Wong Fei-hung

Wong's original given name was Sek-cheung or Xixiang (锡祥; 錫祥; Xīxiáng; Hsi-hsiang; Sek³-coeng⁴) before it was changed to Fei-hung (Feihong). His courtesy name was Dat-wan or Dayun (达云; 達雲; Dáyún; Ta-yun; Daat⁶-wan⁴).[1]

Wong was born in Luzhou Hamlet, Lingxi Village, Xiqiao Country, Fatshan, Nanhai County, which is a present day part of Foshan City, Guangdong Province, during the reign of the Daoguang Emperor in the Qing dynasty. His ancestral home was in Luzhou Hamlet, Lingxi Village, Xiqiao Country, Fatshan, Nanhai County, Canton Prefecture, Kwangtung Province, which is now part of Xiqiao Town, Nanhai District, Foshan City.[1]

At the age of five, Wong started learning Hung Ga from his father, Wong Kei-ying. He often accompanied his father on trips from Foshan to Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong Province, where his father peddled medicine and performed martial arts in the streets. When he was 13, he encountered Lam Fuk-sing (林福成; Lin Fucheng), an apprentice of "Iron Bridge Three" Leung Kwan, in Douchi Street in Foshan Town. Lam taught him how to use the sling and the essential moves of the martial art Iron Wire Fist.[1] Later, he learned the Shadowless Kick from Sung Fai-tong (宋輝鏜; Song Huitang).

In 1863, Wong started a martial arts school in Shuijiao (水腳) in Saikwan (Xiguan), which is a present day location of Liwan District, Guangzhou City. His students were mainly metal labourers and street vendors. In 1886, Wong opened his family's medical clinic, Po Chi Lam (寶芝林; Baozhilin), in Ren'an (仁安), which is a present day part of Xiaobei Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City.[1] In legend, around the 1860s or 1870s, Wong was recruited by Liu Yongfu, the commander of the Black Flag Army, to be the medical officer and martial arts instructor for the regular soldiers and the local militia in Guangzhou. He also followed the Black Flag Army to fight the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895.

In 1912, the Republic of China was established following the collapse of the Qing dynasty. During the chaotic early years of the Republican era, many businessmen who operated places of entertainment in Guangzhou decided to hire guards (or bouncers) to protect their businesses on-site in case trouble broke out. As Wong was trained in martial arts, he was hired by various businesses to be one of such guards.

In 1919, when the Chin Woo Athletic Association opened a branch in Canton, Wong was invited to perform at the opening ceremony.[1] In the same year, Wong Hon-sam, one of Wong's sons, who was working as a bodyguard in Wuchow (Wuzhou), Kwangsi (Guangxi), was murdered by a rival known as "Devil Eye" Leung (鬼眼梁), who was apparently jealous that Wong Hon-sam was better than him in martial arts. Wong was so affected by this incident that he stopped teaching his other sons martial arts.[5]

Between August and October 1924, Wong's medical clinic, Po Chi Lam, was destroyed when the Nationalist government was suppressing the uprising by the Guangzhou Merchant Volunteers Corps. Wong felt so dejected and saddened by the loss of Po Chi Lam that he fell into depression and became ill. He died from illness on 17 April 1925 in Chengxi Fangbian Hospital (城西方便醫院),[6] which is the present day location of the Guangzhou First People's Hospital (廣州市第一人民醫院) at Panfu Road in Guangzhou's Yuexiu District.[7] He was buried at the foot of Baiyun Mountain.[1]

Wong's fourth wife, Mok Kwai-lan, and his sons, along with his students Lam Sai-wing and Dang Sai-king (鄧世瓊; Deng Shiqiong), moved to Hong Kong and opened martial arts schools there.

Wong's grave location is currently unknown. It is also believed that his grave, along with others within the cemetery were long expunged for future developments.[8]

Wong was a master of Hung Ga. He systematised the predominant style of Hung Ga and choreographed its version of the Tiger Crane Paired Form Fist, which incorporates his Ten Special Fist techniques. Wong is famous for using the Shadowless Kick. He named the techniques of his skills when he performed them.

Wong was adept at using weapons, such as the staff and southern tiger fork. One tale, possibly fictional, recounts how Wong defeated a group of 30 gangsters on the docks of Guangzhou with a staff.[9]

The man in this photograph was alleged to be Wong Fei-hung, but was later confirmed to be actually Wong's son, Wong Hon-hei.[10]

After his first wife died of illness in 1871, Wong was widowed for 25 years. In 1896, he married his second wife and had two sons and two daughters with her. Some time after she died of illness, Wong remarried again in 1902. His third wife bore him two sons before falling victim to a deadly illness. His fourth and final wife stayed with him from 1915 up till his death. The personal names of his first three wives are unknown. He had four known children.

Spouses

• Wong's first wife was surnamed "Lo" or "Law" (罗; 羅; Luó). She married Wong in 1871 and died of illness three months after their marriage.
• Wong's second wife was surnamed "Ma" (马; 馬; Mǎ). She married Wong in 1896 and died of illness. She bore Wong two sons and two daughters.
• Wong's third wife was surnamed "Sam" or "Sum" (岑; Cén). She married Wong in 1902 and died of illness. She bore Wong two sons.
• Wong's fourth wife, Mok Kwai-lan (莫桂兰; 莫桂蘭; Mò Guīlán), married Wong in 1915. She outlived him and died in Hong Kong on 11 March 1982. As Wong believed that his first three wives died because of a curse on him, he never took another formal spouse; Mok was actually his concubine in name.

Sons

• Wong Hon-syu (黄汉枢; 黃漢樞; Huáng Hànshū), born to Wong's third wife.
• Wong Hon-hei (黄汉熙; 黃漢熙; Huáng Hànxī), also born to Wong's third wife.
• Wong Hon-lam (黄汉林; 黃漢林; Huáng Hànlín), born to Wong's second wife.
• Wong Hon-sam (黄汉森; 黃漢森; Huáng Hànsēn), also born to Wong's second wife.

Daughters

At present, there is no information on Wong's two daughters.[11]

Descendants

Wong had at least three grandsons and six granddaughters. His descendants currently live in Australia, Latin America and Southeast Asia.[12]

In 1996, the Wong Fei-hung Lion Dance Martial Arts Museum was built in his hometown in Foshan.[13]

A Wong Fei-hung Memorial Hall was built in 2000 and was officially opened in January 2001 in his honour in Foshan, Chancheng District.

The first alleged photo as provided by his fourth spouse Mok Kwai-lan to Leung Ting of the Real Kung Fu (真功夫) magazine in 1976. Decades later, it was first exhibited at the Wong Fei-hung Memorial Hall in 2000 and was controversially seen and even promoted by martial artists as a photo of Wong Fei-hong.[14] This was dismissed in 2009 by New Martial Hero's article that the man in the photo was of that of his fourth son, Wong Hon-hei.[15]

In 2005, another alleged photo of Wong Fei-hung once in procession by one of his students Kwong Kei-tim (鄺祺添) was discovered by the museum staff in Hong Kong. The man in the photo bears a close resemblance to his son, whose photo was the first to be often mistaken for his own father's back then.[16][17] According to his fourth spouse Mok, who once said that her husband was quite superstitious, who believed that taking self photos would shorten one's lifespan, so Wong had a picture of himself taken by his student Kwong, the only one in his lifetime.[18]

• Wong Kei-ying
• Ten Tigers of Canton
• Wong Fei-hung filmography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wong Fei-hung.

• www.wongfeihung.com