111 Films & TV Shows Set In China During The Middle Ages
-
Ashes of Time
π¨π³ China The 13th Century The 12th CenturyOuyang Feng is a heartbroken and cynical man who spends his days in the desert, connecting expert swordsmen with those seeking revenge and willing to pay for it. Throughout five seasons in exile, Ouyang spins tales of his clients' unrequited loves and unusual acts of bravery.
-
Tai-Chi Master
Henan Province The Middle AgesFalsely accused for cheating in a martial arts competition, two boyhood friends are banished from their Shaolin Temple and go their separate ways. As adults, they join opposing sides in a civil war. When one betrays the other, they settle their differences mano-a-mano.
-
Flirting Scholar
π¨π³ China The 15th CenturyA scholar in search of true love. Disguising himself as a houseboy, he indentures himself to a rich family in order to pursue the ravishing servant girl who has stolen his heart.
-
Green Snake
π¨π³ China The 12th CenturyA mischievous snake who assumes human form interferes with the romance between her reptilian sister and a hapless man.
-
The Eagle Shooting Heroes
π¨π³ China The 12th CenturyA power struggle between the Queenβs treasonous lover and a princess occurs amid musical numbers, slapstick battles, and martial arts acrobatics.
-
The Invincible Constable
Henan Province The 11th CenturyA confusing little period film in which 5 brothers and a sister all seem to have considerable kung fu skills and live on a secluded island. The younger brother for reasons unexplained keeps going to the mainland to challenge the constable to a fight. The constable is a good guy though and at some point during the film the brothers and sister and constable all team up to battle the real evil doer.
-
Temptation of a Monk
π¨π³ China The 7th CenturyNear the beginning of the Tang dynasty, in 7th century China, General Shi Yan-sheng is tricked into leaving the crown prince unguarded. The crown prince is murdered by one of his brothers who then becomes emperor. Shi retreats to a monastery, perhaps to hide, perhaps to plan a coup. When his loyal troops as well as the princess he desires are slain, he seeks refuge in a remote, abandoned monastery where an aged abbot schools him with practical, earthy teachings. The emperor's forces pursue Shi: first a woman, then a general seek to overpower him with lust and might. Over the course of the film, the reds of battle give way to blues of meditation.
-
All Men Are Brothers - Blood of the Leopard
π¨π³ China The 12th CenturyBased on parts of the classic Chinese novel The Water Margin (aka Outlaws of the Marsh).
-
New Dragon Gate Inn
π¨π³ China The 15th CenturyIn the desert, only the strong survive. β During the Ming Dynasty, Tsao Siu-yan, a power-crazed eunuch who rules his desert region of China as if he were the Emperor, ruthlessly thwarts plots against him and sets a trap for one of his enemies at the Dragon Gate Inn.
-
The Silk Road
π¨π³ China The 11th CenturyIn 1026, students in western China are shanghaied into the forces of crown prince Li Yuanhao of Xi Xia, who wants to control the length of the Silk Road. One student is Zhao Xingde, who becomes the favorite of his commander, Zhu Wangli. While sacking a fortress, Xingde discovers Tsurpia, princess of the Uighur. He hides her; they fall in love. When he's sent away to study Xixian, he leaves Tsurpia in Zhu's care, but returns to find her engaged to Li. Tragedy follows, and he and Zhu enter a pact to take revenge when Li arrives at Dun-Huang, the region's seat of learning and culture. Against overwhelming odds, they find a surprising way to leave a monument to their life and love.
-
Doraemon: The Record of Nobita's Parallel Journey to the West
π¨π³ China The 7th CenturyNobita, Gian, Shizuka, and Suneo is preparing for a school play on the "Journey to the West". As they are arguing about who should play the role of the monkey king, Nobita suggested that the real monkey king should play the role. Because the monkey king is only a legend, Nobita and Doraemon have decided to go back in time using the time machine and make a fake one and show Gian, Shizuka, and Suneo to prove that they are right. Unfortunately, Doraemon's machine allowed the fictional monsters to come to the real world and defeated the entire human races, thus turning the future (Nobita's time) into a demon-ruled world. In order to reverse the change, Doraemon and gang needed to return to the past and capture the demons back into the machine. On the way, they have met the real monk and rinrei (a child). At the end, they have either returned the demons back to the machine or destroy them with Dorami's help, thus turning the future back to normal.
-
King and Emperor
π¨π³ China The 14th CenturyThe King meets the Emperor β Set in the 14th century, a brewing friendship between the Chinese Emperor Yong Le and the King of Sulu, Paduka Pahala is forged upon the latter's visit to China.
-
The Monkey King Conquers the Demon
π¨π³ China The 7th CenturyIn the heart of wild mountains, a dreadful devil, disguised as a pretty young woman, tries to seize Xuan Zang to devour him. The holy monk is an easy prey because, naive and good, he is easily misled by appearances. But fortunately he is accompanied by the Monkey King, who is clairvoyant.
-
Secret Service of the Imperial Court
π¨π³ China The 15th CenturySecret Service of the Imperial Court was one of the last kung fu/swordplay films to be made at Hong Kong's Shaw Bros. studio. Set in the Ming Dynasty, it makes excellent use of the studio's vast array of sprawling sets and colorful costumes to give a real period flavor. It has a good cast, lots of large-scale fight action and an exciting storyline about a conflict between an honorable officer and a corrupt Eunuch.
