Movie Melting Pot… ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ (Hong Kong, 1979)

Considered by many fans, critics and historians to be among the very top of the hill when it comes to Kung Fu movies, this one clearly has had it’s influence on the entire genre. Someone less inclined towards quality martial arts movies may view this the first time and think, “hey… this movie doesn’t have all that much action!”

In this observation, the viewer would be partially accurate. There is “action” in the movie, but it depends on how you define action. In the traditional mainstream sense, the actual fighting scenes (“action”) appear near the end of the film. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of worthy content in the rest of the film. One of the most successful elements of this movie is it’s story. No other martial arts movie has done such a fantastic job of taking the viewer into what a Shaolin monk is made of, what makes them tick, how they became the masters they are?

‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ (Shao Lin san shi liu fang) stars Chia Hui Liu as San Te, a student who becomes disenfranchised with the academic life as he witnesses the oppression brought upon his family and friends by the tyrannical Manchu rule. After witnessing countless people murdered and tortured undeservedly, San Te decides he must travel to Shaolin to learn Kung Fu. His journey is long and an injury to his leg nearly kills him along the way, but he sneaks into the monk’s food cart to make it up the mountain to Shaolin. When they find him, he’s in a coma and the nurse him back to health. Reluctant at first, the monks choose to allow him to stay and live amongst them.

>>> Semi-Spoiler Warning! The remainder of this article divulges much of the plot! <<<

For the first year, San Te is quiet and obedient, but is frustrated that he has been cleaning and doing menial tasks and hasn’t learned one thing about Kung Fu. When he approached one of the higher monks about this concern, the monk replies that he may learn Kung Fu at any time, if he chooses. At this time, San Te is introduced to the 35 Chambers of Shaolin. These are the halls in which monks learn the art of Kung Fu, one crucial lesson at a time. A monk much master the focus of one chamber before he is granted permission to move on to the next. This is a fascinating journey, one that entertains and enlightens. There is a sense of awe in watching a monk develop his skills and knowledge. The process certainly does not occur over night and there are many humorous scenes as we watch San Te fail at his tasks several times before he masters them. However, it’s a truly powerful tale of human perseverance and will as San Te not only masters these skills, but becomes the highest-performing and most advanced of all the monks in training.

The idea behind this film is less about San Te getting revenge on those who have wronged him and his family and more about what is at the heart of Shaolin Kung Fu. When San Te first decides to learn Kung Fu, his goal is to use it to strike back at the unfair rulers. Once he begins his training, he finds himself frustrated with what he feels is unrelated to learning Kung Fu. There are moments of ‘Karate Kid’ (although the influence is obviously the other way around) throughout San Te’s education. Think… “Wax on, wax off.”

The youthful resistance that San Te exudes eventually transforms into a more mature and confident strength. He earns the respect of the other monks who once teased him and is offered the honor of taking charge of one of the chambers if he can best a senior monk and teacher in a spar, using the weapon of his choice. This becomes an integral part of San Te’s formation into a Shaolin monk. He struggles to defeat his opponent, who has developed an effective style of fighting with double swords. San Te begins with a plain bamboo staff, moves onto a metal staff with crescent blades on the ends and after several failed attempts he has an epiphany while practicing. He develops the hinged triple staff, a sort of cross between nun chucks and a staff.

Once San Te has completed his training and proven himself, he is given the choice of chambers. San Te chooses none of the 35 chambers and asks to create a new 36th chamber that would exist outside of the Shaolin temple, whereas he would spread the teachings of Shaolin Kung Fu to the people so that they may defend themselves. San Te is denied and is sent to the village to beg as punishment. When he returns to the village, San Te learns the true lesson of Kung Fu and that one should never use Kung Fu on another unless they are forced into it through self-defense.

The film has been released under the titles Master Killer and Shaolin Master Killer, but neither of these titles properly convey what the movie is really about. Dragon Dynasty released the film on DVD under the title ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ in June of 2007. It’s a great movie and a great DVD for any true fan of martial arts movies.

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