111 Films & TV Shows Set In China During The Middle Ages
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The Fantastic Magic Baby
🇨🇳 China The 7th CenturyIn The Fantastic Magic Baby, director Chang Cheh weaves a wild and woolly yarn about how the legendary Monkey King and Goddess of Mercy battle and defeat the child god Hung Hai-erh then point him down the road to righteousness.
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Arabian Nights
🇮🇳 India 🇨🇳 China 🇪🇹 Ethiopia The Middle AgesA film by Pier Paolo Pasolini — The final part of Pasolini's Trilogy of Life series is rich with exotic tales of slaves and kings, potions, betrayals, demons and, most of all, love and lovemaking in all its myriad forms. Mysterious and liberating, this is an exquisitely dreamlike and adult interpretation of the original folk tales.
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The 14 Amazons
🇨🇳 China The 11th CenturyThe Yang family, men and women, have served their country loyally for generations. During the war General Yang is ambushed and killed. His widow and the entire family set out to avenge his death and defend the country.
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The Water Margin
🇨🇳 China The 12th CenturySeven masters with a thousand ways to kill! — The corruption in the Sung Dynasty of 11th century China is so rampant that it inspires a band of Oriental Robin Hoods - the Honorable 108. Mountain bandits who nevertheless live by a scrupulous code of conduct, the Honorable 108 pledge to end the repression of the brutal overlords.
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The Delightful Forest
🇨🇳 China The 12th CenturyLegendary fighter Wu Song is sent to prison in Mengzhou province after murdering his sister-in-law and her lover. There he meets with the prison officer Shih En, who saves Wu from the baton punishment required for new prisoners. Wu learns that Shih's restaurant, "The Delightful Forest" has been occupied by Chiang Chung. Wu returns to the restaurant- a place he's dined in previously.
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A Touch of Zen
🇨🇳 China The 14th CenturyMing dynasty noblewoman Yang must escape from the evil eunuch Hsu. She seeks refuge at a decrepit town where she gets assistance from a naïve scholar and a group of mysterious yet powerful monks.
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The Deadly Duo
🇨🇳 China The 12th CenturyThe plot involves patriots during the Sung Dynasty and their attempts to rescue a kidnapped prince from Ching troops who have invaded the north of China. The patriots are led by Ti Lung who recruits a mysterious but seemingly superhuman fighter played by David Chiang to find a way to cross a perilous bridge to enter an impregnable fortress to locate and rescue the imprisoned prince.
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The Heroic Ones
Henan Province Shaanxi Province Shanxi Province The 9th CenturyA Mogul king decides to take stealthy action to help overpower his greatest rivals. He chooses nine out thirteen of his loyal generals (who he treats as sons) to embark on the mission. However, jealously amongst them sparks a treacherous family feud that could lead to catastrophic consequences for all involved.
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The Winged Tiger
🇨🇳 China The 11th CenturyFamed screenwriter Shen Chiang got one of his very first chances to direct his own script with this exciting action adventure. His story is suitably thrilling: if villains "Winged Tiger" Teng Fei and "Underworld King" Yin Te-lung combine their kung-fu knowledge, the "Martial Arts World" will be plunged into chaos. That evil union is set to occur at the marriage of Yin's sister to Teng. Can this dangerous duo be stopped before one says "I do"?
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The Twelve Gold Medallions
🇨🇳 China The 12th CenturyAs a valiant Chinese general and his men battle Tartar invaders, patriot swordsmen attempt to stop the delivery of 12 medallions sent by a traitor that could spell the doom of the Sung Dynasty. When a powerful kung fu master assumes responsibility for the deliveries, his daughter and a former student turn against him in order to save China.
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The Three Smiles
🇨🇳 China The 15th CenturyThe film tells the story of Tang Bohu, a famous scholar who spends most of his time wandering around the countryside.
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Dragon Inn
🇨🇳 China The 15th CenturyAfter having the emperor’s minister of defense executed, a power-grabbing eunuch sends assassins to trail the victim’s children to a remote point on the northern Chinese border. But that bloodthirsty mission is confounded by a mysterious group of fighters who arrive on the scene, intent on delivering justice and defending the innocent.
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The Cave of the Silken Web
🇨🇳 China The 7th CenturyMonkey King, Pig and Friar Sand must rescue his master Buddhist monk from seven witches / spiders who believe themselves to be immortal if they eat the monk's flesh. The third part of the Shaw Brothers film series about Monkey King after the novel "Journey to the West."
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King Cat
🇨🇳 China The 11th CenturyChang Yi plays Chan Chao, a knight of justice, who thwarts the plans of Minister Peng to assassinate the revered Judge Pao Cheng over and over again. Lo Lieh gives Chang a good run for his money as the evil and sinister henchman of Minister Peng.
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Princess Iron Fan
🇨🇳 China The 7th CenturyThe mythological tale of a quest from China to India to bring back Buddhist scriptures, famous for the adventures of Sun Wukong, the notorious Monkey King.
