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Poster for The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

少林三十六房

1978 · Film · 116 min

Directed by Lau Kar-leung

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During the Qing Dynasty, a fishmonger is killed by the reigning Manchu government for supporting the anti-government movement; his son manages to escape to Shaolin Temple, where he plans to learn its secretive brand of martial arts to seek revenge.

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2 comments on Hacker News

  1. Neutral57473m3n7Fur7h3Jul 12, 2025

    And between that and the rap group there’s this important movie:

    Shaolin and Wu Tang (1983)

    > The film is about the rivalry between the Shaolin (East Asian Mahayana) and Wu-Tang (Taoist Religion) martial arts schools. […]

    > East Coast hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan has cited the film as an early inspiration. The film is one of Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA's favorite films of all time. Founders RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard first saw the film in 1992 in a grindhouse cinema on Manhattan's 42nd Street and would found the group shortly after with GZA. The group would release its debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), featuring samples from the film's English dub; the album's namesake is an amalgamation of Enter the Dragon (1973), Shaolin and Wu Tang, and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaolin_and_Wu_Tang

  2. NeutralNoosOct 28, 2017

    Jackie isn't even that good. it's annoying because no one really seriously watches enough kung fu films to realize he isn't.

    For example, Beardy (Leung Kar Yan) oozes charisma just by breathing, and does fights like these:

    https://youtu.be/ViowFzbOxfU

    ...without any formal kung-fu training! He's just a gifted physical mimic.

    Gordon Liu is another hugely influential actor who more or less is what people think of when they think of shaolin kung fu, and he starred in many of the most iconic films of that genre, like the 36th chamber of shaolin. Then you have the five venoms, etc. If you actually went through a collection of the best films, like the old Dragon Dynasty DVDs, you'd be shocked to see how little Chan is in them.