''Ip Man'' is a 2013 Chinese television series romanticizing the life of

Ip Man Ip Man, also known as Yip Man, ( / 叶问; 1 October 1893 – 2 December 1972) was a Hong Kong-based Cantonese people, Cantonese martial artist and a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun when he was 20. He had several students who later ...

(Mandarin: Ye Wen), a Chinese martial artist specialising in

Wing Chun Wing Chun (Chinese: 詠春 or 咏春, lit. "singing spring"), sometimes spelled Ving Tsun, is a concept-based fighting art, form of Southern Chinese kung fu and close-quarters system of self-defense. In Mandarin, it is pronounced "Yong Chun. ...

Background

Directed by Fan Xiaotian, the series starred

Kevin Cheng Kevin Cheng Ka-wing (born 15 August 1969) is a Hong Kong American actor and singer who is currently under the management of the Hong Kong television network TVB. Cheng rose to fame in late 2004 after playing his first lead role in the TVB drama ...

, who briefly appeared as a younger

in '' Ip Man: The Final Fight'' (2013) which starred Anthony Wong as a middle-aged Ip Man. Han Xue, Liu Xiaofeng, Chrissie Chau, Song Yang,

Yu Rongguang Yu Rongguang (; born 30 August 1958), also known as Ringo Yu, is a Chinese actor and martial artist. He is best known for the title role in '' Iron Monkey'' along with Donnie Yen as well as being featured in films such as '' The East Is Red'', ' ...

Yuen Wah Yuen Wah (born Yung Kai-chi; 2 September 1952) is a Hong Kong action film actor, action choreographer, stuntman and martial artist who has appeared in over 160 films and over 20 television series. Early life Born Yung Kai-chi on 2 September 1950 ...

and

Bruce Leung Bruce Leung Siu-lung (born Leung Choi-sang; 28 April 1948) is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor who has appeared in many Hong Kong martial arts movies. He often appeared billed as "Bruce Leung", "Bruce Liang", "Bruce Leong", or "Bruce Leung Si ...

were cast in supporting roles.

Wilson Yip Wilson Yip Wai-Shun (; born 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and screenwriter. His films include '' Bio Zombie'', '' The White Dragon'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', '' Dragon Tiger Gate'', ''Flash Point'' and the ''Ip Man'' series. Early caree ...

, the director of the ''Ip Man'' film series (starring

Donnie Yen Donnie Yen Chi-tan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, and action director. Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by cho ...

), and Taiwanese television series producer

Young Pei-pei Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

served as the artistic consultants. The real-life Ip Man's sons,

Ip Chun Ip Chun (born Ip Hok-chun; 10 July 1924), also known as Yip Chun or Yip Jun, is a Chinese martial artist in the style of Wing Chun. He is the elder of two sons. Chun's father Ip Man was the Wing Chun teacher of Bruce Lee. Early life He was bor ...

and Ip Ching, were invited to be the martial arts consultants for the series. The series was shot from July to November 2012 in

Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name There is a stron ...

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trad ...

, and was first aired on Shandong TV from 24 February to 9 March 2013. It won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Television Series in 2012.

Cast

** Zhou Jianan as Ye Wen (young) * Han Xue as

Zhang Yongcheng Cheung Wing-sing (; 1897 – 1960) was the wife of Wing Chun master Ip Man. Biography Little is known about Cheung's birth and childhood life except that she was a relative of the Qing Dynasty official Zhang Yinhuan () (1837–1900), who was invo ...

* Liu Xiaofeng as Lin Qingshan ** Zang Zhizhong as Lin Qingshan (young) *

Chrissie Chau Chrissie Chau Sau-na (; born 22 May 1985) is a Hong Kong actress and model. Chau achieved widespread fame after the release of her gravure photo albums in 2009 and 2010. Her film career began after she starred in the horror film ''Womb Ghosts'' (2 ...

as Jenny * Song Yang as Si * Han Zhenhua as Ye Wen's father * Zhang Ruijia as Ye Wen's mother * Chen Hongjin as

Ye Zhun Ip Chun (born Ip Hok-chun; 10 July 1924), also known as Yip Chun or Yip Jun, is a Chinese martial artist in the style of Wing Chun. He is the elder of two sons. Chun's father Ip Man was the Wing Chun teacher of Bruce Lee. Early life He was bor ...

as Yu Fengjiu *

as Chen Huashun *

Liang Bi Leung Bik (born Leung Bik-wo with the courtesy name Tai-wah; 1845 – 1911), also known as Mr. Bik (), was a Wing Chun martial artist. He was one of Ip Man's teachers. History He was born in Foshan in 1845 as the second of the nine sons of Leung ...

