Wu Ma
Chinese actor and film director (1942-2014)

Fung Wang-yuen (Chinese: 馮宏源; 22 September 1942 – 4 February 2014), better known by his stage name Wu Ma (午馬), was a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker. He made his screen debut in 1963, and with over 240 appearances to his name (plus 49 directorial credits within a 50-year period).
During his lifetime, he was considered one of the most familiar faces in the history of Hong Kong cinema, and was widely known for his portrayal of Taoist ghosthunter Yan Chixia in A Chinese Ghost Story. He was a four-time Hong Kong Film Award nominee, three for Best Supporting Actor and one for Best Director, and a Golden Horse Award winner.
Early years
Wu was born Fung Wang-yuen in Tianjin, China. At 16 he moved to Guangzhou and became a machinist before migrating to Hong Kong in 1960. In 1962, Feng enrolled in the Shaw Brothers acting course. Graduating a year later, he became a contract player for the studio and made his first appearance in Lady General Hua Mu-lan. He then appeared in such films as Temple of the Red Lotus (1965), The Knight of Knights (1966) and Trail of the Broken Blade (1967). He took on the stage name 'Wu Ma' as it reflected the animal in the year of his birth (the horse), and believed it was short enough for audiences to remember.
The public source identifies “Wu Ma” as chinese actor and film director (1942-2014). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Chinese, actor and film.
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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 Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q851018. VIAF identifies the subject as 41615179. The Library of Congress control number is no2007040820. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1942, 2014, 1963 and 1960.
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This entry incorporates text from “Wu Ma” 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.