Amdo (; ) is one of the three traditional regions of Tibet, the other two being Ü-Tsang and Kham; it is also the birth place of the 14th Dalai Lama. Amdo encompasses a large area from the Machu River (Yellow River) to the Drichu river (Yangtze River). While historically, culturally, and ethnically a Tibetan area, Amdo has been administered by a series of local rulers since the mid-18th century and the Dalai Lamas have not governed the area directly since that time. From 1917 to 1928, much of Amdo was occupied intermittently by the Hui Muslim warlords of the Ma Clique. In 1928, the Ma Clique joined the Kuomintang, and during the period from 1928 to 1949, much of Amdo was gradually assimilated into the Qinghai province (and part of Gansu province) of the Kuomintang Republic of China. By 1952, Chinese Communist forces had defeated both the Kuomintang Chinese and the local Tibetans and had assumed control of the region, solidifying their hold on the area by 1958 and formally spelling the end of the political existence of Amdo as a distinct Tibetan province.

Amdo was and is the home of many important Tibetan Buddhist monks (or ''lamas''), scholars who had a major influence on both politics and religious development of Tibet like the 14th Dalai Lama, the 10th Panchen Lama, and the great reformer Je Tsongkhapa.

Present demographics[link]

The Tibetan inhabitants of Amdo are referred to as Amdowa (; amdo pa) as a regional distinction from the Tibetans of Kham (Khampa) and U-Tsang (Central Tibet), however, they are all considered ethnically Tibetan.

Today, ethnic Tibetans predominate in the western and southern parts of Amdo, which are now administered as various Tibetan, Tibetan-Qiang, or Mongol-Tibetan autonomous prefectures. The Han Chinese are a majority in the eastern part of Qinghai and the provincial capital Xining. While geographically small compared to the rest of Qinghai, this area has the largest population density, with the result that the Han Chinese outnumber other ethnicities in Qinghai generally. The northern part of Qinghai has a Mongol majority. For details on the demographics of various Tibetan entities in Amdo and Tibet generally, see Tibet - Major ethnic groups in Greater Tibet by region, 2000 census.

The majority of Amdo Tibetans live in the larger part of Qinghai Province, including the Mtsho byang (; Ch. Haibei) TAP, Mtsho lho (; Ch. Hainan) TAP, Rma lho (; Ch. Huangnan) TAP, and Mgo log (; Ch. Guoluo) TAP, as well as in the Kan lho (; Ch. Gannan) TAP of the southwest Gansu province, and sections of the Rnga ba (; Ch. Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous prefecture of north-west Sichuan Province. Additionally, a great many Amdo Tibetans live within the Haidong (; Wylie: mtsho shar) Prefecture of Qinghai which is located to the east of the Blue Lake (, Wylie: Mtsho sngon; Kokonor) and around Xining city, but they constitute only a minority (ca. 8.5%) of the total population there and so the region did not attain TAP status. The vast Haixi (Mstho nub) Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, to the west of the Blue Lake, also has a minority Tibetan population (ca. 10%), and only those Tibetans in the eastern parts of this Prefecture are Amdo inhabitants.

Mongols too have been long-term settlers in Amdo, arriving first during the time of Genghis Khan, but particularly in a series of settlement waves during the Ming period. Over the centuries, most of the Amdo Mongols have become highly Tibetanised and, superficially at least, it is now difficult to discern their original non-Tibetan ethnicity.

13th Century[link]

The Mongols conquered eastern Amdo in the early 13th century, and made the whole Tibetan region under its administrative rule, separated from the territory of former Song Dynasty of China. A patron-priest relationship began in 1253 when a Tibetan priest, Phagspa, visited Kublai Khan he became so popular that he was made Kublai’s spiritual guide and later appointed by him to the rank of priest king of Tibet and constituted ruler of (1) Tibet Proper, comprising the thirteen states of U-Tsang Province; (2) Kham, and (3) Amdo. Tibet regained its independence from the Mongols before native Chinese overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368, although it avoided directly resisting the Yuan court until the latter's fall. Under the Mongol Yuan Dynasty of Kublai Khan, Amdo and Kham were split into two commandaries, which, along with Ü-Tsang, were collectively referred to as the three commandaries of Tibet.