Bryan Leung Bryan Leung Kar-yan (Chinese: , born 20 January 1948) is a Hong Kong film and television actor and film director who has played roles in numerous acclaimed martial arts films. He is affectionately known as "Beardy" due to his trademark faci ...

as Master Hong * Jiang Kai as Fu Zhengyun * Yu Hai as Tong Zhanpeng * Kou Zhenhai as Zhang Yintang * Pu Chaoying as landlady * Liu Yajin as postman * Liu Xianchen as Zhang Yongsheng *

Yuan Bingyan Yuan Bingyan (; born 17 January 1992) is a Chinese actress. Career Yuan Bingyan debuted with a supporting role in the wuxia drama ''Ip Man''. She also played a role in the popular sitcom '' iPartment 4''. Yuan then played supporting roles in h ...

as Qiu Jianyun * Xu Xiangdong as Jiang Sheng * Li Qingxiang as Lu Changyi * Liu Hailong as Yan Chunlai * Wang Weiguo as Marshal Zhu * Mou Fengbin as Guimen Longyi / Guimen Long'er * Yu Yankai as Brother Lu * Yang Qianli as Yan Dong * Zhou Zhong as Mo Renchao

Production

There was fierce competition among many companies over the rights to the production of a television series about Ip Man since

's movies ''

'' and ''

Ip Man 2 ''Ip Man 2'' (Chinese: 葉問2:宗師傳奇, also known as ''Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster'') is a 2010 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film loosely based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun. A sequel to ...

'' (starring

) came into the limelight. Around June 2012, Suzhou Funa Films and Television acquired the rights to produce the television series. Fan Xiaotian, who previously directed many Chinese television series, was selected as the director, while Hong Kong screenwriter Charcoal Tan was chosen to write the script. Wilson Yip and Taiwanese producer

served as artistic consultants while the real-life Ip Man's sons,

and Ip Ching, were invited to be martial arts consultants for the series. Shooting for ''Ip Man'' began in July 2012 and finalized in around November. After the release of ''Ip Man'', BBC UKChina conducted a telephone interview with Fan Xiaotian about the television series. Fan mentioned that the earlier ''Ip Man'' films were too short, and that his purpose in creating the television series was to present a more developed and lively story about Ip Man which allows audiences to explore the character in greater depth. He also felt it was a very opportune time to produce a television series about Ip Man because Wilson Yip's ''Ip Man'' movies were very successful and influential, and also because

Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...

was making '' The Grandmaster'' when ''Ip Man'' (TV series) was in production. Fan Xiaotian and Young Pei-pei were keen on recruiting actor

Vincent Zhao Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo (born 10 April 1972), sometimes credited as Vincent Chiu or Chiu Man-cheuk, is a Chinese actor and martial artist. Zhao is best known for playing the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung in the '' Once Upon a Time in China'' film ...

, who has a background in martial arts, to play the lead character. Taking some netizens' opinions and suggestions into account, the production team also considered casting

Han Geng Han Geng (Chinese: 韩庚; Pinyin: Hán Gēng; ) (born February 9, 1984) is a Chinese Mandopop singer and actor. He started his career in 2001, when he was chosen by S.M. Entertainment to become a member of South Korean boy band Super Junior ...

, Wu Chun,

Wallace Chung Wallace Chung Hon-leung (; born 30 November 1974) is a Hong Kong actor and singer, best known for his work on several Chinese television dramas. Chung ranked 68th on ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list in 2013, 94th in 2014, 45th in 2015, 31st i ...

and

Wallace Huo Wallace Huo Chien-hwa (, born 26 December 1979) is a Taiwanese actor, singer and producer. He is known for his roles in ''At Dolphin Bay'' (2003), ''Chinese Paladin 3'' (2009), ''Swordsman'' (2013), '' Battle of Changsha'' (2014), ''The Journey of ...

in the series. However, the role of Ip Man eventually went to Hong Kong

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...

artiste

. Han Xue was chosen to portray Ip Man's wife Cheung Wing-sing (Mandarin: Zhang Yongcheng). Other cast members include Liu Xiaofeng,

, Song Yang and Kou Zhenhai. In September 2012, the cast and crew of ''Ip Man'' appeared at a publicity event in

to promote the television series.

Broadcasts

Home Media

The full Ip Man series is available in Mandarin, with Mandarin subtitles, on popular free video streaming sites in the US. The first ten episodes of this 50 episode series was released by Cinedigm in North American, on DVD and Blu-ray on October 10, 2017. The 45 minute episodes feature Mandarin audio with English subtitles.

References

External links

*
''Ip Man'' (TV series) official page
on

Sina.com Sina Corporation (, "new wave") is a Chinese technology company. Sina operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, Sina Mobile, Sina Online, and Sinanet. Sina has over 100 million registered users worldwide. Sina was recognized by '' Southe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ip Man (TV series) 2013 Chinese television series debuts Martial arts television series TVB dramas Television shows set in Guangdong Cultural depictions of Ip Man Chinese period television series Chinese action television series