''The Misadventure of Zoo'' (流氓皇帝) is a TVB television series, premiered in 1981. Theme song "Personhood Loves Freedom" (做人愛自由) composition and arrangement by

Joseph Koo Joseph Koo Kar-Fai, MBE, GBS (born 3 February 1933), is a Hong Kong composer, who is considered one of the most respected composers in Hong Kong. He used the pen name Moran (莫然) for Mandarin songs early in his career. Early life Koo h ...

, lyricist by

Wong Jim James Wong Jim (; 18 March 1941 – 24 November 2004, also known as "霑叔" or "Uncle Jim") was a Cantopop lyricist and songwriter based primarily in Hong Kong. Beginning from the 1960s, he was the lyricist for over 2,000 songs, collaboratin ...

, sung by

Adam Cheng Adam Cheng Siu-chow (born 24 February 1947) is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer. Career Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB ''Wuxia'' drama series based on the works ...

, and the sub theme song "Cheers" (飲勝) composition and arrangement by

, lyricist by

, sung by

Plot

The story centers around a villager named Chu Gam Chun (朱錦春, a

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (pa ...

of the term 豬咁蠢, a

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

slang term meaning "as stupid as a pig"). One day, a soothsayer said he would one day become the penultimate

Emperor of China ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heav ...

. While he initially brushed it aside, a series of events and blunders would eventually make it come true. When the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

fell, Chu and his villager friends became bandits, only to be recruited by a warlord. Once under their command, Chu quickly rose through the ranks when many of his superiors died in accidents that are not of Chu's making. Chu eventually became a warlord himself, but was later defeated by

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

forces. Chu, along with his friends and family, made their way to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

, where he eventually became an A-list movie star, even though Chu is illiterate, and can't read movie scripts. Chu then went from strength to strength, and eventually opened a department store. There, he was discovered by a Japanese spy, who wanted him to be a body double of

Puyi Aisin-Gioro Puyi (; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), courtesy name Yaozhi (曜之), was the last emperor of China as the eleventh and final Qing dynasty monarch. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate on 1 ...

, by then the Emperor of

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...

. The soothsayer's words have finally come true. Eventually, Chu found out about the Japanese's deeds, and decided to leave his life as Emperor. He was separated from his family members while they were escaping, and Chu eventually ended up in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

as a beggar. Only when a local reporter found out about his story did Chu reunite with his family, as well as his longtime lover, who now works as a maid for the reporter's family. Chu and his lover were reunited in the finale. At the same time, Chu discovered that he has won the

Mark Six Mark Six () is a lottery game organised by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. History The first iteration of Mark Six, known as in Chinese (), was launched on 5 September 1975, in an effort to battle the then-popular tse fa () illegal lottery draws. ...

lottery drawing. However, realizing his desire to simply live out his life without dramatic ups and downs, Chu ripped up the lottery ticket.

Casts

It is important to note that most of the character's name in the series are Cantonese homophones of another term. *

as Chu Gam Chun (朱錦春, homophone of the term "as Stupid as a Pig" (豬咁蠢)) * Tang Bick Wan as Yau Yu See (尤如絲, homophone of the term "Calamari Shreds" (魷魚絲), a popular snack in Hong Kong) *

Chun Wong Chun may refer to: Places * Chun River in Thailand * Chun District in Phayao Province, Thailand * Chûn Castle, a hillfort in the United Kingdom * Commandery (China) (), an administrative division of imperial China People and names * Jeon (Korea ...

as Chu Cheung Fun (朱祥芬, homophone of the term "Rice noodle roll" (豬腸粉)) * Loong Tin Sang as Mok Yi Mo (莫二毛) * Tsang Cho Lum as Lo Dai Gau (勞大舊) * Chan Gwok Kuen as Ngau Yuk Gon (牛玉乾, homophone of the term "Beef Jerky" (牛肉乾)) {{DEFAULTSORT:Misadventure Of Zoo, The 1981 Hong Kong television series debuts 1981 Hong Kong television series endings TVB dramas Cantonese-language television shows