17th Century[link]

The following Ming Dynasty nominally largely maintained the Mongol divisions of Tibet with some sub-division. However, from the middle of the Ming era, the Chinese government lost control in Amdo, and the Mongols again seized political control. Power struggles among various Mongol factions in Tibet and Amdo led to a period alternating between the supremacy of the Dalai Lama (nominally) and Mongol overlords.In 1642 the independent Mongol king, Gushi Khan, conferred temporal, as well as spiritual, authority on the fifth Dalai Lama, establishing a dominance for the Gelugpa Buddhist sect and the Dalai Lama that persists to this day. The Mongols also conferred parts of Eastern Tibet (Kham) on the Tibetans, while the Mongols continued to rule the Tibetan Amdo, raising present-day questions as to which areas in Eastern Tibet the Tibetan government consistently ruled.

18th century[link]

In 1705, with the approval of the Kangxi Emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Lobzang Khan of the Khoshud deposed the regent and sent the 6th Dalai Lama to Beijing; the 6th Dalai Lama died soon after, probably near Qinghai Lake (Koko nur) in Amdo. The Dzungar Mongols invaded Tibet during the chaos, and held the entire region until their final defeat by the Qing imperial army in 1720.

When the Manchu Qing dynasty rose to power in the early 18th century it established Xining, a town to the north of Amdo, as the administrative base for the area. The rule of their administrator, the Amban, was light, however, and allowed relative autonomy to be retained by the monasteries and other local rulers.

As the Qing Empire expanded in the 18th century it would intrude more and more on Tibetan autonomy, frequently invading Eastern Tibet and occasionally Central Tibet. Other parts of old Amdo was administered by the Administrator of Qinghai. Kokonor Mongols from northern Xinjiang moved into Qinghai in this period.

In all these predominantly culturally Tibetan areas, the Qing Empire used a system of administration relying on local, Tibetan, rulers. A 1977 University of Chicago PhD. thesis, described the political history of the Tibetan region in Gansu (which was historically one part of Amdo) during the Qing dynasty as follows:

In the time of the Manchu dynasty, the entire region was administered by a viceroy of the Imperial Government. That portion of the country occupied by Chinese Moslems and some other, smaller, racial units was under traditional Chinese law. The Tibetans enjoyed almost complete independence and varying degrees of prestige. The Chone Prince ruled over the forty-eight "banners" of one group of Tibetans; other Tibetan rulers or chiefs held grants or commissions- some of them hundreds of years old- from the Imperial Government. At that time the ethnic frontier corresponded almost exactly with the administrative frontier.

20th century[link]

Following the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1912, Tibetan areas enjoyed a period of de-facto independence. Central Tibet was the domain of the Dalai Lama’s government, while areas of Eastern Tibet (Kham) and Northeastern Tibet (Amdo) were governed by regional kings, chiefs, and warlords. The Hui Muslims administered the agricultural areas in the north and east of the region. A number of powerful local rulers emerged in Amdo. Monasteries such as Labrang, Repkong and Taktsang Lhamo appointed headmen, gowa (go ba), to the tribes within their areas, these tribes being groups consisting of several thousand nomads. In other areas, such as Sokwo, Ngawa and Choni, secular leaders achieved the status of kings, similarly presiding over a group of tribes while certain tribes had their own hereditary gowa. The latter included the tribes beyond Labrang's influence in Machu.

The Muslim Warlord Ma Qi waged war in the name of the Republic of China against the Labrang monastery and Ngoloks. After ethnic rioting between Muslims and Tibetans emerged in 1918, Ma Qi defeated the Tibetans. He heavily taxed the town for 8 years. In 1925, a Tibetan rebellion broke out, with thousands of Tibetans driving out the Muslims. Ma Qi responded with 3,000 Chinese Muslim troops, who retook Labrang and machine gunned thousands of Tibetan monks as they tried to flee. Ma Qi besieged Labrang numerous times, the Tibetans and Mongols fought against his Muslim forces for control of Labrang, until Ma Qi gave it up in 1927. Ma Qi defeated the Tibetan forces with his Muslim troops. His forces were praised by foreigners who traveled through Qinghai for their fighting abilities. However, that was not the last Labrang saw of General Ma. Ma Qi launched a genocidal war against the Tibetan Ngoloks, in 1928, inflicting a defeat upon them and seizing the Labrang Buddhist monastery. The Muslim forces looted and ravaged the monastery again.

