Celebrity in China

6. Jet Li: ‘Wushu Master’ in Sport and Film

103 Jet Li 6 Jet Li: ‘Wushu Master’ in Sport and Film Mary Farquhar* He stands five feet six inches and weighs 145 pounds. When he moves it is with the fluid grace and power of a wushu master … His kicks are a deadly dance … His face may be cold and lethal. Or he may be smiling, with a taunt to lure his opponent into making the wrong move. This is the Jet Li of the movies. Movies are make-believe though, right? Is he really that good? (Marx 2002: 5–6) Like the Western world, China now has a celebrity industry that measures commercial value and popular appeal. In 2004 Forbes released its first Chinese celebrities list (Fubusi Zhongguo mingren). Film star Jet Li (Li Lianjie) topped the list of 100 in terms of income after more than two decades of stardom in both sports and film. No doubt his starring role in Zhang Yimou’s martial arts blockbuster, Hero (Yingxiong 2002, 2004), fed his income and star status in China and overseas. But, as the People’s Daily reported, he was not ‘the hottest’ Mainland celebrity (‘Jet Li tops Forbes list’ 2004). Chinese-born USA basketball star, Yao Ming, was number one on the basis of celebrity criteria, including media reports, web hits, television interviews, appearances, endorsements, and magazine covers * I wish to acknowledge the editorial assistance and constructive commentary of Maureen Todhunter. Mary Farquhar 104 as well as income. Yao, who plays with the Houston Rockets and leads China’s basketball team for the 2008 Olympic Games, topped the annual Forbes list in subsequent years. Meanwhile Jet Li fell off the list in 2006 and stayed off in 2007. The aim of the Forbes list is to ‘record the development of China’s entertainment and sports industries, and evaluate the commercial value of celebrities’ (Belew 2007). Sports and film stars dominate China’s rankings and the celebrity status of these stars determines lucrative outcomes, such as brand advertising, film salaries, and film investment that often rely on star attraction. The Forbes list is just one indicator of Western-style celebrity in China today. The list does not, however, explain the rise of the celebrity industry in post-Mao China. Jet Li’s rise to stardom covers the decades from the Maoist era (1949–76) to the present and exemplifies the changing nature of China’s celebrity industry. He became a sports prodigy in the 1970s, a regional film star in the 1980s, and a global superstar from the 1990s. His celebrity career records a shift from the national, as a ‘wushu master’ or martial arts champion, to the global, via Hong Kong and Hollywood filmmaking. His first film, the China-Hong Kong production, Shaolin Temple (Shaolinsi, dir. Zhang Xinyan, 1982), launched him as a film star. It led to two sequels, in which he again plays an adolescent martial arts hero. If film stardom is the blueprint for the global celebrity industry (Marshall 1997: 12–19; Marshall 2006: 8; Turner 2004: 11), then Li’s rise to superstardom in the last quarter of a century is fundamental to an investigation of celebrity in China today. He is both a precursor to China’s twenty-first century sports celebrities and, through Shaolin Temple, China’s first post-Mao film superstar. This chapter examines Jet Li’s celebrity status in relation to the sports and film worlds. The first section explores the early basis of Li’s fame against the broad backdrop of China’s changing sports sector. Li was acclaimed as a wushu champion who won national sports competitions, leading to international performances as his country’s ambassador. Authenticity is controversial (perhaps impossible) in the contrived worlds of celebrity and martial arts film. However, I show how Li’s current star image as a genuine wushu champion, film star, and all-round nice guy, is informed by his adolescent reputation as an authentic sports champion and national hero. The second section focuses on Jet Li’s film image, especially in Shaolin Temple, his film debut. Li’s image in this film is individualized 105 Jet Li around his perceived authentic, indeed superlative, martial arts skills (he plays a young hero who fights for justice — and wins). But the film positions these skills within a broader national narrative that encompasses the resurgence of Shaolin Temple as a real and sacred martial arts space in the early post...