I somehow had managed to borrow a set of this series a while back and re-watched this

martial arts classic that had everyone calling Norman Chiu Siu Keung as "Wan Dai Hup", Wan

Fei Yeung. When I was a kid, I saw this series and the only thing I could remember was a few

hums of the popular themesong. Actually, the song had such a sing-song tune that my cousins

began changing the lyrics and I could only remember their ridiculously funny lyrics for the

longest time. ATV had came out with a sequel to the series in the early 90's and while I

remember watching it, I don't recall the storyline. Anyhow, "Reincarnated" was a very popular

series during its time and could be considered as one those films that gave future martial arts

series a standard. The faces that appeared in "Reincarnated" were very familiar but I don't

know most of their names.

The translated title, "Reincarnated" really signifies the most powerful martial arts in the story

called "Tin Cham Sun Gong". It is a skill passed down from Wu Tang and whoever successfully

learns it must go through a silk worm cocoon stage. The person who learns "Tin Cham Sun

Gong" will emerge from the cocoon very powerful, refreshed, and said to be younger. The

series is also known by the name of "The Bastard Swordsman" and there has been two Shaw

Brothers movie adaptations on it in the 80's, which also starred Chiu Siu Keung.

I don't usually go into full details about the whole story when summarizing the plots but since

most can't obtain a copy of the series anymore, I'll make an exception and recap. (Information

on names and plot errors or pictures are appreciated.) *Note: All images are not from the

actual series but just collections of photos of the actors and actresses who were in

"Reincarnated".

Plot Summary: (Spoilers Alert!)

The story is first set in Wu Tang (Mo Dong) Clan where Wan Fei Yeung is a cooking servant.

Wan is often teased and ridiculed by the students there because he was brought to the clan

along with several other persons as possible disciples but he was the only one who did not get

accepted. It was explained to him that because he didn't know who his father is, Wu Tang

could not accept someone whose background is unknown. Wan Fei Yeung continued to stay at
Wu Tang but while everyone thought he knew no martial arts and bullied him, it turns out that

every night, a masked stranger would come and teach Wan Fei Yeung kungfu.

In the martial world, another clan--Mo Dik (literally means invincible) Clan--is the bitter

enemy of Wu Tang Clan. Every three years the two leaders of these two clans would have a

duel, but thus far, Mo Dik Clan's leader, Dok Gu Mo Dik (played by the actor who was Au

Yeung Fung in "Legend of the Condor Heroes 1982"), has won them all. Wu Tang's current

leader is Ching Chong. In the years, Mo Dik Clan has gained a reputation for being ruthless

and aggressive, and with a goal to destroy the other top clans. As the day of the battle for

that year draws near, Dok Gu's daughter, Dok Gu Fong (Phoenix) and his first disciple, Gong

Suen Wang, goes to Wu Tang to demoralize and challenge Wu Tang but are instead, trapped

by Wu Tang's "chun fat", obstacle. Phoenix and Gong Suen Wang can not fight their way out

after many hours and it seems that eventually their strength would wear out. For some

reason, the masked stranger wants to save Phoenix and asks Wan Fei Yeung to secretly set

them free.

Ching Chong soon sets out for the battle with Mo Dik Clan. It is revealed that he had a past

affair with Dok Gu's wife and that Phoenix is really his daughter. Ching Chong loses again to

Dok Gu and is severely injured. On the way back to Wu Tang, he and his two disciples are

attacked by what appears to be Mo Dik Clan's followers. Luckily, they are saved by a young

man, called Fu Yuk Shu. Yuk Shu's home and family are destroyed as an outcome of helping

them and Ching Chong, in his gratitude, accepts him as a Wu Tang disciple. They reach Wu

Tang safely.

Yuk Shu is immediately liked by everyone and he, in turn, treats everyone equally well,

including Wan Fei Yeung. Yuk Shu teaches Wan Fei Yeung how to read and they become close

friends. However, Wan Fei Yeung's love interest, their martial sister, Lun Yuen Yee, also falls in

love with Yuk Shu.

Simultaneously, after questioning some followers, Phoenix finds out that Ching Chong had

been attacked but the culprits were not from Mo Dik Clan. Apparently set up for the blame,

Phoenix sets out to investigate.