In 1928, the Ma Clique formed an alliance with the Kuomintang. In the 1930s, the Muslim warlord Ma Bufang, the son of Ma Qi, seized the northeast corner of Amdo in the name of Chiang Kai-shek's weak central government, effectively incorporating it into the Chinese province of Qinghai. From that point until 1949, much of the rest of Amdo was gradually assimilated into the Kuomintang Chinese provincial system, with the major portion of it becoming nominally part of Qinghai province and a smaller portion becoming part of Gansu province. Due to the lack of a Chinese administrative presence in the region, however, most of the communities of the rural areas of Amdo and Kham remained under their own local, Tibetan lay and monastic leaders into the 1950s. Tibetan region of Lho-Jang and Gyarong in Kham, and Ngapa (Chinese Aba) and Golok in Amdo, were still independent of Chinese hegemony, despite the creation on paper of Qinghai Province in 1927.

In May 1949, Ma Bufang was appointed Military Governor of Northwest China, making him the highest-ranked administrator of the Amdo region. However, by August 1949, the advancing People's Liberation Army had annihilated Ma's army, though residual forces took several years to defeat. By 1949, advance units of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (the PLA) had taken much of Amdo from the Nationalists.

In 1958, Chinese communists assumed official control of Tibetan regions in Kham and Amdo. Many of the nomads of Amdo revolted. Some areas were reported virtually empty of men: They either had been killed or imprisoned or had fled. The largest monastery in Amdo was forced to close. Of its three thousand monks, two thousand were arrested.

Monasteries[link]

Amdo was traditionally a place of great learning and scholarship and contains many great monasteries including Kumbum Jampa Ling (Chin. Ta'er Si) near Xining, Labrang Tashi Khyil south of Lanzhou, and the Kirti Monasteries of Ngaba and Taktsang Lhamo in Dzoge County (Ch: Ruanggui /Zoige Xian).

Traditional Pastoral Economy[link]

Amdo Tibetans traditional lifestyle and economy is centred on agriculture. Depending on the region and environment they live in they are either nomads (Drog pa) or farmers (Sheng pa).

Local government[link]

After 1949, the Chinese communists inherited and adopted the earlier Republican county system, and the basic arrangements of local government in Amdo have changed little up to the present day. With the advent of communist administrators in Amdo during the 1950s, a series of larger Tibetan autonomous prefectures were newly established on top of the existing county system in those places where Tibetans formed the majority of the population. This development was in line with the policy towards minority nationalities set down in the new constitution of the PRC.

Notes[link]

References[link]

Gruschke, Andreas. ''The Cultural Monuments of Tibet’s Outer Provinces: Amdo'', 2 Bände, White Lotus Press, Bangkok 2001 ISBN 974-7534-59-2

Huber, Toni. (Hg.) ''Amdo Tibetans in Transition: Society and Culture in the Post-Mao Era'' (Brill's Tibetan Studies Library, Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the IATS, 2000) ISBN 90-04-12596-5

Kolmas, Josef. ''Tibet and Imperial China: A Survey of Sino-Tibetan Relations up to the End of the Manchu Dynasty in 1912'' (1967) Occasional Paper 7. Canberra: The Australian National University, Centre of Oriental Studies.

Nietupski, Paul Kocot. ''Labrang: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery at the Crossroads of Four Civilizations'' ISBN 1-55939-090-5

External links[link]

The East Tibet Website

Amdo - delineation and history in brief (PDF file; 216 kb) (engl.)

The Huge Thangka of Amdo

The Skor lam and the Long March: Notes on the Transformation of Tibetan Ritual Territory in Southern A mdo in the Context of Chinese Developments

Category:Subdivisions of Tibet Category:Amdo

bo:ཨ་མདོ br:Amdo cs:Amdo da:Amdo de:Amdo et:Amdo es:Amdo eo:Amdo fr:Amdo ko:암도 지구 it:Amdo ka:ამდო lt:Amdo hu:Amdó nl:Amdo (provincie) ja:アムド no:Amdo pl:Amdo pt:Amdo ru:Амдо sv:Amdo tr:A-mdo uk:Амдо vi:Amdo zh:安多地区

Steve Chao is a Canadian journalist. He was the Far East and Asia Bureau Chief for CTV News. He is currently a reporter for Al Jazeera English. He is based in Beijing. Chao was raised in Toronto where he attended Dr Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute high school. He began his career in Ottawa, reporting for CJOH before moving to Vancouver to help CTV's Vancouver station. His work earned him The British Columbia Association of Broadcasters' award for Excellence in News Reporting. Chao is fluent in Mandarin.

