Name	Cantonese
Nativename	广府话/廣府話 ''gwong2 fu2 waa2'' / ''gwong/ fu/ waa/'' 广州话/廣州話 ''gwong2 zau1 waa2'' / ''gwong/ zau waa/'' 白话/白話 ''baak6 waa2'' / ''baak_ waa/'' Known in Hong Kong and Macau as: 廣東話/广东话 ''gwong2 dung1 waa2'' / ''gwong/ dung waa/''
Familycolor	Sino-Tibetan
States	: central and western Guangdong (Zhongshan, Foshan, Shenzhen), the Pearl River Delta, Hainan, and the eastern and southern part of Guangxi (Wuzhou) : Sydney, Melbourne : Metro Vancouver, Metro Toronto, Greater Montreal : Vientiane : Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Sandakan, Ipoh : Bangkok : London : New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles : Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Bac Lieu, Da Nang, Kien Giang, Quang Ninh
Fam2	Chinese
Fam3	Yue
Fam4	Yuehai
Script	Written Cantonese
Nation	(''de facto'' official spoken form of Chinese in government)
Agency	Official Language Division Civil Service Bureau Government of Hong Kong
Linglist	yue-can
Speakers	71 million }}

Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of ''Canton'' (i.e. Guangzhou) in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese.

In mainland China, it is a lingua franca in Guangdong Province and some neighbouring areas, such as the eastern part of Guangxi Province. Outside mainland China, it is spoken by the majority population of Hong Kong and Macau in everyday life. It is also spoken by overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, the United States, Canada, Peru, Panama, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as in Europe, and being the most widely spoken Chinese dialect in many of these communities.

While the term "Cantonese" refers narrowly to the prestige dialect described in this article, it is often used in a broader sense for the entire Yue branch of Chinese, including related dialects such as Taishanese.

The Cantonese language is also viewed as part of the cultural identity for the native speakers across large swathes of southern China, Hong Kong and Macau. Although Cantonese shares much vocabulary with Mandarin Chinese, the two languages are not mutually intelligible largely because of pronunciation and gramatical differences. Sentence structure, in particular the placement of verb can sometime be different. The use of vocabulary in Cantonese also tend to have more historic roots.

Names

In English, the term "Cantonese" is ambiguous. Cantonese proper is the dialect native to the city of Canton, which is the traditional English name of Guangzhou, and later brought to Hong Kong and Macau; this narrow sense may be specified as "Canton dialect" or "Guangzhou dialect" in English.

However, "Cantonese" may also refer to the primary branch of Chinese which contains Cantonese proper as well as Taishanese and Gaoyang; this broader usage may be specified as "Yue" (粤). In this article, "Cantonese" is used for Cantonese proper.

Chinese speakers use some names that do not correspond exactly with the English terms. Customarily, speakers call their language "Guangzhou Prefecture speech" (Guǎngzhōu huà, 广州话 or 廣州話). In Guangdong province, people also call it "Provincial Capital speech". In Hong Kong and Macau, people usually call it "Guangdong speech" (廣東話). Outside of Guangzhou, people also call it "Baak Waa" (plain speech) (}}).

Due to its status as a prestige dialect, it is often called "Standard Cantonese" (; Guangdong Romanization：Biu1 zên2 yud6 yu5). (With simplified tone markers: biu zeon/ jyut_ jyu= / biu zên/ yud_ yu=).

Cultural role

Spoken Chinese has numerous regional and local varieties, many of which are mutually unintelligible. Most of these are rarely heard outside their native areas, although they may be spoken in homes outside of the country. Since the early 1900s (1909 Qing Dynasty decree), China has promoted Mandarin for use in education, the media and official communication, though a few state television and radio broadcasts are in Cantonese. However, due to the linguistic history of Hong Kong and Macau, and the use of Cantonese in many overseas Chinese communities, international usage of Cantonese has spread far out of proportion to its relatively small number of speakers in China, even though the majority of Cantonese speakers still live in mainland China.

Cantonese is the predominant Chinese language spoken in Hong Kong and Macau. In these areas, political discourse takes place almost exclusively in Cantonese, making it the only variety of Chinese other than Mandarin to be used as the primary language for the official state functions of an area. Because of their use by non-Mandarin-speaking Yue speakers overseas, the Cantonese and Taishanese languages are the primary forms of Chinese that Westerners come into contact with.

Along with Mandarin and Hokkien, Cantonese is one of the few varieties of Chinese with its own popular music, Cantopop. In Hong Kong, Cantonese lyrics predominate within popular music, and many artists from Beijing and Taiwan have learned Cantonese to make Cantonese versions of their recordings. Popular native Mandarin speaking singers, including Faye Wong, Eric Moo, and singers from Taiwan, have been trained in Cantonese to add "Hong Kong-ness" to their performances.

Phonology

The ''de facto'' standard pronunciation of the Cantonese language is that of Canton (Guangzhou), which is described at the Cantonese phonology article. Hong Kong Cantonese has some minor variations in phonology.

Hong Kong

The official languages of Hong Kong are English and Chinese, as defined in the Basic Law of Hong Kong. The Chinese language has many different varieties, of which Cantonese is one. In Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominantly spoken variety in everyday life. It is the ''de facto'' official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the Government. It is also used as the medium of instruction in many schools, alongside English.

The Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong is mutually intelligible with the Cantonese spoken in the Chinese city of Canton (Guangzhou), although there exists some differences in pronunciation, accent and vocabulary. The Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong is known as Hong Kong Cantonese.

Written Cantonese

Cantonese has the most developed literature of any form of Chinese after Classical Chinese and Mandarin. It is used primarily in Hong Kong and in overseas Chinese communities, so it is usually written with traditional Chinese characters. Cantonese includes extra characters and characters with different meanings from Standard Written Chinese.

Romanization

Cantonese romanization systems are based on the accent of Canton and Hong Kong, and have helped define the concept of Standard Cantonese. The major systems are Barnett–Chao, Meyer–Wempe, the Chinese government's Guangdong Romanization, Yale and Jyutping. While they do not differ greatly, Yale is the one most commonly seen in the west today. The Hong Kong linguist Sidney Lau modified the Yale system for his popular Cantonese-as-a-second-language course and is still widely in use today.

Early Western effort

Systematic efforts to develop an alphabetic representation of Cantonese began with the arrival of Protestant missionaries in China early in the nineteenth century. Romanization was considered both a tool to help new missionaries learn the dialect more easily and a quick route for the unlettered to achieve gospel literacy. Earlier Catholic missionaries, mostly Portuguese, had developed romanization schemes for the pronunciation current in the court and capital city of China but made few efforts at romanizing other dialects.

Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary in China published a "Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect" (1828) with a rather unsystematic romanized pronunciation. Elijah Coleman Bridgman and Samuel Wells Williams in their "Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect" (1841) were the progenitors of a long-lived lineage of related romanizations with minor variations embodied in the works of James Dyer Ball, Ernst Johann Eitel, and Immanuel Gottlieb Genăhr (1910). Bridgman and Williams based their system on the phonetic alphabet and diacritics proposed by Sir William Jones for South Asian languages. Their romanization system embodied the phonological system in a local dialect rhyme dictionary, the Fenyun cuoyao, which was widely used and easily available at the time and is still available today. Samuel Wells Willams' ''Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Canton Dialect'' (Yinghua fenyun cuoyao 1856), is an alphabetic rearrangement, translation and annotation of the Fenyun. In order to adapt the system to the needs of users at a time when there were only local variants and no standard—although the speech of the western suburbs, ''xiguan,'' of Guangzhou was the prestige variety at the time—Williams suggested that users learn and follow their teacher's pronunciation of his chart of Cantonese syllables. It was apparently Bridgman's innovation to mark the tones with an open circles (upper register tones) or an underlined open circle (lower register tones) at the four corners of the romanized word in analogy with the traditional Chinese system of marking the tone of a character with a circle (lower left for "even," upper left for "rising," upper right for "going," and lower right for "entering" tones). John Chalmers, in his "English and Cantonese pocket-dictionary" (1859) simplified the marking of tones using the acute accent to mark "rising" tones and the grave to mark "going" tones and no diacritic for "even" tones and marking upper register tones by italics (or underlining in handwritten work). "Entering" tones could be distinguished by their consonantal ending. Nicholas Belfeld Dennys used Chalmers romanization in his primer. This method of marking tones was adopted in the Yale romanization (with low register tones marked with an 'h'). A new romanization was developed in the first decade of the twentieth century which eliminated the diacritics on vowels by distinguishing vowel quality by spelling differences (e.g. a/aa, o/oh). Diacritics were used only for marking tones. The name of Tipson is associated with this new romanization which still embodied the phonology of the Fenyun to some extent. It is the system used in Meyer-Wempe and Cowles' dictionaries and O'Melia's textbook and many other works in the first half of the twentieth century. It was the standard romanization until the Yale system supplanted it. The distinguished linguist, Y. R. Chao developed a Cantonese adaptation of his Gwoyeu romanization system which he used in his "Cantonese Primer." The front matter to this book contains a review and comparison of a number of the systems mentioned in this paragraph. The GR system was not widely used.

Cantonese romanisation in Hong Kong

An influential work on Cantonese, ''A Chinese Syllabary Pronounced According to the Dialect of Canton,'' written by Wong Shik Ling, was published in 1941. He derived an IPA-based transcription system, the S. L. Wong system, used by many Chinese dictionaries later published in Hong Kong. Although Wong also derived a romanization scheme, also known as S. L. Wong system, it is not widely used as his transcription scheme.

The romanization advocated by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK) is called Jyutping, which solves many of the inconsistencies and problems of the older, favored, and more familiar system of Yale Romanization, but departs considerably from it in a number of ways unfamiliar to Yale users. The phonetic values of letters are not quite familiar to those who have studied English. Some effort has been undertaken to promote Jyutping with some official support, but it is too early to tell how successful it is.

Another popular scheme is Cantonese Pinyin Schemes, which is the only romanization system accepted by Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau and Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. Books and studies for teachers and students in primary and secondary schools usually use this scheme. But there are quite a lot teachers and students using the transcription system of S. L. Wong.

However, learners may feel frustrated that most native Cantonese speakers, no matter how educated they are, really are not familiar with any romanization system. Apparently, there is no motive for local people to learn any of these systems. The romanization systems are not included in the education system either in Hong Kong or in Guangdong province. In practice, Hong Kong people follow a loose unnamed romanisation scheme used by the Government of Hong Kong.

Cantonese outside China

Historically, the majority of the overseas Chinese have originated from just two provinces, Fujian and Guangdong. This has resulted in the overseas Chinese having a far higher proportion of Fujian and Guangdong languages/dialect speakers than Chinese speakers in China as a whole.

The largest number of Cantonese speakers outside mainland China and Hong Kong are in Canada and the United States; however, speakers of Min dialects predominate among the overseas Chinese in southeast Asia. The Cantonese spoken in Singapore and Malaysia are known to have borrowed substantially from Malay and other languages.

Canada

For many decades and today, Cantonese continues to be the most common Chinese language spoken among Chinese Canadians. According to Canada 2006 Census, there are 361,450 Canadian residents who reported Cantonese as their mother tongue including 166,655 in Greater Toronto Area and 125,940 in Greater Vancouver to lead the way. The total number of Cantonese speakers in Canada however is expected to be greater than those numbers provided by Statistics Canada considering that 456,705 people who reported a Chinese mother tongue either did not specifically specify which Chinese language they were referring to, or specified a languages outside of Cantonese, Mandarin, Chaochow, Fukien, Hakka, Shanghainese, or Taiwanese. Hence among the 456,705 residents, many of them are Cantonese speakers as well.

The majority of Cantonese speakers came from Hong Kong in bunches in the late 60s to mid 70s during and after the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist riots, and came in masses during the 80s to late 90s in response to the Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong back to Mainland China in 1997. Immigrants from Guangdong, Vietnam and Southeast Asia also form an integral part of the Cantonese speaker demographics in Canada.

Malaysia

Cantonese is widely spoken in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya in Selangor, most districts in Perak, Sibu in Sarawak and Sandakan in Sabah. In general, Cantonese is widely spoken in all part of Malaysia, even though large part of Chinese population are non-Cantonese. Cantonese can be regarded as highly influential among Chinese Malaysians. Unlike Hokkien, with the largest population among Chinese Malaysian, the language has very minimal influence on other dialect groups. Viewers in Malaysia enjoyed the programmes in original soundtrack. Pay TV operator, Astro, on the other hand, do offer viewers a choice - in original soundtrack (Cantonese) and Mandarin (dubbed version) in its prime-time drama series. There are four Chinese radio stations - My FM, one FM, 988 and Ai FM. Of these four, three are private-owned, which broadcast mainly in Cantonese together with Mandarin. Ai FM, however, is a government owned station that broadcast solely in Mandarin. The only Cantonese programme used in Ai FM is the news broadcast.

New Zealand

The goldminers who came to New Zealand in the 1860s were mainly from the southern counties of Guangdong province. Through chain-migration between the 1860s to 1920s Cantonese became the dominant language spoken by New Zealand Chinese. Since the late 1980s there has been a large number of Mandarin-speaking Chinese coming to New Zealand either as permanent immigrants or temporary English-language students.

Singapore

In Singapore the government has a Speak Mandarin Campaign(SMC) which seeks to actively promote the use of Mandarin over other Chinese languages, such as Min-nan (colloquially known as Hokkien) (41.1%), Teochew (21.0%), Cantonese (15.4%), Hakka (7.9%) and Hainanese (6.7%).

{|class="wikitable" |-- |+ Population Profile of Singapore Chinese Language Groups |-- !Dialect Group !1990 !2000 |- |Hokkiens |align=right |42.1% |align=right |41.1% |- |Teochews |align=right |21.9% |align=right |21.0% |- |Cantonese |align=right |15.2% |align=right |15.4% |- |Hakkas |align=right |7.3% |align=right |7.9% |- |Hainanese |align=right |7.0% |align=right |6.7% |- |Foochows (Min Dong) |align=right |1.7% |align=right |1.9% |- |Henghua (Puxian/Putian) |align=right |0.9% |align=right |0.9% |- |Shanghainese |align=right |0.8% |align=right |0.9% |- |Hockchia (Fuqing) |align=right |0.6% |align=right |0.6% |- |Others |align=right |2.4% |align=right |3.7% |- |}

This was seen as a way of creating greater cohesion among the ethnic Chinese. In addition to positive promotion of Mandarin, the campaign also includes active attempts to dissuade people from using other Chinese languages.

