Cheung Wing-sing (; 1897 – 1960) was the wife of

Wing Chun Wing Chun (Cantonese) or Yong Chun (Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin) (, lit. "singing spring") is a concept-based martial art, a form of Nanquan (martial art), Southern Chinese kung fu, and a close-quarters system of self-defense. It is a martial ...

master

Ip Man Ip Man (born Ip Kai-man; 1 October 1893 – 2 December 1972), also known as Yip Man, was a Chinese martial arts grandmaster. He became a teacher of the martial art of Wing Chun when he was 20. He had several students who later became martia ...

Biography

Little is known about Cheung's birth and childhood life except that she was a relative of the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

official Zhang Yinhuan () (1837–1900), who was involved in the

Hundred Days' Reform The Hundred Days' Reform or Wuxu Reform () was a failed 103-day national, cultural, political, and educational reform movement that occurred from 11 June to 22 September 1898 during the late Qing dynasty. It was undertaken by the young Guangxu Emp ...

movement in 1898, and that she was born to educated parents in Foshan. In 1916 she was married to

Yip Man Ip Man (born Ip Kai-man; 1 October 1893 – 2 December 1972), also known as Yip Man, was a Chinese martial arts grandmaster. He became a teacher of the martial art of Wing Chun when he was 20. He had several students who later became martia ...

Foshan Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...

and they had four children: sons

Yip Chun Ip Chun (born Ip Hok-chun; 10 July 1924), also known as Yip Chun or Yip Jun, is a Chinese martial artist and actor 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 lif ...

() and Yip Ching () and daughters Yip Nga-sum () and Yip Nga-wun (). According to her son Yip Chun, she and Yip had never quarreled. Cheung herself was a traditional Chinese woman who was solemn, supportive, and tolerant of her husband. After the Communist victory in the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, Cheung, her husband Yip, and their elder daughter Nga-sum left Foshan for

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1950. Soon after they arrived at Hong Kong through

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

, Cheung and her son returned to Foshan to retrieve their identity cards. However the closure of borders between China and Hong Kong was established in 1951, and Cheung was separated from her husband for good. Unable to go to Hong Kong, she remained in Foshan where she died of cancer in 1960, while her children would eventually be reunited with their father in Hong Kong in the 1960s. Her daughters would eventually marry; one to a husband with the surname of Ng (), another to a husband with the surname of Ng (), but with a different pronunciation.

In popular culture

She was first portrayed in the first three installments of the ''Ip Man'' film series ''

'' (2008), ''

Ip Man 2 ''Ip Man 2'' ( zh, t=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 th ...

'' (2010) and ''

Ip Man 3 ''Ip Man 3'' is a 2015 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film directed by Wilson Yip, produced by Raymond Wong and written by Edmond Wong with action choreography by Yuen Woo-ping. It is the third film in the ''Ip Man'' film series base ...

'' (2015) by

Lynn Hung Xiong Dailin (熊黛林, born 10 October 1980), better known as Lynn Hung, is a Hong Kong–based fashion model and actress originally from mainland China. Born in Nanjing, China, Hung moved her base of modeling activities to Hong Kong in 2006 ...

. In the 2010 film '' The Legend Is Born: Ip Man'', she was portrayed by Huang Yi. In the 2013 film '' The Grandmaster'', she was portrayed by

Song Hye-kyo Song Hye-kyo (; born November 22, 1981) is a South Korean actress. She gained international popularity through her leading roles in the television dramas '' Autumn in My Heart'' (2000), '' All In'' (2003), ''Full House'' (2004), '' That Winter, ...

. In the 2013 television series ''

'', she was portrayed by Han Xue. In the 2013 film '' Ip Man: The Final Fight'', she was portrayed by

Anita Yuen Anita Yuen Wing Yee (born 4 September 1971) is a Hong Kong actress and beauty pageant titleholder. She is best known for her roles in the films '' C'est la vie, mon chéri'' (1993), '' He's a Woman, She's a Man'' (1994), and '' From Beijing with Lo ...

. In the 2019 film '' Ip Man: Kung Fu Master'', she was portrayed by Chang Qinyuan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wing-sing, Cheung 1960 deaths Cantonese people Deaths from cancer in the People's Republic of China People from Foshan 1897 births