External links [link]

CTV.ca biography of Steve Chao

Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Canadian television reporters and correspondents Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Al Jazeera people

#REDIRECTGansu

Name	Jet Li
Tradchinesename	李連杰
Simpchinesename	李连杰
Pinyinchinesename	Lǐ Liánjié
Jyutpingchinesename	Lei5 Lin4 Git6
Ancestry	Beijing, China
Birth date	April 26, 1963
Birth place	Beijing, China
Othername	Lee Yeung Chung /Li Yangzhong李陽中 (Traditional)李阳中 (Simplified)Lǐ Yángzhōng (Mandarin)Lei5 Joeng4 Zung1 (Cantonese) (Chinese producer pseudonym)
Occupation	ActorMartial artistFilm producer
Yearsactive	1982–present
Religion	Buddhist
Spouse	Huang Qiuyan (1987–1990)Nina Li Chi (1999–present)
Hongkongfilmwards	Best Actor2008 ''The Warlords''
Goldenhorseawards	Special Award1995
Hkfcsawards	Best Actor2006 ''Fearless''
Awards	Shanghai Film Critics Awards2008 Best Actor (''The Warlords'')
Website	www.jetli.com }}

Li Lianjie (; born April 26, 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Singaporean film actor, film producer, Chinese martial artist, wushu champion, and international star who was born in Beijing.

After three years of intensive training with Wu Bin, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. After retiring from Wushu at age 19, he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor making his debut with the film ''Shaolin Temple'' (1982). He went on to star in many critically acclaimed martial arts epic films, most notably the ''Once Upon A Time In China'' series, in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei-hung.

Li's first role in a Hollywood film was as a villain in ''Lethal Weapon 4'' (1998), but his first Hollywood film leading role was in ''Romeo Must Die'' (2000). He has gone on to star in many Hollywood action films, including ''Kiss of the Dragon'' and ''Unleashed''. He co-starred in ''The Forbidden Kingdom'' (2008) with Jackie Chan, ''The Expendables'' (2010) with Sylvester Stallone, and as the title character villain in ''The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor'' (2008) opposite Brendan Fraser. He also appeared in the Hong Kong film ''Ocean Heaven'' (2010), directed and written by Xue Xiaolu.

Early life and martial arts career[link]

Li Lianjie was born in Beijing, People's Republic of China, the youngest of two boys and two girls. His father died when he was two years old, leaving the family struggling.

Li was eight when his talent for wushu was noticed at a summer course at school, and he began his practice there. Li participated in the sport of wushu in the non-sparring event. He began his wushu on the Beijing Wushu Team, an athletic group organized to perform martial arts forms during the All China Games. He was coached by renowned wushu coaches Li Junfeng and Wu Bin, who made extra efforts to help the talented boy develop. Wu Bin even bought food for Li's family because they could not afford to buy meat, which was essential for the good physical condition of an athlete. As a member of the team, he received wushu training and went on to win fifteen gold medals and one silver medal in Chinese wushu championships, where, despite his young age, he competed against adults.}} According to Li, once, as a child, when the Chinese National Wushu Team went to perform for President Richard Nixon in the United States, he was asked by Nixon to be his personal bodyguard. Li replied, "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen!"

Li is a master of several styles of wushu, especially Changquan (Northern Longfist Style) and Fanziquan (Tumbling fist). He has also studied other arts including Baguazhang (Eight trigram palm), Taijiquan (Supreme ultimate fist), Xingyiquan (Shape intent fist), Zuiquan (Drunken fist), Yingzhaoquan (Eagle claw fist) and Tanglangquan (Praying mantis fist). He did not learn Nanquan (Southern fist), because his training focused only in the Northern Shaolin Styles. He has also studied some of wushu's main weapons, such Sanjiegun (Three section staff), Gun (staff), Dao (Broadsword), Jian (Straight sword) and many more.

It is Jet Li's authentic martial arts prowess that enabled his rise to domestic and international fame.