Most notably,all non-Mandarin Chinese programmes on TV and radio were stopped after 1979. The prime minister then, also stopped giving speeches in Hokkien to prevent giving conflicting signals to the people.

Hong Kong (Cantonese) and Taiwanese drama series are not available in their original languages on TV although Japanese and Korean drama series are available in their original languages. Cantonese drama series on non-cable TV channels are dubbed in Mandarin and broadcast without the original Cantonese soundtrack. Supporters of non-Mandarin Chinese languages who feel that dubbing causes the series to lose its natural flavor often buy original DVDs and VCDs from Taiwan and Hong Kong to keep in touch with their mother tongues.

An offshoot of SMC is the Pinyinisation of certain terms which originated from southern Chinese languages. For instance, dim sum is often known as ''dianxin'' in Singapore's English language media, though this is largely a matter of style, and most Singaporeans will refer to dim sum when speaking English. However, Cantonese is still spoken in large proportion of Cantonese family compared to other dialect groups. The situation is very different in nearby Malaysia (especially in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh), where even most non-Cantonese speaking Chinese can understand the language to a certain extent through exposure to the language.

Thailand

The Chinese (including who of mixed ancestry) are the largest group resides from Hong Kong or southern China constituting around 50% of Bangkok's total registered population, making it as the world's major city with the largest number of people with Chinese ancestry outside China. Nationally, Chinese make up 30% of Thailand's population and 20% out of it speaks Cantonese.

United Kingdom

The majority of Cantonese speakers in the UK have origins from the former British colony of Hong Kong and speak the Canton/Hong Kong dialect, although many are in fact from Hakka-speaking families and are bilingual in Hakka. There are also Cantonese speakers from south east Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, as well as from Guangdong in China itself. Today an estimated 300,000 British people have Cantonese as a mother tongue, this represents 0.5% of the total UK population and 1% of the total overseas Cantonese speakers.

United States

For the last 150 years, Guangdong Province has been the place of origin of most Chinese emigrants to Western countries; one coastal county, Taishan (or Tóisàn, where the Sìyì or ''sei yap'' dialect of Yue is spoken), alone may have been the home to more than 60% of Chinese immigrants to the US before 1965. As a result, Yue dialects such as Siyi (the dialects of Taishan, Enping, Kaiping and Xinhui Districts) and Cantonese (with a heavy Hong Kong influence) have been the major Yue dialects spoken abroad, particularly in the United States.

The Zhongshan dialect of Cantonese, with origins in the Pearl River Delta, is spoken by many Chinese immigrants in Hawaii, and some in San Francisco and in the Sacramento River Delta (see Locke, California); it is a Yuehai dialect much like Guangzhou Cantonese, but has "flatter" tones. Yue is the third most widely spoken non-English language in the United States. Many institutes of higher education, such as Stanford, Duke, and Yale, have Cantonese programs. The currently most popular romanization for learning Cantonese in the United States is Yale Romanization.

This situation is now changing in the United States; recent Chinese emigrants originate from many different areas including mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. Recent immigrants from mainland China and Taiwan in the U.S. all speak Standard Chinese (''putonghua/guoyu''), with varying degrees of fluency, and their native local language, such as Min (Hokkien and other Fujian languages), Wu, Mandarin, Cantonese etc. As a result, Mandarin is increasingly becoming more common as the Chinese lingua franca among overseas Chinese.

In some metropolitan areas with large Chinese populations, separate neighborhoods and enclaves segregated by the primary language or dialect spoken have begun to arise. For example, in New York City, Cantonese still predominates in the older historic Chinatown in Manhattan, while the newer Chinatowns in Queens and Brooklyn have large numbers of Mandarin and Fukienese speakers respectively.

Vietnam

In Vietnam, Cantonese is widely spoken amongst the ethnic-Chinese (Hoa) community, however many have been influenced by Vietnamese, hence speak it with a slight Vietnamese accent.

Loanwords

Life in Hong Kong is characterised by the blending of Asian (mainly south Chinese) and Western influences, as well as the status of the city as a major international business centre. Influences from this territory are widespread in foreign cultures. As a results, many loanwords are created and exported to China, Taiwan, and Singapore. Some of the loanwords are even more popular than their Chinese counterparts. At the same time, some new words created are vividly borrowed by other languages as well.

See also

Chinese language

Yue Chinese

Controversy over use of Cantonese by Guangzhou Television

Cantonese people

Footnotes

External links

Hong Kong Government site on the HK Supplementary Character Set (HKSCS)

cantoneseAID

Learn Cantonese (with Cantonese–English / English–Cantonese Dictionary)

USA Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Cantonese basic course

Category:Chinese dialects Category:Languages of Hong Kong

ca:Cantonès es:Cantonés estándar fr:Cantonais standard he:קנטונזית תקנית ml:കാന്റോനീസ് ഭാഷ nl:Standaardkantonees no:Standard kantonesisk pnb:کینٹونی pl:Standardowy język kantoński sco:Cantonese sr:Стандардни кантонски језик ta:கண்டோனீசு th:ภาษาจีนกวางตุ้งมาตรฐาน zh-yue:廣府話 zh:广州话

:''As One is also an alias of the British techno producer Kirk Degiorgio.'' :''For As One, the international gathering of YouTubers, see YouTube

name	As One
background	group_or_band
origin	South Korea
genre	K-pop, R&B;
years active	1999–present
label	EMI Korea
current members	Min Young LeeCrystal Chae
notable instruments	}}

As One is a Korean pop duo consisting of Korean Americans Min Young Lee and Crystal Chae. Their first hit was the song "너만은 모르길," released in 1999 on Rock Records Between their fourth and fifth albums, their contract with Rock Records expired and they signed with EMI Korea; a label which also manages other k-pop stars like DJ DOC and Baby VOX. In late 2006, As One released their fifth album ''12 Tears of Farewell'', and started their promotional activities with the lead track "십이야" (''12 Nights'').

