KAY MOON GWAI GUK (1988) CAST Au Shiu Wai BACKGROUND This TVB Serial is 20 episodes long, and is set during the period where a famous general, Sin Ji, wrote his war book. Wong Yat Wah is again casted in the role of villain as Pong Gin, who is the war general of the Wei Empire. Au Shiu Wai is the son of the famous general Sin Ji, Sin Bun, who then becomes the military advisor of the Qi Empire. Kung Chi Yan gets the lead female role, as Si Mar Jing. Cheng Yim Foong plays Sin Bun's cousin, Sin Heung. Wong Yee Gum, played Jong Yim, a cold-blooded killer who is trained by Lit Wan. HISTORY This story is based during the period before the Chi'n Dynasty, and China was divided into 7 warring states. During 330 BC to 221 BC, Qin conquered the neighboring 6 states and reunited China forming the Chi'n Dynasty which lasted from 221 BC to 206 BC. Qin proclaimed himself as Qin Shihaungdi, or "the first emperor". During his time he managed to build the great wall of China to keep invaders out. However Qin was fascinated with immortality, and his diet consisted of powdered Jade and Mercury. Qin's quest for immortality led to his early death. The Chi'n Dynasty, collapsed after his death. The Han Dynasty gained control shortly after the peasant’s uprising. SERIES REVIEW SUMMARY Two young men outside secretly watch a Taoist, perform some magic tricks. At once the Taoists notices and hypnotizes one of the young men. The young man is under the total control of the Taoist. His friend, Sin Bun, comes to the rescue and tells his master to let his friend go. He agrees after Sin Bun gives him a piece of jade. Sin Bun wanted to learn the magic trick from his master, and therefore decides to give him another piece of valuable jewelry. Happy with his gift the Taoist hands over the scroll to Sin Bun. Pong Gin, watches and is unimpressed with the method used by Sin Bun to attain the scroll. The two friends, Sin Bun and Pong Gin, set of together to learn the scroll. During the trip, Pong Gin steps on a rock and hurts his feet. Sin Bun notices that Pong Gin's shoes have ripped apart. In a kind gesture Sin Bun offers to buy Pong Gin, a pair of new shoes. However Pong Gin refuses, because he is poor and does not want to wear a new pair of shoes. To resolve this issue Sin Bun decides to wear the new shoes himself, and give Pong Gin his old shoes instead. Pong Gin still refuses, however he is left with no choice when someone drove over his old shoes with a cart. Shortly afterwards they run into a Taoist who is a con artist. Sin Bun and Pong Gin, foils the Taoist's plan of tricking money from the villagers. The Taoist gives chase, and they run into an old man carrying a lantern. The old man calls Sin Bun's farther a no hopper. At once Sin Bun gets angry and says that his old man is the great General, Sin Ji, proving that his old man is not useless. Meanwhile, a masked hitman, listens in behind the trees. The hitman is interested in discovering where the famous General's war book is hidden. In an attempt to capture Sin Bun, the hitman kills, the con artist Taoist. Fortunately for Sin Bun and Pong Gin, another Taoist Gwai Guk Chi, comes to their rescue and kills the hitman. They escape without knowing of the danger. However they do stumble across the dead con artist Taoist's body. Upon arriving home, Sin Bun and Pong Gin, are beaten up by Sin Bun's younger brother, who thought they were thieves. Sin Bun's brother looks down on Pong Gin because he is poor, and tells his brother not to hang around a looser like him. However word got out to Si Mar Ping, the prince of Chun, and Lit Wan the leader of the hitmen. They are both interested in recovering the war book written by Sin Bun's farther, Sin Ji. In the morning they send men to Sin Bun's house and Pong Gin's house and capture them. They are blamed for the death of the con artist Taoist and some soldiers. Pong Gin is tortured, whilst Sin Bun is not even touched. Eventually they are set free because there is no conclusive evidence. After this ordeal, Sin Bun's foster farther Sin Kiu, decides to beg the famous Taoist Gwai Guk Chi, to take Sin Bun in as a student. The Taoist agrees. Sin Kiu