the manchu or qing invaded china from manchuria in 1644 their dynasty ruled until 1912 over this long period they militarily subdued the han chinese but at the same time the manchu were culturally absorbed this fraught time is documented in films by the shaw brothers here manchu tend to be villains oppressing the han with superior kung fu until han heroes train up to defeat them a common trope in these films is use of ‘chi’ metaphysical energy flowing in lines through the land and via human bodies in real life it’s a sophisticated philosophy the basis for cultural practices from landscape gardening to acupuncture but in these films chi achieves fantastic effects several shaw brothers villains harness it to become invulnerable no sword cuts their skin heroes’ fists can’t bruise them there’s only one weak spot where lines of power converge maybe the eyes or the top of the head a blow here can disrupt the whole network this lets the bad guy be vanquished how will you attack this story’s villain