Acting career[link]

Chinese films[link]

Pic	JetLiHK.jpg
Picsize	150px
Piccap	Jet Li's hand print and autograph at the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong.
Showflag	stp
S	李连杰
T	李連杰
P	Lǐ Liánjié
W	Li Lien-chieh|jLei5 Lin4 Git6
Ci
T2	李陽中
S2	李阳中
P2	Lǐ Yángzhōng
Mi2
W2	Li Yang-chung
J2	Lei5 Joeng4 Zung1
Y2	Lee Yeung Chong
Ci2	}}

The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce. They likened his career to an aircraft, which likewise "takes-off" as quickly, so they placed the name Jet Li on the movie posters. Soon everybody was calling him by this new name, which was also based on the nickname, "Jet," given to him as a young student, due to his speed and grace when training with the Beijing Wushu team. He made his debut with the 1982 film ''Shaolin Temple''. Some of his more famous Chinese films include:

The ''Shaolin Temple'' series (1, 2 and 3), which are considered to be the films which sparked the rebirth of the real Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, China;

The ''Once Upon a Time in China'' series (Chinese title: ''Wong Fei Hung''), about the legendary Chinese folk hero Master Wong Fei Hung.

''Fist of Legend'' (Chinese title: ''Jing Wu Ying Xiong''), a remake of Bruce Lee's ''Fist of Fury.''

The ''Fong Sai Yuk'' films about another Chinese folk hero.

Li starred in the 1995 film ''High Risk'', where Jet Li plays a Captain who becomes disillusioned after his wife is murdered by crime lords. Along the way, he pairs up with a wacky sell-out actor, Frankie (played by Jacky Cheung), and proceeds to engage in a series of violent battles in a high-rise building. The setting is similar to that of ''Die Hard'' and both their Chinese film titles. This movie is notable in that director Wong Jing had such a terrible experience working with Jackie Chan in Jing's previous film ''City Hunter'' that he chose to make Cheung's character a biting satire of Chan. Jet Li would later publicly apologize to Chan for taking part in it.

Li has two wuxia feature films scheduled for release in 2011, ''The Sorcerer and the White Snake'' and ''Flying Swords of Dragon Gate'', the latter is helmed by Tsui Hark.

In order to promote tai chi, in 2012 Jet Li will star in a film titled ''Tai Chi'' and will co-produce the movie with Chen Kuo-Fu. Li will portray Tai Chi master Yang Lu-ch'an.

American films[link]

In 1998, he made his American film debut in ''Lethal Weapon 4'' which also marked the first time he had ever played a villain in a film. He agreed to do ''Lethal Weapon 4'' after the producer Joel Silver promised to give him the leading role in his next film, ''Romeo Must Die'' (2000) alongside late singer Aaliyah. The film became a box office hit.

Li turned down Chow Yun-fat's role in ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (2000) because he promised his wife that he would not make any films during her pregnancy. He also turned down the role of Seraph in ''The Matrix'' trilogy, based on his belief that the role was not one which required his skills and that the films were iconic and stunning enough without adding his name to the cast list.

In 2001, he appeared in two more Hollywood films: ''The One'' which was the first of his films with Jason Statham and ''Kiss of the Dragon'' opposite Bridget Fonda which did moderately well at the box office. In July 2001, Li agreed to produce and star in an action film with Jackie Chan which was to be released in 2002 or 2003, but no further news of their collaboration surfaced until 2006. In 2002, the period martial arts epic film ''Hero'' was released in the Chinese market. This film was both a commercial and critical success and became the highest-grossing motion picture in Chinese film history at the time. In 2003 he reunited with producer Joel Silver for the action thriller film ''Cradle 2 The Grave'' where he starred alongside rapper DMX and fellow martial artist Mark Dacascos. In 2004, Li lent his likeness, voice and provided motion capture work for the video game ''Jet Li: Rise to Honor''.

Li took on a more serious role in the 2005 film, ''Unleashed'' (a.k.a. ''Danny the Dog''), where he portrayed an adult with the mentality of a child who has been raised like an animal. Although his martial arts skills were utilized extensively, it was a somber film with more depth than had been previously seen in Li's films, and co-starred dramatic actors Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman.

