Wong Fei-hung
Chinese martial artist and physician (1847-1924)

Wong Fei-hung (born Wong Sek-cheung with the courtesy name Tat-wun; 9 July 1847 – 17 April 1925) was a Chinese martial artist, physician, and folk hero, who practiced in 19th century Guangzhou. Though he was considered an expert in the Hung Ga style of Chinese martial arts, his real public fame was as a physician who practiced and taught acupuncture, Dit Da (Chinese chiropractics) and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine in the (now closed) Po Chi Lam (寶芝林; 宝芝林; Bǎozhīlín; Bou2-zi1-lam4), a medical clinic in Guangzhou. Two museums dedicated to him were built in his birthplace in Foshan, Guangdong.
Wong has been the subject of numerous martial arts films and television series, most notably the Once Upon a Time in China film series (1991–1997) by Tsui Hark. He has been portrayed by several stars of Hong Kong and Chinese cinema, including Gordon Liu, Jackie Chan, Kwan Tak-hing, Jet Li, Vincent Zhao, and Sammo Hung. The Wong Fei-hung film series holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-running film series and most films in a movie series.
The most famous depictions of Wong Fei-hung in cinema include Jackie Chan in Drunken Master (1978) and Drunken Master II (1994), Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China (1991) and Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), and Angie Tsang in Iron Monkey (1993).
Other names
Wong's original given name was Sek-cheung or Xixiang (锡祥; 錫祥; Xīxiáng; Hsi-hsiang; Sek3-coeng4) before it was changed to Fei-hung (Feihong). His courtesy name was Dat-wan or Dayun (达云; 達雲; Dáyún; Ta-yun; Daat6-wan4).
Life
Wong was born in Luzhou Hamlet, Lingxi Village, Xiqiao Country, Foshan, Nanhai County, which is a present day part of Foshan.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Wong Fei-hung” as chinese martial artist and physician (1847-1924). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as chinese martial artist and physician (1847-1924). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q317869. VIAF identifies the subject as 56938059. The Library of Congress control number is no2016060651. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1847, 1925, 1991 and 1997.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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- Expand the search: follow Wong Fei-hung primary sources, Wong Fei-hung archive and Wong research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Wong Fei-hung” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.