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Marco the Magnificent
🇮🇹 Italy 🇨🇳 China 🇲🇳 Mongolia The 14th Century The 13th CenturyA story of endurance, savagery and heroism — Young Marco Polo travels to China to help Kublai Khan fight against rebels, headed by his own son, with a new invention: gunpowder.
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Inside the Forbidden City
🇨🇳 China The 11th CenturyIt seems that Li Zhenfei was once an imperial concubine, who often found herself competing with her rival Madame Liu for the emperor's sole, undivided attention. When Li gives birth to the Emperor's child, the jealous Liu switches the boy with a cat and commands a servant named Kou Zhu to kill the baby. However, Kou Zhu ignores the order and gives the prince-to-be to the emperor's brother, a decision which eventually leads to the boy being adopted by the emperor himself! But as fate would have it, to go along with his new son, the emperor has a new wife as well - Madame Liu! As this strange new family unit is being constructed, poor Li Zhenfei has been confined to the forbidden palace, condemned to never see or speak to her son, the prince. But destiny reunites her with her son, but will this family reunion be a happy one? And will Madame Liu finally be punished for her treachery?
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The Mermaid
🇨🇳 China The 11th CenturyA Huangmei opera produced by Shaw Brothers about a carp spirit who transforms into an identical copy of a beautiful woman to win the heart of a lonely male scholar.
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The Female Prince
🇨🇳 China The 16th CenturyThe husband-and-wife team of Ivy Ling Po and Chin Han returned to another Huangmei Opera classic after Lady General Hua Mu-Lan. Helmed by Chow Sze-loke and written by Chang Cheh, the story revolved around two intellectual siblings, Ching Feng-sheng (Chin Feng) and Ching Feng-hsiao (Ivy Ling Po), who were constantly abused by their stepmother Hsia (Kao Pao-shu). Feng-hsiao was engaged to Li Ru-lung (Chin Han) since birth, but the greedy Hsia forced him to forfeit the marriage. When Ru-lung refused, Hsia framed him for thievery and put him behind bars. To rescue her lover, Feng-hsiao dressed as a young man and went to the capital. She then used Ru-lung's name to enter the national exam and was ranked first place. Impressed by Feng-hsiao, the Emperor decided to let her wed the Princess (Fang Ying). On the wedding night, Feng-hsiao revealed the truth to the Princess...
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Lady General Hua Mulan
🇨🇳 China The 6th CenturyAbout a woman who disguises herself as a man to take her father's place in the army.
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The Crimson Palm
🇨🇳 China The 11th CenturyLing Bo is Lin, a young man engaged to the daughter of a rich man, who now despises Lin because of his family's declining status. Lin visits his beloved fiancee before he heads towards the imperial city to participate in the civil service examination, only to find her maid lying dead in blood. Lin is then accused of murder. How can Judge Bao prove his innocence?
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Marco Polo
🇮🇹 Italy 🇨🇳 China The 14th Century The 13th CenturyItalian explorer rescues the daughter of the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, meets a hermit who has invented gunpowder and builds a cannon.
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The Magnificent Concubine
🇨🇳 China The 8th CenturyPerhaps the most notorious concubine in Chinese history, Yang Guifei set a pudgy standard of beauty in her days of glory during the Tang dynasty. The Emperor Minghuang was so besotted with the woman that when An Lushan stages his rebellion against the empire, the ruler takes Yang Guifei along with his imperial entourage in an escape to the mountainous area of modern-day Sichuan, and sanctuary of sorts. But the concubine had roused the jealousy of the court and unfortunately for her and to the great sorrow of the king, her brother and others among the king's retainers demanded she be strangled to death while they were still in the mountains. This is the story told in this interesting Taiwanese adaptation by director Li Han-hsiang (Li Hanxiang).
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The Monkey King
🇨🇳 China The 7th CenturyHavoc in Heaven, also known as Uproar in Heaven, is a Chinese animated feature film directed by Wan Laiming and produced by all four of the Wan brothers. The film was created at the height of the Chinese animation industry in the 1960s, and received numerous awards. It earned the brothers domestic and international recognition. The stylized animation and drums and percussion accompaniment used in this film are heavily influenced by Beijing Opera traditions.
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Journey to the West
🇨🇳 China The 7th CenturyDuel of the Prehistoric Beasts! Summit Meeting of the Monsters! — Alakazam is a young and brave monkey who has been encouraged by all the other monkeys to become their king. After attaining the throne, he becomes rude and dictatorial, and does not believe that human beings are greater than he is. Then he tricks/forces Merlin the magician to teach him magic (reluctantly on Merlin's part, who warns Alakazam that the powers he acquires now will bring him much unhappiness later). Alakazam becomes so arrogant that he abuses his magic powers, and chooses to go up to Majutsu Land (the Heavens), to challenge King Amo. He is defeated by King Amo. For his punishment, he is sentenced to serve as the bodyguard of Prince Amat on a pilgrimage; in order to learn humility, mercy and to fight with wisdom. Ultimately, he learns his lesson and becomes a true hero.
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