36 Films & TV Shows Set In China During The 19th Century
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Ten Tigers of Kwangtung
Guangdong Province The 19th CenturyChang Cheh directs this old school Shaw Brother produced kung fu yarn. The film opens with members of the Ten Tigers group getting attacked by a pair of mysterious assailants. The film then flashes back several years previous to focus on Ming partisan Chu (Ku Feng) who is on the run from Manchu forces. Local merchant and kung fu enthusiast Li Chen-chau (Ti Lung) gives the fugitive shelter in his pawnshop and quietly recruits some of his fellow martial master associates to help protect the lad. When Li's professional rival rats him out, Manchu official Liang (Johnny Wang Lung-wei) not only orchestras his army but fools a couple other kung fu masters including Beggar Su (Phillip Kwok Tsui) into helping his cause. After a heated battle, Li manages to convince Su to joining his cause, thus forming the Ten Tigers. The film then snaps back to the original storyline, where the identities of the mystery assailants are revealed.
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Cantonen Iron Kung Fu
Guangdong Province The 19th CenturyIn a small Chinese town wandering criminals kill a local merchant to take over his trade routes, leaving Liang Kun (Leung Kar Yan) to seek vengeance and protect his town.
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Challenge of the Masters
π¨π³ China The 19th CenturyThe Wong family kung fu school gets smacked around by a rival school. Wong Fei-hong gets fed up with the abuse and goes to learn from his fathers master. After one of the rival schools members kills some of the towns people Wong Fei-hong becomes enraged trains even more comes back and gets his revenge.
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The Last Tempest
π¨π³ China The 19th CenturyDespite Kuang Hsu's enthronement as the last reigning Emperor of China, his ability to rule effectively is overshadowed by the ever-present power of the Dowager Empress. When his attempts to reform the Imperial system are thwarted by the Dowager Empress, he attempts to curb her power. His efforts are not successful, and this failure leads directly to his own death and the end of Imperial rule in China. The Dowager Empress, though, ends her days comfortably and in peace.
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The Empress Dowager
π¨π³ China The 19th CenturyThis dragon lady of the Ching Dynasty was the power behind the throne for 50 years, and hew vast tapestry of palace intrigues is vividly brought to the screen in this memorable epic.
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The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
π¨π³ China The 1900s The 1800sHammer Horror! Dragon Thrills! The First Kung Fu Horror Spectacular! β Professor Van Helsing had been asked to help against the tyranny of skeletal creatures that are responsible for terror and death amongst the peasants in rural China. He is the only person qualified to deal with the cause of these phenomena, for the undead are controlled by the most diabolical force of all.... Count Dracula. But he is not alone- to aid him comes a mystical brotherhood of seven martial arts warriors.
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Blood Brothers
π¨π³ China The 19th CenturySet in the waning years of the Ching Dyansty, this dramatic, tragic, romantic, blood-soaked martial arts tale of betrayal and revenge explores one of the most sensational scandals in Chinese history and marked the true ascension of its director and actors to superstar status. In fact, Ti Lung won Taiwan's Golden Horse Award for Outstanding Performance as the challenging role of a jealous provincial governor who kills his friend in order to steal the man's wife. γγThe 11th Golden Horse Awards: Special Award for Outstanding Performance (Ti Lung)
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The Pirate
π¨π³ China ππ° Hong Kong The 19th CenturyPirate Chang Pao-Chai (Ti Lung) springs a leak after an otherwise successful raid on a foreign ship. He goes ashore to get materials to patch his ship up, where he encounters corrupt Qing officials and poor, oppressed peasants. Being a good man at heart, he decides to help out and becomes an even bigger outlaw in the process.
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Sorrows of the Forbidden City
π¨π³ China The 19th CenturyThe film focused on a conflict between Empress Dowager Cixi, her son Guangxi (the nominal emperor) and his wife, Zhenfei.
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The Keys of the Kingdom
Scotland π¨π³ China The 1920s The 1910s The 1900s The 1890s The 1880s The 1870sTHE PICTURE THAT TOUCHES NEW HEIGHTS OF EMOTION β A young priest, Father Chisholm is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish among the non-Christian Chinese. While his boyhood friend, also a priest, flourishes in his calling as a priest in a more Christian area of the world, Father Chisholm struggles. He encounters hostility, isolation, disease, poverty and a variety of set backs which humble him, but make him more determined than ever to succeed.
