In his new movie, Ip Man 4: The Finale, Hong Kong martial arts superstar Donnie Yen declares, “I’m a martial artist. In the face of injustice, I must take a stand and fight.”
Not true, say Hong Kong residents who have been protesting for freedom and democracy for the past eight months. To them, Yen and other martial arts luminaries have instead been defending Chinese authoritarianism in real life.
Massive protests in Hong Kong have rocked the city and have resulted in a raucous, historic democracy movement advancing Hong Kongers’ desires to be free of encroachments from the Chinese government in Beijing that governs them under a “one country, two systems” framework.
Instead of supporting the protesters, prominent martial arts celebrities have either outright condemned the movement or cozied up to Beijing.
Released in the United States on Christmas Day, Ip Man 4 is the latest installment in a vastly successful global franchise about the eponymous kung fu grandmaster who taught martial arts legend Bruce Lee.
Yen, who portrays Ip, has repeatedly made his fealty to Beijing known over the years. At a gala in 2017 commemorating the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from Great Britain to China, he sang a patriotic, Communist song with Chinese President Xi Jinping and others on stage. Early last year, Yen issued a statement declaring that “at no time, no place, and in no way can the motherland be violated.” Well, “motherland” happens to be a term often invoked by Beijing to reject dissent from those such as the protesters in Hong Kong, who criticize its authoritarian rule.
Danny Chan, who plays Bruce Lee in the latest Ip Man movie, has openly derided the protesters. Though police brutality did not spark the current movement, it has emerged as a rallying cry. A majority of Hong Kongers are outraged at the excessive use of force toward protesters, journalists, and bystanders and say they have zero trust in law enforcement. Over 70% of the public supports large-scale restructuring of the police force. Chan, however, has condemned protesters as “thugs” and called on the police “not to let any of them go.”
Crystal Liu, the lead actress who plays Mulan in the Hollywood production to be released in March, has thrown her support behind Beijing and the Hong Kong police as well. Last summer, after protesters took over the Hong Kong International Airport and beat up two mainlanders, Liu posted on her Chinese social media account, writing, “I, too, support the Hong Kong police.” To add insult to injury, she included a picture from the People’s Daily, China’s official English mouthpiece, condemning the democracy movement.
In response, protesters have boycotted Ip Man 4 in Hong Kong and have declared they will do the same for Mulan.
After all, Chinese martial arts are not simply about superb fighting skills. They are premised on that core tenet declared by Yen’s character in Ip Man 4: the duty to defend justice. Indeed, one of the highest compliments a Chinese martial artist could receive is to be described as a xia (俠), someone who embodies courage, loyalty, honor, and the willingness to take a stand against injustice, including and especially when no formal avenues for seeking justice exist.
On the big screen, xia is precisely what Chinese martial artists such as Yen, Chan, and Liu portray themselves to be. In real life, however, they have refused to support the most momentous democratic movement in Hong Kong during their lifetimes.
Perhaps they genuinely believe, as many members of the Hong Kong police believe, that they are defending the city against anarchy and lawlessness. Or perhaps the actors, similarly to the NBA and other companies with business interests in China, fear that views offensive to Beijing would affect their pocketbooks.
In a historic moment when young protesters have declared themselves willing to die for liberty, some of their biggest martial arts stars have failed them.
Alas, failure is not confined to those who appear on the big screen. The protesters have found martial arts inspiration elsewhere and adopted the late Bruce Lee’s adage, “Be water,” as the basis for their guerilla-like protest tactic. Lee had advised being “formless, shapeless, like water” in the practice of martial arts. Young protesters have learned to “be water” by congregating and dispersing rapidly throughout different parts of the city, moving as fluidly as water and making their protest message known while scattering police resources.
Yet the young protesters themselves have not lived up to key martial arts tenets. Radical elements of the movement, clad in black and wearing masks, have consistently engaged in rampant violence, including arson, vandalism, road blockades, petrol-bomb throwing, and hand-to-hand combat with the police.
At a pro-democracy rally calling for international sanctions against the Chinese government two weeks ago, masked radical protesters clad in black twice surrounded and severely beat a few plainclothes police officers. Immediately before the incident, one of the officers angered protesters by instructing rally organizers to end their event earlier than scheduled.
If that is not bad enough, protester violence is also perpetrated on innocent civilians who hold pro-China views and disagree with the young protesters’ goals or tactics. In a most gruesome example last November, a middle-aged father of two was doused with gasoline and set on fire as he argued with protesters and accused them of being unpatriotic.
Certainly, the protesters’ access to lethal power simply cannot compare with what the police have at their disposal. Against tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons, pepper spray, arbitrary arrests, and at times live rounds, the protesters defend themselves with far more primitive methods. As a result, the democracy movement continues to enjoy broad, sustained support from ordinary citizens, even after months of chaos have left Hong Kong’s economy in a recession.
Yet whatever the protesters’ justifications and however brutal the police might be, moral equivalence is no way to fight for freedom and democracy. When Bruce Lee exhorted martial artists to “be water,” he no doubt was advocating not to harm innocent lives. In this historic moment, radical, idealistic young protesters, not just famed martial artists, have fallen short.
Be Water, a Cantonese song written for and popularized during the current democracy movement, pays tribute to the protesters in Hong Kong and ends with the following line: “We hope that one day, we can take off our masks and embrace.”
One hopes that day will come soon — and along with it, those who believe in the justice extolled in Chinese martial arts will try harder to seek it.
Ying Ma is a former resident of Hong Kong and the author of Chinese Girl in the Ghetto.