knew that his family's life was in danger because everyone wanted the war book. Sin Kiu, burns down his house and his family hides in a common village. Sin Bun however does not want to become a student of Gwai Guk Chi. He is used to getting his own way, and after Gwai Guk Chi, sent him down hill to fetch a letter which kept blowing away, he throws a tantrum. He convinces Pong Gin, to run away from Gwai Guk Chi. In the process they fall down a cliff. At this stage the two friends decide to become sworn brothers. Gwai Guk Chi, is not shaken off easily and follows them everywhere. After saving Sin Bun from getting executed by Si Mar Ping, the two friends decide to follow Gwai Guk Chi, to the "Ghost Mountain". At the bottom of the cliff, Gwai Guk Chi, tells Pong Gin to leave. Sin Bun, decides to add a few good words for his friend, and finally Gwai Guk Chi, decides to let Pong Gin in as a servant. Gwai Guk Chi is a Taoist, and count the future with his fingers. From the beginning he knew Pong Gin was going to turn out evil. Therefore he decides to treat him badly, won't teach him kung fu, and want him to be a servant for the rest of his life. Pong Gin's only ambition is to learn kung fu from Gwai Guk Chi, and to become a famous general. Gwai Guk Chi's, two friends, Kung Sin Dai Leung and Yeung Sit Sin Sang, are charged with teaching Sin Bun, kung fu. At first Sin Bun, was learning Kung Fu, from Kung Sin Dai Leung, but he was unhappy because he wanted to learn from Gwai Guk Chi only. He decides to create trouble, and later Gwai Guk Chi, decides that Yeung Sit Sin Sang, should teach him Kung Fu. Furious that Gwai Guk Chi, won't teach him kung fu, Sin Bun plans to leave the "Ghost Mountain". Meanwhile Pong Gin, was slaving his guts out as a slave. He won't mind learning kung fu from either master. Yeung Sit Sin Sang, treats Pong Gin very well. Eventually, Pong Gin uses Sin Bun's tricks, that is giving gifts like good wine and food to Yeung Sit Sin Sang. Pong Gin succeeds and Yeung Sit Sin Sang teaches him some kung fu, and tells Pong Gin the way out of the "Ghost Mountain". With this information Pong Gin tells Sin Bun, and he leaves to find his family. At this stage Lit Wan, discovered where Sin Kiu was hiding. In order to succeed in killing Sin Kiu, he tricks his foster daughter, Jong Yim, to learn some Mor Kung Fu. By the time Sin Bun finds his family, they are trapped in a cave. Not wanting to reveal where the war book is hidden, his mother kills his coward younger brother, and then commits suicide. His foster farther, Sin Kiu, knocks Sin Bun out. Sin Kiu is then killed by Jong Yim, Sin Bun catches a sight of the killer. Unfortunately even the future seeing Gwai Guk Chi, couldn't save his family. Before dying Sin Kiu tells Sin Bun, to look for his auntie. Therefore they set of to look for her. When they finally find Sin Bun's Auntie, she is captured by Lit Wan. She dies shortly afterwards but before dying tells Sin Bun to marry her daughter Sin Heung right away. They bury her and finally find some clues leading to the location of the war book. When they finally get the war book it was stolen by a knight of Si Mar Ping. Unknown to them the book was fake. Si Mar Ping, then attempts to avoid being court marshaled by faking his death. Lit Wan discovers this and chases Si Mar Ping and kicks him over the edge of a mountain. Si Mar Ping's daughter, Si Mar Jing, then goes to the "Ghost Mountain". In the meantime, Sin Bun, wants to get revenge for his family. However Gwai Guk Chi, in a dream shows him that revenge is no good and leads to more bloodshed. Sin Bun, agrees. They decide to make a straw statute of Sin Bun, and burn it and bury it. Now he is no longer a spoilt rich brat who is useless to the world. He is now a changed man. He later marries his cousin Sin Heung. On their wedding night, Sin Bun discovers the map to the war book on Sin Heung's back. Sin Bun was injured and could not reach the war book, which was hidden under water. His wife Sin Heung decides, to swim under the ocean to get the war book. It was too cold, and Sin Heung dies in Sin Bun's arms after handing over the war book. After