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Thread: RIP Ni Kuang

  1. #1
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    RIP Ni Kuang

    Celebrated novelist Ni Kuang passed away at 87
    Local | 3 Jul 2022 7:15 pm


    Best known for his series of adventure-science fiction novels “Wisely Series”, Hong Kong novelist and screenwriter Ni Kuang passed away on Sunday at the age of 87.

    Ni's friend Sai Shing-sun posted on Facebook that Ni passed away on Sunday noon.

    Hong Kong-based columnist Chip Tsao, also known by his Chinese language pen name To Kit, also posted a photo with Ni, saying he was "the most clear-minded in the global Chinese world in the past 70 years".

    Ni was dubbed as one of the “Four great talents in Hong Kong”. His science fiction novels usually take the form of detective or mystery stories featuring extraterrestrial life.

    His best-known works are the "Wisely Series" and "Dr. Yuen" novel series, both of which have been adapted into films and television series. Ni wrote 150 Wisely stories in the form of 145 novels. His criticism of communism is evident in some of these works.

    He revealed years earlier at a book fair that he had skin cancer and was suffering from a lot of pains all over his body.

    However, he understands life and death thoroughly. One of his mottos is 'happiness is the most important, other things doesn't matter'.
    If you don't know, here's something from his wiki:
    Ni also co-wrote scripts with Chang Cheh for the Shaw Brothers Studio, including for the films One-Armed Swordsman, The Assassin and Crippled Avengers. As the screenwriter for the 1972 film Fist of Fury, he didn't receive credit for creating the protagonist, Chen Zhen, who was played by Bruce Lee. The credits listed director Lo Wei as author. Chen Zhen became a popular Chinese culture hero and the subject of numerous remakes and adaptations of Fist of Fury. Notable actors such as Jet Li and Donnie Yen have portrayed Chen Zhen on screen after Bruce Lee. Ni wrote the screenplay for China's first superhero film Inframan.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #2
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    THR obit

    Ni Kuang, Prolific Hong Kong Writer Behind Bruce Lee’s ‘Fist of Fury,’ ‘Big Boss,’ Dies at 87
    Ni wrote over 300 screenplays, predominantly in the martial arts and wuxia genre, mainly for the Shaw Brothers Studios.

    BY ABID RAHMAN

    JULY 3, 2022 11:25PM

    Ni Kuang

    Ni Kuang, the prolific Hong Kong writer behind the Wisely series of sci-fi novels as well as over 300 film screenplays including the classic martial arts films One-Armed Swordsman and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and the Bruce Lee hits Fist of Fury and The Big Boss, has died. He was 87.

    The South China Morning Post reported that Ni died Sunday at his home in Hong Kong. Local media reported that the cause of death was skin cancer. In a double blow to Hong Kong’s cultural landscape, Ni died on the same day as legendary director and screenwriter Alex Law.

    A giant of Chinese literature, Ni’s shadow looms large over the genres of science fiction, wuxia fiction and martial arts, but he also wrote extensive non-fiction pieces, newspaper columns, satirical pieces and dabbled in the romance and detective genres. It has been reported that Ni wrote more than 300 novels in addition to all the screenplays he completed during his life. He created scores of memorable characters among them the adventurer Wisley, the martial artist Chen Zhen, Dr. Yuen, the first modern Chinese superhero Inframan, and Fang Kang the “one-armed swordsman” portrayed by the late Jimmy Wang.

    Born in Shanghai in 1935, Ni was one of eight children in a middle-class family living in the French Concession area of the city. He was an avid reader in his youth, devouring Chinese classics such as Journey to the West, Dream of the Red Chamber and Water Margin. As a teenager he became a cadre of the Chinese Communist Party, working as a prison guard among other roles. In 1957, he offended a CCP official and made a dramatic escape from Inner Mongolia, where he was stationed, back to Shanghai where he paid people traffickers to smuggle him to Hong Kong.

    In Hong Kong, Ni worked as a laborer, and by chance entered a writing competition in a local newspaper. His writing career began in the popular wuxia genre — period action stories featuring sword-wielding warriors with added supernatural elements. Ni switched to science fiction in the early 1960s, creating the first Wisely story, Diamond Flower, in 1963.

    The Wisely stories were set in the near future of Hong Kong, with the wealthy protagonist Wisely traveling the world solving mysteries and encountering all manner of people, villains and even aliens. In all, Ni wrote 150 Wisely stories, and the series was adapted for radio, television and the big screen numerous times, with several actors playing Wisely including Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau and Samuel Hui.


    From left: ‘Fists of Fury’ (1972), ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ aka ‘Master Killer’ (1978) and ‘The Big Boss’ (1971). COURTESY OF EVERETT COLLECTION
    Ni began his screenwriting career in 1967 when he was invited by director Chang Cheh to write the script for the wuxia film One-Armed Swordsman. The film was a huge hit, leading to Ni becoming one of Hong Kong cinema’s most in-demand writers. He was closely associated with the Shaw Brothers Studios, penning a huge number of their biggest hits during the studio’s golden era of the late 1960s and 1970s.

    Ni’s most famous film work was uncredited. He created Bruce Lee’s character of Cheng Chao-an and the story for The Big Boss (1971) but the eventual writing credit was given to director Lo Wei. Ni was also the writer of the Lee film Fist of Fury (1972), creating the character of Chan Zhen and providing the story, but once again Wei took the credit. Chan Zhen would become an enduring character and be played by numerous actors in remake and reboot films and TV series including Jet Li and Donnie Yen.

    Notable other Ni-written films from the 1970s include the superhero film The Super Inframan (1975) and the kung fu classic The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) which would influence the American rap group the Wu-Tang Clan.

    Ni’s film and television output slowed in the late 1980s and the 1990s. A vocal critic of communism and the CCP, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1992 in anticipation of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong back to China. He returned to Hong Kong in 2006.

    At the 2012 Hong Kong Film Awards, Ni received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
    To be honest, I wasn't fully aware who he was until I read more obits. Such an impact he had...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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