee.
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