retrieving the war book they head back to the "Ghost Mountain. Meanwhile, Pong Gin, falls involve with Si Mar Jing, because she is the only one to give him any respect at "Ghost Mountain". His classmates are jealous, and decide to give him a hard time and beat him up. Although his kung fu is now good Pong Gin does not fight back. Pong Gin captures a rabbit and gives it to Si Mar Jing. However his classmates, steal and cook the rabbit. This makes Pong Gin, very angry and he finally decides to fight back. During this time, Sin Bun and Gwai Guk Chi enter the room. Gwai Guk Chi is very upset. At once he thinks it was Pong Gin causing all the trouble. However Yeung Sit Sin Sang shorts out this misunderstanding. Gwai Guk Chi is still unimpressed and still knows that Pong Gin will cause trouble. He decides to open a competition, and the winner will be able to learn kung fu directly from him. Pong Gin begs Gwai Guk Chi to let him enter and he is allowed to enter. Gwai Guk Chi has a sly smile on his face because he is certain that Pong Gin will not win. Sin Bun chooses not to enter and Gwai Guk Chi is impressed by his attitude. During the day of the competition Pong Gin receives encouragement from Si Mar Ping, which makes him happy. All the students struggle with their lives, and put all their efforts into the competition. However Gwai Guk Chi, tells Sin Bun where the flower is hidden and sends him there. Ultimately Pong Gin does not win. The only two left in the competition is Pong Gin and his eldest classmate. They battle and fall over the edge of the cliff. Both are equally surprised to see Sin Bun with the flower and at the cliff because he did not enter. They ask him for help, and are both saved by Sin Bun. With all his hope of learning kung fu from Gwai Guk Chi now gone, Pong Gin steals the flower. He runs and tells Gwai Guk Chi that he got the flower first. However Sin Bun comes back and tells Gwai Guk Chi the whole story. Sin Bun becomes Gwai Guk Chi's student. At this point Sin Bun no longer wanted to learn kung fu, but promised to teach Pong Gin what he learnt from Gwai Guk Chi. However Gwai Guk Chi, instructed Sin Bun not to teach others what he had learnt. After realizing that Sin Bun would not reveal what he had learnt, Pong Gin decides to use all possible methods to learn top kung fu. This includes stealing Gwai Guk Chi's two top kung fu manuals. In the process he thinks he kills his eldest classmate, who was infact killed by Lit Wan's younger brother. However from now everyone thinks Pong Gin, did it. With now way out of this situation he becomes Lit Wan's student, and joins his gang of hitmen. When Gwai Guk Chi discovers this he throws Pong Gin into a mountain, hopping that he would go insane and die. However Sin Bun thinks of a method to rescue Pong Gin and he leaves the mountain. Kung Sin Dai Leung and Yeung Sit Sin Sang are sent after him. In the process Kung Sin Dai Leung gets killed by Lit Wan's men, but Pong Gin is blamed for killing her also. Later Pong Gin becomes a big General of one of the seven warring nations. In order to keep his fame and fortune, Pong Gin, watches his mother die and personally kills Yeung Sit Sin Sang. However despite winning several wars for his King when Sin Bun comes to his kingdom, Pong Gin becomes dispensable. When Lit Wan, captures Sin Bun and Si Mar Jing, he gives them love tablets, and set them free. They make love in the bush. Lit Wan directs Pong Gin, to where they are located. Upon seeing his only love making out with Sin Bun, drives Pong Gin mad. He decides to plot Sin Bun's downfall. Sin Bun is charged with treachery and has his legs cut off. From now he spends his life in a wheelchair. Sin bun's classmates discover Pong Gin's plans and attempt to rescue him. However they are all killed and tortured by Pong Gin except for one, who reveals all to Sin Bun. Gwai Guk Chi decides to get revenge for his students and attempts to kill Pong Gin, causing more bloodshed himself because he killed 3 innocent knights. Meanwhile Sin Bun, acts dumb and crazy preventing Pong Gin from getting the war book. Pong Gin then asks Si Mar Jing to marry him. She refuses