In 2006, the martial arts film epic ''Fearless'', was released worldwide. Although he will continue to make martial arts films, ''Fearless'' is his last wushu epic. In ''Fearless'', he played Huo Yuanjia, the real-life founder of Chin Woo Athletic Association, who reportedly defeated foreign boxers and Japanese martial artists in publicized events at a time when China's power was seen as eroding. Together with the film ''Fist of Legend'', Li has portrayed both Chen Jun, the student and avenger of Huo Yuanjia (aka Fok Yun Gap), as well as Huo Yuanjia himself. ''Fearless'' was released on January 26, 2006 in Hong Kong, followed by a September 22, 2006 release in the United States where it reached second place in its first weekend.

Li has stated in an interview with the ''Shenzhen Daily'' newspaper that this will be his last martial arts epic, which is also stated in the film's television promotions. However, he plans to continue his film career in other genres. Specifically, he plans to continue acting in action and martial arts films; epic films deal more with religious and philosophical issues.

Li's 2007 Hollywood film, ''War'', was released in August of that year, and re-teamed him with actor Jason Statham, who previously starred with him in ''The One'', and action choreographer Corey Yuen. ''War'' raked in a disappointing $23 million at the box office, becoming one of Li's lowest grossers in America; however, it was a hit on video, accumulating nearly $52 million in rental revenue, more than doubling its box office take. With the exception of ''Romeo Must Die'' and the worldwide release of ''Hero'', most of Li's American films have been only modest hits like ''Kiss Of The Dragon'', ''The One'', ''Unleashed'', ''Cradle 2 the Grave'', and the worldwide release of ''Fearless''. }} In late 2007, Li returned again to China to participate in the China/Hong Kong co-production of the period war film ''The Warlords'' with Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. This film with its focus on dramatics rather than martial arts netted Li the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor.

Li and fellow martial arts veteran Jackie Chan finally appeared together onscreen for the first time in ''The Forbidden Kingdom'', which began filming in May 2007 and was released to critical and commercial success on April 18, 2008. The film was based on the legend of the Monkey King from the Chinese folk novel ''Journey to the West''. Li also starred as the lead villain in the fantasy action film ''The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' with actors Brendan Fraser, Isabella Leong and Michelle Yeoh.

After a one-year hiatus from filmmaking, Jet Li returned to acting in 2009, portraying a mercenary in the film ''The Expendables'', teaming up with action stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture. It was the third time he had teamed up with Statham.

Personal life[link]

Li is a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. His master is Lho Kunsang of the Drikung Kagyu lineage of the Kagyu school.

In 1987, Li married Beijing Wushu Team member and ''Kids from Shaolin'' co-star Huang Qiuyan, with whom he has two daughters, Si and Taimi. They divorced in 1990. Since 1999, he has been married to Nina Li Chi (born Li Zhi), a Shanghai-born, Hong Kong-based actress. He has two daughters with her as well, Jane (born 2000) and Jada (born 2002).

Li was in the Maldives when a tsunami hit during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Although it was widely reported at the time that he had died during the disaster, he only suffered a minor foot injury, caused by a piece of floating furniture, while he was guiding his 4-year-old daughter Jane and the nanny holding his 1-year-old daughter Jada to safety. The four of them were by the pool and slightly above the beach when the wave came ashore.

In 2009, Li, who previously had American citizenship, after years working in the United States, was thought to have renounced his American citizenship and taken up Singaporean citizenship, although no official confirmation has been provided by Singapore authorities. On July 28, 2009, the chairman of One Foundation (the Charity fund of Jet Li) announced that Jet Li had indeed become a Singaporean citizen. He was said to have chosen Singapore for its education system for his two daughters.

In 2009, Li launched his own fitness program that he named "Wuji". The programme consists of elements of martial arts, yoga and pilates; Adidas launched a special clothing line for it that bears the initials of "JL".

In his free time he likes to play badminton, table tennis, volleyball, ride his bicycle, read and meditate. He collects rare Tibetan beads. He says he is never bored in his free time.

Views on life and martial arts[link]

}}

Li as a Buddhist believes that the difficulties of everyday life can be overcome with the help of religious philosophies. He thinks that fame is not something he can control; therefore, he does not care about it.

According to Li, everything he has ever wanted to tell the world can be found in three of his films: the message of ''Hero'' is that the suffering of one person can never be as significant as the suffering of a nation; ''Unleashed'' shows that violence is never a solution and ''Fearless'' tells that the biggest enemy of a person is himself. Li thinks that the greatest weapon is a smile and the largest power is love.

