No Flowers Monk (CHOR LAU HEUNG)

[Ken Cheng]

So...

He was a half-Japanese Shaolin monk whose father was a ninja and thus, No Flowers was trained in the Japanese ninja arts.

One of the coolest concepts for a wuxia villain ever.

[Mido-Ban]

[CC]

WTF did i just watch??

[Mido-Ban]

WTF did i just watch??

It's from 2001 chor Lau hung with Richie ren as lead. Dicky Cheung from journey to west 1 as no flower monk.

It was cool when it first came out

[Mido-Ban]

Back when there was more creativity with cgi. It was no flower monk doing genjutsu. Clh in this version is student of dagger Lee. Not sure if that's Canon. But cool concept and alot the story was pretty good when it first came out. Now watching back its cringy but watchable for people who grew up watching 70 to 80s series

[Ken Cheng]

Just the visual image of a Shaolin monk using a katana is striking.

[FeilongZ]

Amazing. I miss the 1990s.
How powerful is No Flower Monk in the novel?

[Ken Cheng]

Amazing. I miss the 1990s.
How powerful is No Flower Monk in the novel?

No idea, but I think he's consistently portrayed as around Wu Teet Fa's level and under Chor Lau Heung's level. His martial arts are certainly a force to reckon with, combining Shaolin arts with ninja techniques, but his treachery, cunning, and ruthlessness are what make him really dangerous. Martial arts wise, he's actually the least powerful of Chor Lau Heung's enemies.

[Athena]

I’ve never watched the 1978 TVB production of Chu Liuxiang, but based from what I read now, it seems that some of Wuhua’s seedy elements are not mentioned in this adaptation.

There is no right and wrong when it comes to liking some fictional characters. Sometimes there are characters whom one likes a lot based on personal preference. If someone likes Wei Xiaobao or Tian Boguang, who am I to say that liking them is deplorable. Just for the record, I do like those two fictional characters and it is does not make sense to judge fictional characters set in a fantasy martial arts genre with our current set of values in 2021. I am all for #MeToo, by the way. Louis Cha wrote Wei and Tian for readers to ‘like’ and not to be ‘hated’ despite their flawed actions.

In contrast, Wuhua has very few redeemable characteristics, if we do like to assess this character, we should probably include the original background of the character in its primary source. Wuhua might have Japanese ancestry and has ninja skills. Those are very ‘cool’ characteristics. I am not disputing that. I loved watching Kill Bill 1 and 2. What makes Wuhua unlikeable is that he bragged about his sexual conquests in a form of diary. Yes, he kept a diary of all the women he seduced and maybe sexually assaulted. He bragged about this in a form of a journal which he kept in his personal ‘wooden fish’. Later on, this wooden fish was found in the personal belongings of Nangong Ling. One of the elders of the Beggars’ Union saw this and was reminded how Nangong Ling was influenced by his bad brother and smashed the wooden fish on the ground. That is how the diary was found. The elders of the Beggars’ Union originally wanted to burn it unread; however, one thought it might reveal some other plots of Wuhua or matters related to the Beggar’s Union, so they gave themselves an excuse to flip through it and were appalled with what they read. The elders of the Beggars’ Union, in unison, decided that this diary should be burnt immediately. They realized how many families or women’s reputations would be ruined by this diary. This is how Dai Duxing (the senior elder of the Beggars’ Union) gave info to Chu Liuxiang about the ‘Divine Water Palace’ and then it helped to reveal the plot of Yin Ji and her illegitimate daughter and so on.

Writing a diary about one’s sexual conquests is pretty deplorable even within the confines of the wuxia genre; especially if that character is supposed to be a Buddhist monk. I don’t find those actions very savoury. It is downright sleazy and creepy. If Wei and Tian don’t look well in the post #MeToo era, then Wuhua is basically the Harvey Weinstein or Donald Trump in wuxia.

I’m just putting this out there.

[Ken Cheng]

I’ve never watched the 1978 TVB production of Chu Liuxiang, but based from what I read now, it seems that some of Wuhua’s seedy elements are not mentioned in this adaptation.

There is no right and wrong when it comes to liking some fictional characters. Sometimes there are characters whom one likes a lot based on personal preference. If someone likes Wei Xiaobao or Tian Boguang, who am I to say that liking them is deplorable. Just for the record, I do like those two fictional characters and it is does not make sense to judge fictional characters set in a fantasy martial arts genre with our current set of values in 2021. I am all for #MeToo. Louis Cha wrote Wei and Tian for readers to ‘like’ and not to be ‘hated’.

In contrast, Wuhua has very few redeemable characteristics if we should probably include the original background of the character in its primary source. Wuhua might have Japanese ancestry and has ninja skills. Those are very ‘cool’ characteristics. I am not disputing that. I loved watching Kill Bill 1 and 2. What makes Wuhua unlikeable is that he bragged about his sexual conquests in a form of diary. Yes, he kept a diary with all the women he seduced and maybe sexually assaulted. He bragged about this in a form of a diary which he kept in his personal ‘wooden fish’. Later on, this wooden fish was found in the personal belongings of Nangong Ling. One of the elders of the Beggars’ Union saw this and was reminded how Nangong Ling was influenced by his bad brother and smashed the wooden fish on the ground. That is how the diary was found. The elders of the Beggars’ Union originally wanted to burn it unread; however, one thought it might reveal some other plots of Wuhua or matters related to the Beggar’s Union, so they gave themselves an excuse to flip through it and were appalled with what they read. The elders of the Beggars’ Union, in unison, decided that this diary should be burnt immediately. They realized how many families or women’s reputations would be ruined by this diary. This is how Dai Duxing (the senior elder of the Beggars’ Union) gave info to Chu Liuxiang about the ‘Divine Water Palace’ and then it helped to reveal the plot of Yin Ji and her illegitimate daughter and so on.

Writing a diary about one’s sexual conquests is pretty deplorable even within the confines of the wuxia genre; especially if that character is supposed to be a Buddhist monk. I don’t find those actions very savoury. It is downright sleazy and creepy. If Wei and Tian don’t look well in the post #MeToo era, then Wuhua is basically the Harvey Weinstein or Donald Trump in wuxia.

I’m just putting this out there.

The diary was a plot point in CHOR LAU HEUNG '79, and it was indeed a record of No Flowers' crimes, including how he raped and tortured the wife of the Pearl Sand Union Chief Lang Chou Wan. He also explicitly expressed his intentions of raping Soo Yung Yung to spite Chor Lau Heung.

When first introduced, No Flowers appeared to be a Shaolin monk of exceptional talent, cultivation, and personal charm. Little did audiences suspect in the beginning that he would be the most dastardly of villains.