Meanwhile, Ngor Mei Sect's top disciple, Goon Zhong Lau, came to challenge Wu Tang's sword

techniques and defeats all the disciples. Ching Chong, however, defeats him. This Goon Zhong
Lau is quite a character because every time he fights, his two scribes would help him take off

his cloak first and then one of them would play the flute as the battle goes on--probably a

means of distracting the opponent and an ego trip.

Anyway, Goon Zhong Lau sticks around Wu Tang and catches Yuk Shu sneaking around at the

forbidden territory at Wu Tang. The story recounts that some villain is chained inside a cave--

his wrists and knees have been injured, rendering him paralyzed from martial arts. This villain

is the source of weird noises every night at Wu Tang. It turns out that Yuk Shu has infiltrated

into Wu Tang in order to steal Wu Tang's martial arts. Instead, he finds out about the

prisoner, who is his grandfather, Tin Dai. Tian Dai used to be a Wu Tang disciple but had

secretly tried to steal some martial arts manual and killed Ching Chong's master. He was

captured by Ching Chong's martial brother, Yin Chong Tin, and left to live in agony. Ever since

this incidence, it was forbidden in Wu Tang to accept disciples whose background was

unknown. Tin Dai also happens to be the head of some baddies called Wind, Lightning, Rain,

and Electric (Fung, Liu, Yu, Dien).

Yuk Shu had staged the whole event with Ching Chong thinking he was attacked by Mo Dik

Clan and his sacrificing his family to save him. Yuk Shu continues to wait for the opportunity

to save his grandfather.

Fearing that the stronger forces of Mo Dik Clan would attack Wu Tang, Ching Chong decides to

separately teach six chosen disciples one of six special skills of Wu Tang. Of the six, Yuk Shu is

also chosen by Ching Chong, again out of gratitude.

Speeding ahead, Yuk Shu caught Wan Fei Yeung practicing martial arts late at night and the

most puzzling is that Wan knows all six of Wu Tang's special skills. Wu Tang's two other

martial uncles, who are both all talk and no use, pressure the ailing Ching Chong to pre-elect a

new leader in the event that Ching Chong dies. Ching Chong selects three successors, his first

and second disciple and Yuk Shu, so that if anything happened to either two, Yuk Shu would

be the next-in-line to be leader.

Yuk Shu is determined to become leader and gets rid of his competition. Ching Chong dies (I

forgot how) but before he does, he tells Wan Fei Yeung to find and speak with Dok Gu's wife,

Chum Man Ching. Wan Fei Yeung also learns that Ching Chong is the same masked stranger
who had been teaching him martial arts all along. Wan is accused of killing Ching Chong and

their martial brother and is chased out of Wu Tang.

He meets a girl, Heung Guan (played by Yu On On), who specializes in healing and helps her

defeat a villain. Heung Guan harbors affection for Wan Fei Yeung but he leaves after helping

her. He is attacked by Wu Tang followers again but is saved by the secluded Ngor Mei Sect's

"see-sok" (martial uncle). At the same time, Goon Zhong Lau, the arrogant Ngor Mei disciple

comes to beg his see-sok to teach him some extra sword skills. His see-sok refuses but when

Goon Zhong Lau baits him by mentioning that Goon Zhong Lau was defeated by Wu Tang's

sword under Ching Chong, the see-sok asks him to first defeat Wan Fei Yeung. Wan Fei Yeung

loses on purpose to save the face of the see-sok. Goon Zhong Lau happily thinks he won but

when his see-sok tells him that Wan Fei Yeung let him win, he starts feeling resentful toward

Wan Fei Yeung.

Goon Zhong Lau leaves and goes back to Ngor Mei. However, when he gets back, Ngor Mei

has already been decimated by Mo Dik Clan. His master has also been killed by Dok Gu Mo

Dik. Goon Zhong Lau vows revenge and is determined to rebuild Ngor Mei. He is hunted down

by Mo Dik Clan and escapes west to Bosnia. Along the way, he meets and saves a Bosnian

woman, named Yee Bei Sha, who falls in love with him. Realizing that her two masters are

very powerful, he sticks around and attempts to steal their martial arts manual. He eventually

manages to gain the affections of the Bosnian tribal leader, who also falls in love with him.