As One Member Profiles

Crystal Chae

Date of Birth: April 29, 1980

Place of birth: Los Angeles, California

School: Chatsworth High School

Religion: Christian

Family: father, mother, older brother, older sister

Min Young Lee

Date of Birth: December 15, 1978

Place of birth: Seoul, South Korea

School: Fairfax High School

Religion: Christian

Family: mother, brother

Discography

Studio Albums

!Album #	!Album information	Tracklisting
1st	''Day By Day''	*Released: November 25, 1999	*Label: Rock Records
2nd	''천만에요 (You're Welcome)''	*Released: August 7, 2001	*Label: Rock Records
3rd	''Never Too Far...''	*Released: March 13, 2003	*Label: Rock Records
4th	''Restoration''	*Released: November 17, 2004	*Label: Rock Records
5th	''이별이 남기는 12가지 눈물 (12 Tears of Farewell)''	*Released: November 17, 2006	*Label: EMI Korea

Extended Plays

# [2000.06.28] ONE+ONE # [2002.05.22] As One Live Album # [2002.11.26] Caroling # [2003.11.18] Forever AS ONE (BEST) # [2007.03.13] 우리가 알고있는 (So Romantic) # [2008.05.14] Double Star (Mini Album) # [2010.04.29] The Happiness 4 Us 2nd

Singles

# [1999.11.25] Ring My Bell # [2000.05.01] 사랑+ # [2000.06.14] Day By Day # [2006.12.14] I Wanna be a Christmas # [2008.04.03] Sponge Remake 2008 As One # [2008.09.01] Zza Zza La!! (Drama Version) # [2010.06.16] As One Season 1 # [2010.09.08] History - As One 연애 # [2011.01.17] Taste of Love # [2011.01.28] NEPA SONG(네파송) # [2011.07.07] As One Season 2

Collaborations

''Lovin Ice Cream'', with Ez-Life & (Haro), 2011

''Flight 101'', with Oneway, 2011

''그대도 나처럼'', with Yurisangja, 2010

''그대 뒤에서 (Behind You)'', The Reputable Family OST, 2010

''홀로 크리스마스 (White Winter)'', with Lee Jun (of Solid), Alex, Navi, and Bizniz, 2009

''사랑할 수도 미워할 수도 (Neither Love Nor Hate)'', De La Musique Vol.1 - Part 1, 2009

''Cool Running'', with Soul Dive, 2009

''헤어져 (Breakup)'', Love Tonic OST, 2009

''To Heart'', Listen Campaign OST, 2008

''사랑은 너 하나뿐 (You Only Love)'', The Rival Project with GO and Shogun, 2008

''마지막 사랑 (Last Love)'', with E Sang, 2008

''Smile'', with JED, 2007

''White Love Story'', The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince OST, 2007

''네잎클로버 (Four-leaf Clover)'', MBC Creative Children's 25th Anniversary, 2007

''Happy My Star (Drama Version)'', Couple of Fantasy OST, 2006

''가시나무 (Bramble)'', The Wave - Blessing & Caroling, 2005

''Oh Come All Ye Faithful'', Groovy Christmas, 2005

''미안해야 하는거니 (Do I Have To Say Sorry)'', Sassy Girl, Chun Hyang OST, 2005

''Sleigh Ride'', 2004 Christmas Story, 2004

''원하고 원망하죠 (Want & Complain)'', Black Coffee 4, 2004

''Loving You'', Classic CF, 2004

''투명에 가까운 블루 (Transparent Blue)'', Classic CF, 2004

''하늘정원 (Garden of Heaven)'', Garden of Heaven OST, 2003

''스물다섯 (Precious You)'', with Kim Jin Pyo, 2003

''Feel...Me'', with Park Hyo Shin,2002

''소중한 너 (Precious You)'', with Cho Kyuchan, 2002

''Born Twice'', with DVS, 2001

''Gook Thuggin'', with DVS, 2001

References

Category:South Korean girl groups Category:South Korean rhythm and blues musical groups

ko:애즈 원

name	Jackie Chan
tradchinesename
simpchinesename
pinyinchinesename	Chéng Lóng
jyutpingchinesename	Sing4 Lung4
birth name	Chan Kong-sang Chén Gǎngshēng Can4 Gong2 Sang1
ancestry	Linzi, Shandong, China
origin	Hong Kong
birth date	April 07, 1954
birth place	Victoria Peak, Hong Kong
fighting styles	Wing Chun, Hapkido, Drunken Fist, Tiger.
othername	(Fong Si-lung) (Yuen Lou) (Big Brother)
occupation	Actor, martial artist, director, producer, screenwriter, action choreographer, singer, stunt director, stunt performer
genre	Cantopop, Mandopop, Hong Kong English pop, J-pop
yearsactive	1962–present
spouse	Lin Feng-jiao (1982–present)
children	Jaycee Chan (born 1982)
parents	Charles and Lee-Lee Chan
influences	Bruce LeeBuster KeatonHarold LloydJim Carrey
hongkongfilmwards	Best Film1989 ''Rouge''Best Action Choreography1996 ''Rumble in the Bronx''1999 ''Who Am I?'' Professional Spirit Award2004
goldenhorseawards	Best Actor1992 ''Police Story 3''1993 ''Crime Story''
goldenroosterawards	Best Actor2005 ''New Police Story''
mtvasiaawards	Inspiration Award2002
awards	MTV Movie Awards2002 Best Fight (''Rush Hour 2'')1999 Best Fight (''Rush Hour'')1995 Lifetime Achievement AwardShanghai International Film Festival2005 Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema }}

Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE (born Chan Kong-sang, }}; 7 April 1954) is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts. Jackie Chan has been acting since the 1960s and has appeared in over 100 films.

Chan has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As a cultural icon, Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, and video games. An operatically trained vocalist, Chan is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred.

Early life

Chan was born on 7 April 1954, in Hong Kong, China, as Chan Kong-sang, to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. He was nicknamed ''Paopao'' (, literally meaning "Cannonball") because the high-energy child was always rolling around. Since his parents worked for the French Consul to Hong Kong, Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak district.

Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father immigrated to Canberra, Australia, to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim-yuen. Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics. He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a performance group made up of the school's best students, gaining the stage name Yuen Lo in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, the three of them later to be known as the ''Three Brothers'' or ''Three Dragons''.

At the age of 8, he appeared with some of his fellow "Little Fortunes," in the film ''Big and Little Wong Tin Bar'' (1962), with Li Li Hua playing his mother. Chan appeared with Li again the following year, in ''The Love Eterne'' (1963) and had a small role in King Hu's 1966 film, ''Come Drink with Me''. In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another Kong Fu film, ''A Touch of Zen'', Chan began his adult career in the film industry, initially signing to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company. At the age of 17, he worked as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee films ''Fist of Fury'' and ''Enter the Dragon'' under the stage name Chan Yuen Lung (). He received his first starring role later that year, in ''Little Tiger of Canton'', which had a limited release in Hong Kong in 1973. Due to the commercial failures in his early ventures into films and trouble finding stunt work, in 1975 Chan starred in a comedic adult film, ''All in the Family'', which features Jackie Chan's first and possibly only nude sex scene filmed to date. It is also the only film he has made to date that did not feature a single fight scene or stunt sequence.

Chan joined his parents in Canberra in 1976, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker. A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack" which was later shortened to "Jackie" and the name Jackie Chan stuck with him ever since. In addition, in the late 90s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fong Si-lung (), since his father's original surname was Fong.

Film career

Early exploits: 1976–1979

In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stuntwork. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei. Lo had seen Chan's performance in the John Woo film ''Hand of Death'' (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film ''New Fist of Fury''. His stage name was changed to Sing Lung (, also transcribed as Cheng Long, literally "become the dragon") to emphasise his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name was Lei Siu-lung (, meaning "Little Dragon"). The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, resulting in little improvement at the box office.

Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film ''Snake in the Eagle's Shadow'', shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal. Under director Yuen Woo-ping, Chan was allowed complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved to be a breath of fresh air for the Hong Kong audience. Chan then starred in ''Drunken Master'', which finally propelled him to mainstream success.