About Wushu, Li said that he believes the essence of martial arts is not power or speed but inner harmony and considers it a sad development that today's Wushu championships place greater emphasis on form than on the essence of being a martial artist. He believes Wushu now lacks individuality and competitors move like machines, whereas according to his views Wushu should not be considered a race where the fastest athlete wins. He would like to see Wushu as a form of art, where artists have a distinctive style. Li blames the new competition rules that, according to him, place limitations on martial artists.

Li believes that Wushu is not primarily for self-defense and instead of trying to play the hero people should think about peaceful resolutions of conflicts and call the police if necessary: "A gun outdoes years of martial arts training in a split second. Like I've said many times before, it is important to differentiate between movies and reality. The hero in movies may be able to knock the gun off his opponent and save the day, but in real life – probably that is not the case." He has also stated that he has never had to use his martial arts skills in a real life fight and he does not wish to, either.

Philanthropy[link]

Li has been a "philanthropic ambassador" of the Red Cross Society of China since January 2006. He contributed 500,000 yuan (US$62,500) of box office revenues from his film ''Fearless'' to the Red Cross' psychological sunshine project, which promotes mental health.

In April 2007, touched by his life-shaking experience in the Maldives when he was close to dying during the 2004 tsunami, Li formed his own non-profit foundation called The One Foundation. The One Foundation supports international disaster relief efforts in conjunction with the Red Cross as well as other efforts, including mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Since the starting of the foundation, Li has been involved with recovery efforts in seven disasters, including the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan. Wu Jing was a One Foundation volunteer and helped in the effort.

Li discussed his commitment to philanthropy in an interview with the December 2009 issue of Alliance magazine, stating that "grassroots non-government organizations can help the government in its blind spots. Government relief is not always detail-oriented. Grassroots NGOs can’t be as big as a government effort, but they need to be flexible and independent."

In September 2010, Jet Li was appointed by the International Red Cross as the first Good Will Ambassador. He posted online saying "Today I signed a deal with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – IFRC - to become the FIRST goodwill ambassador in the history of this humanitarian organization. I am very honored! At the same time, I will not pause to celebrate, but instead keep pushing forward.. and do my best to help the world! Thank you all once again for your support and belief in me!"

It was also announced that Jet Li would be meeting Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to talk about charity work. "Three days ago, I received an email from Gates, hoping I could make time because he and Buffett hoped I could go for a 30-minute chat before the dinner about the future we face as human beings, so I will go," Li said.

Filmography[link]

Considering US box office statistics, the most successful Jet Li film as of August 2010 is ''Lethal Weapon 4'', which grossed over 130 million dollars domestically, while the second is ''The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' with over 102 million dollars. ''Hero'' is the third most successful foreign language film in the US, and one of the best critically acclaimed Li movies. ''Fearless'' is the sixth most successful foreign language film of all time in the US. From a critical point of view, the best acclaimed Li movie is ''Fist of Legend'' (Rotten Tomatoes: 100%) and the worst is ''War'' (Rotten Tomatoes: 12%).

See also[link]

Cinema of China;

Cinema of Hong Kong.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Ducker, Chris, and Stuart Cutler. ''The HKS Guide to Jet Li''. London: Hong Kong Superstars, 2000.

Marx, Christy. ''Jet Li''. Martial Arts Masters. Rosen Publishing Group, 2002. ISBN 0823935191.

Parish, James Robert. ''Jet Li: A Biography''. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2002. ISBN 1560253762.

Farquhar, M.(2010) ‘Jet Li: "Wushu Master" in Sport and Film’ in Jeffreys, Elaine. & Edwards, Louise (eds.), Celebrity in China, Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong pp. 103–124. ISBN 9622090885

External links[link]

Jet Li's Foundation: The One Foundation Project

Jet Li Biography (HKCinema)

Jet Li Biography (HKFilm)

Jet Li discusses The One Foundation

Interview At FarEastFilms.com

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Best Actor HKFA Category:Chinese actors Category:Chinese wushu practitioners Category:Chinese martial artists Category:Hong Kong film actors Category:Hong Kong Buddhists Category:Hong Kong film producers Category:Naturalised citizens of Singapore Category:Sportspeople from Beijing Category:People's Republic of China Buddhists Category:People who lost United States citizenship Category:Singaporean Buddhists Category:Tibetan Buddhists from Singapore Category:Chinese emigrants to Singapore

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