Back at the other end, Wan Fei Yeung receives a gift, a special metallic mask that protects the

wearer from poison, from Ngor Mei's see-sok. He leaves and gets a sword forged, designed

specifically in his details and which increases his swordsmanship due to the odd design.

Secretly, he goes back to Wu Tang, only to be unknowingly betrayed by Yuk Shu.

Wan Fei Yeung escapes Wu Tang again and by chance, meets Phoenix. Knowing that she is the

daughter of Dok Gu, he disguises as a commoner who wants a job at Mo Dik Clan. Along the

way, he plays tricks on her and they eventually fall in love with each other. He successfully

gets in Mo Dik Clan but incurs the jealousy of Gong Suen Wang, the martial brother of

Phoenix, who believes that Wan Fei Yeung knows martial arts and is the same person who

saved them at Wu Tang. Gong Suen Wang reveals Wan Fei Yeung's identity and Wan Fei

Yeung is forced to fight Dok Gu Mo Dik, who heavily injures him. Wan Fei Yeung escapes but is
injured so badly that he could not use his martial arts any more. Deciding to give up the way

of the sword, he stays with a wealthy merchant who saved him and is adopted as a foster son.

Wan Fei Yeung meets Heung Guan again. It turns out that Heung Guan is the good-natured

sister of Yuk Shu. Not realizing that her brother and grandfather, Tin Dai, were doing evil, they

deceive her into revealing Wan Fei Yeung's whereabouts. By this time, Tin Dai had already

rejoined with his old followers: Wind, Lightning, Rain, and Electric. He trains them and they

become quite powerful.

Yuk Shu became Wu Tang's leader after Ching Chong died. He has also been practicing some

powerful Wu Tang martial arts that only the leader could learn. However, he had to give up his

relationship with his martial sister, Yuen Yee, because the rule was that the leader of Wu Tang

has to become a Taoist priest and can not marry. He does love Yuen Yee though and

unfortunately, had an affair with her. When she becomes pregnant and wants to reveal their

relationship, his grandfather's followers, under Tin Dai's orders, pushes her down a hill.

Heung Guan helps Wan Fei Yeung obtain a special herb, "Shuet Lin", and after ingesting it, he

regains his martial arts and becomes even more powerful. Meanwhile, Phoenix has agreed to

marry Gong Suen Wang after he takes punishment for her for aiding Wan Fei Yeung. On the

day of the ceremony, Wan Fei Yeung crashes the party but still is unable to defeat Dok Gu Mo

Dik. As he's fleeing, he runs into the room of Dok Gu's wife, Chum Man Ching, who hides him.

After some questioning, she finds out that Wan Fei Yeung is really Ching Chong's son! Ching

Chong had given up his relationship with Wan Fei Yeung's mother after he became leader of

Wu Tang. He later brought Wan Fei Yeung up to Wu Tang and secretly taught him Wu Tang's

martial arts. Wan Fei Yeung's mother had passed away a long time ago.

Dok Gu's wife had met Ching Chong one time when he came for the tri-yearly battle with Dok

Gu Mo Dik. Dok Gu had neglected his wife in order to practice martial arts and did not even

once sleep with her. Dok Gu's wife, in a moment of resentment, decided to pursue an affair

with Ching Chong though she still loved Dok Gu. Ching Chong had actually taught her Wu

Tang's highest martial arts, "Tin Cham Sun Gong" and in trying to save Wan Fei Yeung, she

transfers her powers to him.

Wan Fei Yeung enters the cocoon stage of "Tin Cham Sun Gong" for days. To make a really

long story short, he comes out a new person--and I mean a Wan Fei Yeung played by a totally
different person. Chui Siu Keung is no longer in the series! The time that Wan Fei Yeung was

in the cocoon, Yuk Shu, Goon Zhong Lau, and Yu had all teamed up to destroy Mo Dik Clan.

Yuk Shu and Goon Zhong Lau then have a battle where Goon Zhong Lau loses. Wan Fei Yeung

saves Goon Zhong Lau as he's chased, which makes Goon Zhong Lau even more resentful.

Wan Fei Yeung clears his name as Yuk Shu reveals his true face and eventually saves Wu

Tang. He meets up with Phoenix again and despite their backgrounds, they decide to marry.