Upon Chan's return to Lo Wei's studio, Lo tried to replicate the comedic approach of ''Drunken Master'', producing ''Half a Loaf of Kung Fu'' and ''Spiritual Kung Fu''. He also gave Chan the opportunity to co-direct ''The Fearless Hyena'' with Kenneth Tsang. When Willie Chan left the company, he advised Jackie to decide for himself whether or not to stay with Lo Wei. During the shooting of ''Fearless Hyena Part II'', Chan broke his contract and joined Golden Harvest, prompting Lo to blackmail Chan with triads, blaming Willie for his star's departure. The dispute was resolved with the help of fellow actor and director Jimmy Wang Yu, allowing Chan to stay with Golden Harvest.

Success of the action comedy genre: 1980–1987

Willie Chan had become Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and has remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was ''Battle Creek Brawl'' in 1980. Chan then played a minor role in the 1981 film ''The Cannonball Run,'' which grossed US$100 million worldwide. Despite being largely ignored by audiences in favour of established American actors like Burt Reynolds, Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits, inspiring him to include the same device in his future films.

After the commercial failure of ''The Protector'' in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into the US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films.

Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including ''The Young Master'' (1980) and ''Dragon Lord'' (1982). ''The Young Master'' went on to beat previous box office records set by Bruce Lee and established Chan as Hong Kong cinema's top star. With ''Dragon Lord'', he began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences, including a pyramid fight scene that holds the record for the most takes for a single scene with 2900 takes, and the final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a back flip off a loft and falls to the lower ground.

Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The three co-starred together for the first time in 1983 in ''Project A,'' which introduced a dangerous stunt-driven style of martial arts that won it the Best Action Design Award at the third annual Hong Kong Film Awards. Over the following two years, the "Three Brothers" appeared in ''Wheels on Meals'' and the original ''Lucky Stars'' trilogy. In 1985, Chan made the first ''Police Story'' film, a US-influenced action comedy in which Chan performed a number of dangerous stunts. It was named the "Best Film" at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards. In 1987, Chan played "Asian Hawk," an Indiana Jones-esque character, in the film ''Armour of God.'' The film was Chan's biggest domestic box office success up to that point, grossing over HK $35 million.

Acclaimed sequels and Hollywood breakthrough: 1988–1998

In 1988 Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date, in the film ''Dragons Forever''. Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen, and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah, both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy.

In the late 1980s and early 90s, Chan starred in a number of successful sequels beginning with ''Police Story 2'', which won the award for Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards. This was followed by ''Armour of God II: Operation Condor'', and ''Police Story 3: Super Cop'', for which Chan won the Best Actor Award at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival. In 1994, Chan reprised his role as Wong Fei-hung in ''Drunken Master II'', which was listed in ''Time Magazine's'' All-Time 100 Movies. Another sequel, ''Police Story 4: First Strike'', brought more awards and domestic box office success for Chan, but did not fare as well in foreign markets. Jackie Chan rekindled his Hollywood ambitions in the 1990s, but refused early offers to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles. For example, Sylvester Stallone offered him the role of Simon Phoenix, a criminal in the futuristic film ''Demolition Man''. Chan declined and the role was taken by Wesley Snipes.

Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of ''Rumble in the Bronx'', attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars. The success of ''Rumble in the Bronx'' led to a 1996 release of ''Police Story 3: Super Cop'' in the United States under the title ''Supercop'', which grossed a total of US $16,270,600. Jackie's first huge blockbuster success came when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 buddy cop action comedy ''Rush Hour'', grossing US$130 million in the United States alone. This film made a star of Jackie Chan, in Hollywood. As a publicity stunt, Jackie also wrote his autobiography in collaboration with Jeff Yang entitled ''I Am Jackie Chan''.

Fame in Hollywood and Dramatization: 1999–2007

In 1998, Chan released his final film for Golden Harvest, ''Who Am I?'' After leaving Golden Harvest in 1999, he produced and starred alongside Shu Qi in ''Gorgeous'' a romantic comedy that focused on personal relationships and featured only a few martial arts sequences. Chan then helped create a PlayStation game in 2000 called ''Jackie Chan Stuntmaster'', to which he lent his voice and performed the motion capture. He continued his Hollywood success in 2000 when he teamed up with Owen Wilson in the Western action comedy ''Shanghai Noon'' which was also a box office success and spawned the sequel ''Shanghai Knights'' (2003). He reunited with Chris Tucker for ''Rush Hour 2'' (2001) which was an even bigger success than the original and experimented with special effects with ''The Tuxedo'' (2002) and ''The Medallion'' (2003). Despite the success of these films Chan became frustrated with Hollywood over the limited range of roles and lack of control over the film-making process. In response to Golden Harvest's withdrawal from the film industry in 2003, Chan started his own film production company, JCE Movies Limited (Jackie Chan Emperor Movies Limited) in association with Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG). His films have since featured an increasing number of dramatic scenes while continuing to succeed at the box office; examples include ''New Police Story'' (2004), ''The Myth'' (2005) and the hit film ''Rob-B-Hood'' (2006).

Chan's next release was the third installment in the ''Rush Hour'' series: ''Rush Hour 3'' in August 2007. It grossed US$255 million. However, it was a disappointment in Hong Kong, grossing only HK$3.5 million during its opening weekend.

New experiments and change in style: 2008–present

As Chan had stated years before, there would be a point in his life in which he would have to be modernized and use special effects, and try new different things than martial arts flicks. This began in 2007, with the filming of ''The Forbidden Kingdom'' (released in 2008), Chan's first onscreen collaboration with fellow Chinese actor Jet Li, which was completed on 24 August 2007 and the film was released in April 2008. The film featured heavy use of effects and wires. Chan voiced the character Master Monkey in the DreamWorks Animation film, ''Kung Fu Panda'', released in June 2008, appearing with stars Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie. In addition, he has assisted Anthony Szeto in an advisory capacity for the writer-director's film ''Wushu'', released on 1 May 2008. The film stars Sammo Hung and Wang Wenjie as father and son.

In November 2007, Chan began filming ''Shinjuku Incident'', a dramatic role featuring no martial arts sequences with director Derek Yee, which sees Chan take on the role of a Chinese immigrant in Japan. The film was released on 2 April 2009. According to his blog, Chan discussed his wishes to direct a film after completing ''Shinjuku Incident'', something he has not done for a number of years. The film is expected to be the third in the Armour of God series, and has a working title of ''Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac''. Chan originally stated that he would start filming on 1 April 2008, but that date had passed and the current state of the film is unknown. Because the Screen Actors Guild did not go on strike, Chan started shooting his next Hollywood movie ''The Spy Next Door'' at the end of October in New Mexico. In ''The Spy Next Door'', Chan plays an undercover agent whose cover is blown when he looks after the children of his girlfriend. In ''Little Big Soldier'', Chan stars, alongside Leehom Wang in a non-martial arts comedy movie based on the Warring States Period.

On 22 June 2009, Chan left Los Angeles to begin filming ''The Karate Kid'', a remake of the 1984 original, in Beijing. The film was released in America on 11 June 2010 and sees Chan's first dramatic American film. In the film, he plays Mr. Han, a kung fu master and maintenance man who teaches Jaden Smith's character, Dre, kung-fu so he can defend himself from school bullies. In Chan's next movie, ''Shaolin'', he plays the cook of the temple instead of one of the major characters.

