Southern Shaolin (Tentative Title)

Year of Production:  2002

Production Company: Beijing Han-Yu Films and Culture

No of Episodes: 32

Producers: Li Su, Chen Han Hai

Screenplay : Wang Chen, Chen Hui Ying

Directors: Yuen Cheung Yan, Yuen Ying Ming

Martial Arts Choreography: Yuen Clan

Cast: Wu Jing, Huang Ju Long, Theresa Lee Yi Hung, Le Jia Tong, Zhang Jing Chu, Li Nan, Geng Ge, Li Yong Tian, Chunyu Shan Shan, Zhang Tie Lin, Xu Xiao Jian, Wang Jian Xin, Liu Da Gang, Chen Xu Ming

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Plot Synopsis:

The Resistance, Heaven and Earth Society, has always been a constant threat to the Manchu Empire. So, Emperor Yongzheng (Zhang Tie Lin) sends Third Prince Hongshi (Chunyu Shan Shan) to Fuzhou, a district in Fujian, where their headquarters are believed to be located, to suppress its members. One of the places to be investigated is Southern Shaolin Temple, which receives generous donations annually from devotees, is suspected of funding their activities. At the same time, Fourth Prince Hongli (Li Nan) is also entrusted with the duty of covertly investigating the activities of Heaven and Earth Society and possibly recruiting them. Both princes, being well aware that Emperor Yongzheng's real intention is to gauge how they handle the affairs of the nation in order to decide which of the two princes should succeed the throne, are eager to prove themselves.

Hongshi, who is apparently more ruthless and scheming, views Hongli as a major stumbling block. He sends waves after waves of assassins after Hongli. Hongli, who travels incognito, and identifies himself as Young Master Hua, bumps into Fang Shiyu (Wu Jing), who saves him from dangers, time and again.

As Fang Shiyu, a recently accepted lay disciple of Southern Shaolin has sneaked out without permission, he faces expulsion. Abbot Xuan Tong, who believes that Fang Shiyu is a piece of unpolished jade with great potential, and his mentor Reverend Xuan Zhi, who though strict, dotes on him, try to intercede with Head of Disciplinary Hall, Reverend Xuan Jing, for leniency. Reverend Xuan Jing decides that Fang Shiyu is to be cuffed with shackles on his limbs and be made to walk in exile for a thousand miles before he could be redeemed.

Little did anyone know of a hidden agenda of Xuan Jing, who is a member of Heaven and Earth Society. The shackles locking Fang Shiyu are in fact made of gold, but coated on the outside with ordinary iron. Xuan Jing, has been abusing his bookkeeping authority by siphoning off offerings from the temple, and secretly been transporting them to Heaven and Earth Society. Now that the Manchurian government has stepped up its checks on South Shaolin, and people travelling to and from it, Xuan Jing faces difficulty in sending funds to Heaven and Earth Society. So, he is secretly using Fang Shiyu to help solve his problem.

Though playful and defiant by nature, Fang Shiyu willingly submits to the punishment, for that's the only means he could remain as a Southern Shaolin disciple. He has come here to learn the revered martial arts of Southern Shaolin and he's not one who gives up easily. Chaperoning Fang Shiyu on his exile trip is Reverend Xuan Zhi. Along the way, Fang Shiyu keeps trying to run away, for he doesn't want to meet his parents in his pathetic state while Reverend Xuan Zhi insists otherwise. He meets Master Thief Zhao Da Hong and Top Swindler Zhuo Lin (Theresa Lee) and become close friends with them.