-
Little Dragon Maiden
π¨π³ China The 13th CenturyWhen Hong Kong's new wave, gravity-defying action-look hit the scene in the early 1980's, so did a new wave of actors; Canto-pop stars. Little Dragon Maiden intelligently mixed the old with the new to create pure golden magic as kung-fu fighting veterans Chen Kuan-tai and Lo Lieh joined relative newcomer Leslie Cheung in a far-out, costume-action love story that really cooks. Cheung garnered international recognition in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow.
-
Shaolin Temple
Henan Province The 7th CenturyThe Tang emperor is betrayed by one of his generals, who installs himself as emperor in the East Capital. The son of one of his slave workers escapes to the Shaolin Temple, learns kung fu, and sets out to kill the traitor who killed his father.
-
House of Traps
π¨π³ China The 11th CenturyIt all started with The Five Venoms, the internationally loved kung-fu thriller. It continued through more than a dozen bloody good entertainments featuring the same actors in different roles. This is considered the last official "Venoms" movie, but what a film it is. There's one plasma-spurting attack after another as heroes and rogues alike try to solve the secrets of this hell house. The core Venoms themselves choreograph the gory fun in this fond farewell to their worldwide film series sensation!
-
The Brave Archer and His Mate
π²π³ Mongolia π¨π³ China The 13th CenturyGuo Jing and Huang Rong return to Peach Blossom Island and are shocked to see that Guo's first martial arts teachers, the "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan", have all been murdered except for Ke Zhen'e. Guo Jing is tricked into believing that Huang Rong's father, Huang Yaoshi, is responsible for the murders and he attempts to avenge his teachers by fighting Huang Yaoshi. The intelligent Huang Rong eventually uncovers the truth and reveals that the murders are actually part of a plot masterminded by Ouyang Feng and Yang Kang. Ouyang and Yang want to make Guo Jing and Huang Yaoshi kill each other and Yang can learn Ouyang's newly mastered skills from the fake copy of the Nine Yin Manual.
-
Cat vs. Rat
π¨π³ China The 11th CenturyChan Chiao a.k.a. The Cat (Adam Cheng) and Pai Yu-tang a.k.a. The Rat (Alexander Fu Sheng) compete in various flamboyantly choreographed duels before realizing that they must seek the judgment of their master (Lau Kar-wing). He disappoints them by ruling that their abilities are perfectly equal, then being so completely impartial as to give the Rat a nine-ringed sword which he can use to defeat the Cat, and giving the Cat a spear to defeat the sword which he just gave the Rat. A few more contests result in ties before a subplot gets underway involving a precious jade seal owned by the Emperor Yung Hsi (Gordon Lau) and the thieves out to steal it. This, finally, is what forces the Cat and Rat to work together and overcome their rivalry.
-
Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils
π¨π³ China The 11th CenturyA rather standard costume action/drama set in medieval China with a few fantasy overtones.
-
The Brave Archer 3
π²π³ Mongolia π¨π³ China The 13th CenturyGuo Jing and Huang Rong pursue Yang Kang to Iron Palm Peak, where Qiu Qianren and the Iron Palm Sect is based. Huang is injured by Qiu in a fight and she escapes with Guo Jing's help. Guo brings her in search of a cure to heal her wounds and they stumble upon a house in a swamp, inhabited by a woman called Yinggu. Yinggu tells them that the only person who can save Huang Rong's life is Duan Zhixing, the former ruler of the Kingdom of Dali, who has become a monk now.
-
The Brave Archer 2
π²π³ Mongolia π¨π³ China The 13th CenturyHuang Rong is taken hostage by Ouyang Feng, who attempts to use her to seize the Nine Yin Manual from Guo Jing. Guo and Hong Qigong rescue Huang Rong and Guo gives Ouyang an "edited" version of the manual, that will eventually cause Ouyang to become insane after he practises the skills in the manual wrongly. Ouyang, Hong and Guo get into a fight, in which Ouyang Ke is injured, and Guo and Hong use the opportunity to escape. However, Hong Qigong is also wounded and he gives Huang Rong his Dog Beating Staff, effectively handing over his leadership of the Beggars' Sect to her. Ouyang Feng and Ouyang Ke pursue Guo Jing and Huang Rong to a deserted town for revenge. Guo and Huang take shelter in an abandoned tavern inhabited by a only a retarded girl called Shagu.
-
The Battle Wizard
π¨π³ China The 11th CenturyA brother who loves books and a sister who loves swords must face a yellow-robed warrior, the Red Python, a sinuous snake-charmer, and a silk-masked beauty (who must kill or wed the first man to see her face) before they can bring peace to their battle-addled family.
-
The Brave Archer
π²π³ Mongolia π¨π³ China The 13th CenturyGuo Jing and Yang Kang are the sons of two rebels. The rebels are killed by imperial soldiers and the boys are rescued by six pugilists later. The pugilists agree to separate the two boys, tutor them separately in martial arts, and let them meet again when they have grown up, to determine whose abilities are better. Guo becomes the student of the "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan" while Yang Kang becomes the foster son of a Jurchen prince inadvertently.
-
All Men Are Brothers
π¨π³ China The 12th Century"All Men Are Brothers" is the sequel to "Water Margin" a.k.a. "Seven Blows of the Dragon" from 1972. At the beginning of "All Men Are Brothers", we learn that the emperor forgives the 108 Liangshan rebels since he finds they have the same enemies. The small army tries to conquer the city Hangchow, but is defeated. They send 7 spies to gather information about the city's defense before they attack a second time.
- load more