Dok Gu easily agrees because he knows by now that Wan Fei Yeung and Phoenix are really

half brother and sister. On the night of the wedding, Dok Gu's wife rushes in to stop it and

tells them the truth. Phoenix leaves in devastation.

Wan Fei Yeung helps defeat Tian Dai and his followers and then aides in the defeat of Goon

Zhong Lau who was backed up by the Bosnians. Yuk Shu escapes and hides in a peasant

couple's home. He kills the couple's son as he held the child hostage. However, as he turns to

see a tablet for the dead, he realizes that it is his martial sister, Yuen Yee's, plague and that

he just killed his own son. At the end, Wan Fei Yeung is the revered hero but leaves to roam

the world as he can not forget Phoenix.

Review:

"Reincarnated" is a fairly complex story, with many sub-plots and twists, more than what I

would expect from a series in the 70's. It is certainly a classic in its own right and the

characters are developed fully and each had their own motivation and desires to act in the

way they did. There are several factors that I did not stomach well though. Firstly, the

dramatic irony in the series was ready to kill me. It was pretty obvious after a certain point in

the story that Ching Chong is the father of Phoenix and Wan Fei Yeung. So when Wan Fei

Yeung meets Phoenix and they start harboring good feelings for each other, the viewer's

already shaking one's head telling them to stop. So romance is ruled out.

Another problem was that I truly expected Norman Chui Siu Keung to carry the whole show as

Wan Fei Yeung. Some people say that Norman Chui had some problems with tardiness during

the production of "Reincarnated" and his role was then given to another actor halfway into the

series. Anyhow, that was one of the rumors as to why Norman Chui did not finish the series.

Midway in the series, in the scenes where Wan Fei Yeung was supposed to crash Phoenix's

wedding with Gong Suen Wang and fights Dok Gu Mo Dik, either he wore his mask or his face

was not shown so that the viewer can tell it's really a double playing Wan Fei Yeung. The story
then conveniently set it up to explain that because Dok Gu's wife transferred her "Tin Cham

Sun Gong" to Wan Fei Yeung, he came out with a new face. Whereas, Wu Tang's see-sok Yin

Chong Tin also learned "Tin Cham Sun Gong" but only became younger because he practiced

it himself. So after getting used to the idea of Norman Chiu as Wan Fei Yeung, it's pretty hard

to get used to another actor play Wan Fei Yeung him for the second half of the series.

Despite switching actors though, the new actor who played Wan Fei Yeung was not all bad

since he was, I believe, a pretty popular martial arts star himself back then. I don't know his

name, but if you have ever seen the Tekken game commercial on television, there was a

particular one where the commercial used an old Chinese movie clip. The actor is dubbed

saying at the end, "I will be the Tekken master."

Lastly, probably due to the time that the series was made, but "Reincarnated" at times is

dragging. However, I can't complain about it too much because it is a factor to how character

development was done so well. The fighting in the series was a bit slow, with the classical slow

motion at times but understandable with the technology back then. "Reincarnated" is

successful in the fact that there is more than one villain, all who are either allying or

contending with each at different points in time to achieve their own goals. They all have their

own personalities, arrogance, pride, or ticks that define them. Of all the supporting characters,

I thought Goon Zhong Lau was a fairly well developed character who was an egotistical man

slighted while Chuen Yuk Shu was another character that was not all bad.

The themesong to the series is another classic. A particular sub-theme used for the

background music that was adapted from a famous Chinese opera was also used and

contributed to the mood well.

The ATV sequel to "Reincarnated" in 1990 continued the story of Wan Fei Yeung where

Norman Chiu starred in his previous role (illogical that he got his face back though). Eric Wan,

Erica Choi, Shuet Lei, and Au Yeung Pui San were some of the new actors and actresses in the

sequel. There is a review of it on another website for Erica Choi:

http://www.geocities.com/erica_choi_hiu_yee/

I've read that there is a new "Tin Cham Bien - Reincarnated" in the making by either a

Taiwanese or China production company. Ng Ging, who has starred in "Tai Chi Master" and the
recent "Little Dagger Lee - Xiao Li Fei Dao" (as Ah Fei) is the new Wan Fei Yeung while Ho Mei

Tin will play either Heung Guan or Yuen Yee.