because all along she had love Sin Bun only. However her farther Si Mar Ping orders her daughter to marry Pong Gin. On the wedding day Gwai Guk Chi, rescues Sin Bun, and Si Mar Jing manages to escape. Sin Bun then helps another King of the 7 warring nations to fight against Pong Gin's army. Because he has the war book Sin Bun easily defeats Pong Gin, and traps him in the forests. They duel, but in a wheelchair, Sin Bun is no match for Pong Gin. Pong Gin pushes Sin Bun down the mountain, however he becomes over confidant, and jumps on the wheelchair. Sin Bun catches him and holds onto him until the wheelchair smashes into a tree. Pong Gin is killed but before he dies he notices that his fate was written above then tree. At the end Si Mar Ping re-unites China and establishes the Chi'n Dynasty. His daughter leaves with Sin Bun. Gwai Guk Chi intrigues us with the moral of the story. "Go with the flow of life, fate decides our future. Going against the flow will only cause heartache." RATING (5) The plot of this story is too similar to other stories for it be rated highly. For example we begin with two good friends, they fight over power, money, sword, war book, and woman. One is jealous of the other, etc. The moral of the story is even worst. Fate is what we make of it. Besides Gwai Guk Chi created much of Pong Gin's downfall and Sin Bun's so called fate. This story also lacked any mystery or uncertainty in it. Throughout the story I was not worried at all because I could guess what was going to happen. Just like Gwai Guk Chi could predict the future events of all the characters in the story. The acting was absolutely terrible. They needed someone who sounds like a wise man for the role of Gwai Guk Chi. I was getting tired of the actor's voice who played Gwai Guk Chi. Au Shiu Wai lacked emotion at times, when he needed to demonstrate some emotion. Also looking at historical paintings of Sin Bun, Au Siu Wai may have been too handsome to play the role and did not look anything like Sin Bun. By the time Sin Bun had become the military advisor for the Qi Emperor, he had a moustache and a beard. Au Siu Wai had neither during the series and looked liked a young man. The costume used for Sin Bun, did not resemble the dress code often worn by military advisors. Also TVB wanted to protect Au Siu Wai's reputation by not placing the red stamp on his forehead which reads, "Traitor". Historically Sin Bun, was branded with the tattoo for life whilst he was visiting his good friend Pong Gin, in the Wei Empire. Regardless of the reasons given in the novel, history shows that Sin Bun had been branded with the red tattoo. Finally they needed to find a better female lead than Kung Chi Yan, who failed to capture any attention. Flat spots are plenty in this Serial. It was hard to believe that a person can totally change their personality after the burning of a statute. If it was so simple maybe we should all give it a try. To sum 5 out of 10 is the best that this TVB Serial can receive. WONG YAT WAH AS PONG GIN TVB could had chosen another actor for this role. Wong Yat Wah does not suit the role of Pong Gin very well. This is not to say that Wong Yat Wah, didn't do a good job. To the contrary he was the best actor in the Serial. His acting at the beginning and at the end of the Series was superb. He plays the role of an honest poor person very well. He also plays a power driven villain well also. He faltered in the middle of the series, because he was required to play a coward. No one can act these roles out better than Miu Kiu Wai. However Wong Yat Wah was not accustomed to this role. Therefore the scenes where he was begging Gwai Guk Chi etc. not to kill him lack any emotion. However with such a poor cast, I was wandering why Wong Yat Wah, was even in this Serial. I was also wandering why he was even Pong Gin, they could have gotten him to play the role of Sin Bun. At least that way Wong Yat Wah might have been able to turn what was a poor series into a respectable series, as the main character Sin Bun. Also Wong Yat Wah resembles Sin Bun more closely then Au Siu Wai.
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