Jackie Chan's 100th film ''1911'' was released on 26 September 2011. He is the co-director, executive producer, and lead star of the movie. While Chan has directed over ten films over his career, this is his first directorial work in over ten years, since Jackie Chan's Who Am I? in 1998. 1911 premiered in North America on October 14.

Jackie Chan won the Favorite Buttkicker award at the Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards in 2011 for ''The Karate Kid''.

Stunts

Until recently, Jackie Chan performed all of his own stunts, which are choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. He has stated in interviews that the primary inspiration for his more comedic stunts were films such as ''The General'' directed by and starring Buster Keaton, who was also known to perform his own stunts. Since its establishment in 1983, Chan has used the team in all his subsequent films to make choreographing easier, given his understanding of each member's abilities. Chan and his team undertake many of the stunts performed by other characters in his films, shooting the scenes so that their faces are obscured.

The dangerous nature of his stunts makes it difficult for Chan to get insurance, especially in the United States, where his stunt work is contractually limited. Chan holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts By A Living Actor", which emphasizes "no insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions, in which he performs all his own stunts". In addition, he holds an unrecognised record for the most number of takes for a single shot in a film, having shot over 2900 retakes for a complex scene involving a Jianzi game in ''Dragon Lord''.

Chan has been injured numerous times attempting stunts; many of them have been shown as outtakes or as bloopers during the closing credits of his films. He came closest to death filming ''Armour of God'', when he fell from a tree and fractured his skull. Over the years, Chan has dislocated his pelvis and broken his fingers, toes, nose, both cheekbones, hips, sternum, neck, ankle and ribs on numerous occasions. Promotional materials for ''Rumble in the Bronx'' emphasized that Chan performed all of the stunts, and one version of the movie poster even diagrammed his many injuries.

Filmography and screen persona

Jackie Chan created his screen persona as a response to Bruce Lee, and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's death. In contrast to Lee's characters, who were typically stern, morally upright heroes, Chan plays well-meaning, slightly foolish regular guys (often at the mercy of their friends, girlfriends or families) who always triumph in the end despite the odds. Additionally, Chan has stated that he deliberately styles his movement to be the opposite of Lee's: where Lee held his arms wide, Chan holds his tight to the body; where Lee was loose and flowing, Chan is tight and choppy. Despite the success of the ''Rush Hour'' series, Chan has stated that he is not a fan of it since he neither appreciates the action scenes in the movie, nor understands American humour.

In recent years, the aging Chan grew tired of being typecast as an action hero, prompting him to act with more emotion in his latest films. In ''New Police Story'', he portrayed a character suffering from alcoholism and mourning his murdered colleagues. To further shed the image of Mr. Nice Guy, Chan played an anti-hero for the first time in ''Rob-B-Hood'' starring as Thongs, a burglar with gambling problems.

Television work

In 2000, Chan hosted a fictionalized version of himself in the animated series ''Jackie Chan Adventures'', which ran until 2005.

In July 2008, the BTV reality television series entitled ''The Disciple'' (, lit. "Disciple of the Dragon") concluded. The series was produced by, and featured Jackie Chan. The aim of the program was to find a new star, skilled in acting and martial arts, to become Chan's "successor" and student in filmmaking. Contestants were trained by Jackie Chan Stunt Team members Alan Wu and He Jun and competed in various fields, including explosion scenes, high-altitude wire-suspension, gunplay, car stunts, diving, obstacles courses etc. The regular judges on the program were He Ping, Wu Yue and Cheng Pei Pei. Guest judges include Stanley Tong, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The "Finals" began on 5 April 2008, with 16 contestants remaining, and concluded on 26 June 2008. Amongst those in attendance were Tsui Hark, John Woo, Ng See Yuen and Yu Rongguang.

The winner of the series was Jack Tu (Tu Sheng Cheng). Along with runners up Yang Zheng and Jerry Liau, Tu is now set to star in three modern Chinese action films, one of which was scripted by Chan, and all three will be co-produced by Chan and his company JCE Movies Limited. The films will be entitled ''Speedpost 206'', ''Won't Tell You'' and ''Tropical Tornado'' and will be directed by Xie Dong, Jiang Tao and Cai Rong Hui. All 16 finalists will be given the opportunity to work on the films, or to join the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. Production on the first film is due to begin in September 2008. In addition, the finalists will be given roles in a forthcoming BTV action series.

Music career

Jackie Chan had vocal lessons whilst at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. He began producing records professionally in the 1980s and has gone on to become a successful singer in Hong Kong and Asia. He has released 20 albums since 1984 and has performed vocals in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. He often sings the theme songs of his films, which play over the closing credits. Chan's first musical recording was "Kung Fu Fighting Man", the theme song played over the closing credits of ''The Young Master'' (1980). At least 10 of these recordings have been released on soundtrack albums for the films. His Cantonese song ''Story of a Hero'' (英雄故事) (theme song of ''Police Story'') was selected by the Royal Hong Kong Police and incorporated into their recruitment advertisement in 1994.

Chan voiced the character of Shang in the Chinese release of the Walt Disney animated feature, ''Mulan'' (1998). He also performed the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", for the film's soundtrack. For the US release, the speaking voice was performed by B.D. Wong and the singing voice was done by Donny Osmond.

In 2007, Chan recorded and released the song "We Are Ready", the official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics. He performed the song at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics.

The day before the Beijing Olympics opened, Chan released one of the two official Olympics albums, ''Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – Jackie Chan's Version'', which featured a number of special guest appearances. Chan, along with Andy Lau, Liu Huan and Wakin (Emil) Chau, performed "Hard to Say Goodbye", the farewell song for the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

Image and celebrity status

Jackie Chan has received worldwide recognition for his acting, having won several awards including an Innovator Award from the American Choreography Awards and a lifetime achievement award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars. Despite considerable box office success in The Northsouth Territories, Chan's American films have been criticised with regard to the action choreography. Reviewers of ''Rush Hour 2'', ''The Tuxedo'', and ''Shanghai Knights'' criticised the toning down of Chan's fighting scenes, citing less intensity compared to his earlier films. The comedic value of his films is questioned; some critics stated it can be childish at times.

Chan is a cultural icon, having been referenced in Ash's song "Kung Fu", Heavy Vegetable's "Jackie Chan Is a Punk Rocker", Leehom Wang's "Long Live Chinese People", as well as in "Jackie Chan" by Frank Chickens, and television shows ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' and ''Family Guy''. He has been the inspiration for manga such as ''Dragon Ball'' (including a character with the alias "Jackie Chun"), the character Lei Wulong in ''Tekken'' and the fighting-type Pokémon Hitmonchan. In addition, Jackie Chan has a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi Motors. As a result, Mitsubishi cars can be found in a number of Jackie Chan films. Furthermore, Mitsubishi honoured Chan by launching Evolution, a limited series of cars which he personally customised.

A number of video games have featured Jackie Chan. Before ''Stuntmaster'', Chan already had a game of his own, ''Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu'', released in 1990 for the PC-Engine and NES. In 1995, Chan was featured in the arcade fighting game ''Jackie Chan The Kung-Fu Master''. In addition, a series of Japanese Jackie Chan games were released on the MSX by Pony, based on several of his films (''Project A'', ''Project A 2'', ''Police Story'', ''The Protector'' and ''Wheels On Meals'').

Chan has always wanted to be a role model to children, remaining popular with them due to his good-natured acting style. He has refused to play villains and has ''almost'' never used the word "fuck" in his films (He's only said that word in two films, ''The Protector'' and ''Burn, Hollywood, Burn''), but in ''Rush Hour'', in an attempt to be "cool" and imitate his partner Carter, who said "What's up, my nigga?" to a club of black men, he said the same thing when Carter was in another room and they all attacked him, so he had to pull out his fighting skills to beat them down and escape. Chan's greatest regret in life is not having received proper education, inspiring him to fund educational institutions around the world. He funded the construction of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the Australian National University and the establishment of schools in poor regions of China.

Chan is a spokesperson for the Government of Hong Kong, appearing in public service announcements. In a ''Clean Hong Kong'' commercial, he urged the people of Hong Kong to be more considerate with regards to littering, a problem that has been widespread for decades. Furthermore, in an advertisement promoting nationalism, he gave a short explanation of the ''March of the Volunteers'', the national anthem of the People's Republic of China. When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005, Chan participated in the opening ceremony. In the United States, Chan appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in a government advert to combat copyright infringement and made another public service announcement with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to encourage people, especially Asians, to join the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Construction has begun on a Jackie Chan museum in Shanghai. Work began in July 2008, and although it was scheduled to be completed on October 2009, construction continues as of January 2010.

Controversies

During a news conference in Shanghai on 28 March 2004, Chan referred to the recently concluded Republic of China presidential election, 2004 in Taiwan, in which Democratic Progressive Party candidates Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu were re-elected as President and Vice-President as "the biggest joke in the world." Chan's comments were criticized by Parris Chang, a Taiwanese legislator and senior member of the DPP, who called for the government of Taiwan to take punitive steps against Chan for his comments, such as banning his movies and barring him the right to visit Taiwan. Some 50 police and security personnel were required to separate protesters from Chan, as they were attempting to spit at him when he arrived at Taipei airport for a charity sponsored by cable TV channel TVBS on 18 June 2008. Chan insisted that his remarks were not intended to insult the people of Taiwan.

Referring to his participation in the torch relay for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chan spoke out against demonstrators who disrupted the relay several times attempting to draw attention to a wide-ranging number of grievances against the Chinese government, including China's human rights record and the political status of Taiwan. He warned that he would lash out against anyone planning to stop him from carrying the Olympic Torch, saying, "Demonstrators better not get anywhere near me." In addition, Chan felt that the protesters were publicity seekers. "They are doing it for no reason. They just want to show off on the TV," he said. "They know, 'if I can get the torch, I can go on the TV for the world news'." Chan felt the country was trying to improve and the Olympics is a chance for the country to open up and learn from the outside world and vice versa. "We are not right about everything. Things are getting better in China but we can change and are changing. We want to learn from the rest of the world as well as teach others about our ways and our culture."

On 18 April 2009, during a panel discussion at the annual Boao Forum for Asia titled "Tapping into Asia's Creative Industry Potential," Chan said "...in the 10 years after Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, I can gradually see, I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not." Chan went on to say, "If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic." He also added, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want." Chan however complained about the quality of Chinese goods, saying, "...a Chinese TV might explode." but refrained from criticizing the Chinese government for banning his 2009 film ''Shinjuku Incident''. Chan's comments prompted an angry response from some legislators and other prominent figures in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Hong Kong Legislator Leung Kwok-hung said that Chan "insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren't pets." The Hong Kong Tourism Board stated that it had received 164 comments and complaints from the public over Chan's remarks. A spokesman for Chan told reporters that the actor was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry rather than Chinese society at large and that certain people with "ulterior motives deliberately misinterpreted what he said."

On 24 August 2010, Jackie Chan tweeted about the botched rescue operation on the Manila hostage crisis that left 8 Hong Kong tourists dead. Although saddened by the news, he also tweeted "If they killed the guy sooner, they will say why not negotiate first? If they negotiate first, they ask why not kill the guy sooner?" Chan's comments caused outrage in Hong Kong. Several anti-Jackie Chan groups were set up on Facebook with tens of thousands of supporters. Some fellow actors and directors told local newspapers that they were also upset by his remarks. Chan reportedly has business interests in the Philippines. He issued a statement on 27 August 2010 apologizing for his comments and claiming that his assistant who helped him post the tweets had misunderstood the meaning of his original message.

Entrepreneurship and philanthropy

In addition to his film production and distribution company, JCE Movies Limited, Jackie Chan also owns or co-owns the production companies JC Group China, Jackie & Willie Productions (with Willie Chan) and Jackie & JJ Productions.

Chan has also put his name to Jackie Chan Theater International, a cinema chain in China, co-ran by Hong Kong company Sparkle Roll Group Ltd. The first—Jackie Chan-Yaolai International Cinema—opened in February 2010, and is claimed to be the largest cinema complex in China, with 17 screens and 3,500 seats. Chan expressed his hopes that the size of the venue would afford young, non-commercial directors the opportunity to have their films screened. 15 further cinemas in the chain are planned for 2010, throughout Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with a potential total of 65 cinemas throughout the country proposed.

In 2004, Chan launched his own line of clothing, which bears a Chinese dragon logo and the English word "Jackie", or the initials "JC". Chan also has a number of other branded businesses. His sushi restaurant chain, Jackie's Kitchen, has outlets throughout Hong Kong, as well as seven in South Korea and one in Hawaii, with plans to open another in Las Vegas. Jackie Chan's Cafe has outlets in Beijing, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and the Philippines. Other ventures include Jackie Chan Signature Club gyms (a partnership with California Fitness), and a line of chocolates, cookies and nutritional oatcakes. He also hopes to expand into furniture and kitchenware, and is also considering a branded supermarket. With each of his businesses, a percentage of the profits goes to various charities, including the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.

Chan is a keen philanthropist and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, having worked tirelessly to champion charitable works and causes. He has campaigned for conservation, against animal abuse and has promoted disaster relief efforts for floods in mainland China and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. In June 2006, he announced the donation of half his assets to charity upon his death, citing his admiration of the effort made by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to help those in need. On 10 March 2008, Chan was the guest of honour for the launch, by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, of the ''Jackie Chan Science Centre'' at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University in Canberra. Jackie Chan is also a supporter of the Save China's Tigers project which aims at saving the endangered South China Tiger through breeding and releasing them into the wild; he is currently an ambassador for this conservation project. Chan has many historic artifacts, such as old door frames from 2000 years ago. He also owns the Jinricksha Station in Singapore.

In April 2008, Jackie Chan was invited for the audio launch of an Indian film, entitled ''Dasavathaaram'' (2008) in Chennai (Madras), where he shared the dais with Indian celebrities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Mammootty and Kamal Hassan. Though he did not understand a word of Tamil, Chan was touched by the Indian community's love for him and his films, and was impressed with the movie ''Dasavathaaram'', expressing a keen interest in working with the star of the film, Kamal Hassan. Hassan himself reciprocated the desire to work with the action superstar, urging Chan to keep his promise of working with him on a possible film project.

Following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Chan donated RMB ¥10 million to help those in need. In addition, he is planning to make a film about the Chinese earthquake to raise money for survivors.

In response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Jackie Chan and fellow Hong Kong-based celebrities, including American rapper Jin, headlined a special three-hour charity concert, titled ''Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders'', on 1 April 2011 to help with Japan's disaster recovery effort, where Jackie Chan addressed the victims of the earthquake and tsunami by saying: ''"You will not be alone, we will be by your side"''. The concert raised over $3.3 million dollars in just three hours for disaster relief.

Chan also holds guest lectures at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art of Fudan University, Shanghai.

The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation

Founded in 1988, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation offers scholarships and active help to Hong Kong's young people through a variety of worthy causes. Over the years, the foundation has broadened its scope to include provision of medical services, aid to victims of natural disaster or illness, and projects where the major beneficiaries are Hong Kong people or organizations. Major donation projects of The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation:

The Jackie Chan Gymnasium at Lingnan University

The Jackie Chan Challenge Cup Intercollegiate Invitation Tournament

The Jackie Chan Family Unit, Hong Kong Girl Guides Association Jockey Club Beas River Lodge

The Jackie Chan Whole Person Development Center

Renovation of the Bethanie Site, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Medical Funding in Mainland China (Operation Smile)

Medical Donation in Hong Kong (Queen Mary Hospital, SARS Relief)

Support for the Performing Arts

Youth Development Programs

The Dragon's Heart Foundation

The Dragon's Heart Foundation was founded in 2005 to fulfill the desperate needs of children and the elderly in remote areas of China. Since 2005, the Dragon's Heart Foundation has built over a dozen schools, provided books, fees, and uniforms, and has raised millions of dollars to give much-needed educational opportunities for the poor. In addition, the Dragon's Heart Foundation provides for the elderly with donations of warm clothing, wheelchairs, and other items. Jackie often travels to the remote locations to attend groundbreakings or school openings, and to lend support and encouragement.

Awards and nominations

Hong Kong Film Awards

Best Action Choreography Nomination for ''Dragon Lord''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Project A''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Heart of Dragon''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Police Story''

Best Director Nomination for ''Police Story''

Best Film for ''Rouge''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Mr Canton and Lady Rose''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Police Story 3: Super Cop''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Crime Story''

Best Action Choreography Nomination for ''Crime Story''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Rumble in the Bronx''

Best Action Choreography for ''Rumble in the Bronx''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Police Story 4: First Strike''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Who Am I?''

'''Best Action Choreography for ''Who Am I?''

Best Action Choreography Nomination for ''Gorgeous''

Best Actor Nomination for ''New Police Story''

Professional Spirit Award

Best Film Nomination for ''The Myth''

Best Action Choreography Nomination for ''The Myth''

Best Original Film Song Nomination for ''The Myth''

Best Action Choreography Nomination for ''Rob-B-Hood''

Best Film Nomination for ''Shinjuku Incident''

(10 Best Actor Nominations, 7 Best Action Choreography Nominations, 3 Film Nominations, 1 Best Director Nomination, 1 Best Original Film Song Nomination)

Personal life

In 1982, Jackie Chan married Lin Feng-Jiao (aka Joan Lin), a Taiwanese actress. That same year, the two had a son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan. Elaine Ng Yi-Lei had a daughter, Etta, in 1999, and claimed Chan was the father; Chan admitted the affair, but did not formally acknowledge her as his daughter. Chan is a Buddhist.

He speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, and English fluently, and also speaks some German, Korean and Japanese, as well as a little Spanish.

In 2009, Chan received an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambodia.

See also

Cinema of Hong Kong

Hong Kong action cinema

Cinema of China

Stunt

Stunt performer

References

Further reading

Boose, Thorsten; Oettel, Silke. ''Hongkong, meine Liebe – Ein spezieller Reiseführer''. Shaker Media, 2009. ISBN 978-3-86858-255-0 Boose, Thorsten. ''Der deutsche Jackie Chan Filmführer''. Shaker Media, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86858-102-7

Chan, Jackie, and Jeff Yang. ''I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action''. New York: Ballantine Books, 1999. ISBN 0-345-42913-3. Jackie Chan's autobiography.

Cooper, Richard, and Mike Leeder. ''100% Jackie Chan: The Essential Companion''. London: Titan Books, 2002. ISBN 1-84023-491-1.

Cooper, Richard. ''More 100% Jackie Chan: The Essential Companion Volume 2''. London: Titan Books, 2004. ISBN 1-84023-888-7.

Corcoran, John. ''The Unauthorized Jackie Chan Encyclopedia: From Project A to Shanghai Noon and Beyond''. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 2003. ISBN 0-07-138899-0.

Fox, Dan. ''Jackie Chan. Raintree Freestyle''. Chicago, Ill.: Raintree, 2006. ISBN 1-4109-1659-6.

Gentry, Clyde. ''Jackie Chan: Inside the Dragon''. Dallas, Tex.: Taylor Pub, 1997. ISBN 0-87833-962-0.

Le Blanc, Michelle, and Colin Odell. ''The Pocket Essential Jackie Chan''. Pocket essentials. Harpenden: Pocket Essentials, 2000. ISBN 1-903047-10-2.

Major, Wade. ''Jackie Chan''. New York: Metrobooks, 1999. ISBN 1-56799-863-1.

Moser, Leo. ''Made in Hong Kong: die Filme von Jackie Chan''. Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2000. ISBN 3-89602-312-8.

Poolos, Jamie. ''Jackie Chan''. Martial Arts Masters. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2002. ISBN 0-8239-3518-3.

Rovin, Jeff, and Kathleen Tracy. ''The Essential Jackie Chan Sourcebook''. New York: Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN 0-671-00843-9.

Stone, Amy. ''Jackie Chan''. Today's Superstars: Entertainment. Milwaukee, Wis.: Gareth Stevens Pub, 2007. ISBN 0-8368-7648-2.

Witterstaetter, Renee. ''Dying for Action: The Life and Films of Jackie Chan''. New York: Warner, 1998. ISBN 0-446-67296-3.

Wong, Curtis F., and John R. Little (eds.). ''Jackie Chan and the Superstars of Martial Arts''. The Best of ''Inside Kung-Fu''. Lincolnwood, Ill.: McGraw-Hill, 1998. ISBN 0-8092-2837-8.

External links

Jackie Chan at Rotten Tomatoes

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Best Action Choreographer HKFA Category:Cantopop singers Category:Chinese martial artists Category:Chinese film actors Category:Chinese comedians Category:Hong Kong comedians Category:Hong Kong Buddhists Category:Hong Kong voice actors Category:Hong Kong film actors Category:Hong Kong film directors Category:Hong Kong film producers Category:Hong Kong screenwriters Category:Hong Kong singers Category:Hong Kong male singers Category:Hong Kong Mandopop singers Category:Hong Kong kung fu practitioners Category:Hong Kong wushu practitioners Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Stunt actors Category:Stunt performers

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