Chapter 23 Chapter 21 Artistic Life Explains the Path of Life from the Beginning

Be a guest of "Art Life", talk about my process from an immature boy to a mature man, and the life insights brought to me by martial arts, movies and emotions.In Jet Li's heart, life, love, friends and family are the coolest things. He officially became a Buddhist in 1998 and has been committed to charity. He made movies and set up a fund with only one purpose, to help those in need and to promote the "fraternity" spirit of Buddhism. On the afternoon of November 26, 2005, with a deep understanding of martial arts and the meaning of life, international movie star Jet Li was a guest on CCTV's "Art Life" to talk about his life insights for audience friends.Jet Li's family members, mentors and friends also came to the scene, reminiscing about Jet Li's childhood and the interesting things in his early filming.

When I think of Jet Li, I have to think of the martial arts that are closely related to his growth process. He became famous by martial arts and made his film career flourish by relying on martial arts. People never know that behind Jet Li's success, there are many unknown hardships and efforts. . At the age of 19, Jet Li became popular with a piece of "Shaolin Temple" and became a public figure across the country overnight. But what appeared in Jet Li's mind at this time was not his own future, but the achievement of his son. The oath when I was young--to bear the burden of the family, Jet Li said: "My father passed away when I was very young, and it was not easy for my mother to support our family alone, so I vowed to relieve my mother since I was a child." Burden, in fact, there is one thing behind it that made me understand this. I remember that there were many children riding bicycles, so I really wanted to have one, and then I ran home. I knew at the time that if I told my mother directly that I would definitely not buy it, and then I went to my father’s photo and cried for a bicycle. When my mother saw it, she borrowed 10 yuan to buy a car for me without saying a word. Later, my sister told me Let’s say, our family only has 41 yuan a month, and then I realized that I can’t be so self-willed, and I swore in front of my father’s photo that I would never give my mother a penny in my life.” This child’s saying is not a child’s play, Jet Li has stopped spending money from his family since he was 6 years old, and he can still give his family back the 5 yuan he earned in martial arts school every month.

Speaking of his connection with martial arts, the 42-year-old Jet Li still uses the term "nightmare" to describe the "inhuman" training method in the sports school when he was a child. He even used his own Xiao Congming once worked as a "deserter", "I started making movies at that time, and I often had nightmares. I dreamed that I went back to the martial arts school. I was very scared at the time, because it was really hard, and I still have a kind of trembling when I recall it. Feeling." However, the coach's sentence "Son, you will succeed in whatever you do, but remember to be a hero and not a bear", so that the stronger Jet Li returned to the battlefield of martial arts, and he fought for decades.In the program, Jet Li's master, Wu Bin, the chief "coach" of the Beijing Martial Arts Team, also came to the recording site of the program in person.Wu Bin recalled Jet Li at that time. He said that from the very beginning, he felt that he was a very smart kid who would succeed in everything. Regarding Jet Li's later success, his master calmly brought a lot of convenience to him in promoting martial arts.

As a wise man in everyone's eyes, in fact, the real Jet Li also had the confusion and confusion that ordinary people have. The smart and hard-working Jet Li quickly became a leader in the martial arts world. In the mid-to-late 1970s, at a young age, he almost won medals in all competitions at home and abroad, and visited various places on behalf of China many times.Such achievements and experiences made Jet Li more mature and open than others in his youth. He began to learn to think independently. Such independence and thinking gave him a unique vision and actions. In 1974, 11-year-old Jet Li returned to Hong Kong from the United States, and saw his first martial arts movie—Bruce Lee's "Fist of Fury". Six years later, his debut work "Shaolin Temple" became popular all over the country. The huge success was beyond Jet Li's expectation, and it brought the extraordinaryness of this "martial arts prodigy" to an extreme.

However, there is always a period of illusory confusion behind the extreme. During the few years of his life, Jet Li tried to break through, gave up, and even touched death. At the age of 24, he seems to have experienced all the success and pain that ordinary people can't match.Getting lost became the most difficult shadow for him to step out of during that time.However, in the dark, wisdom and pursuit still admired this young man, and eventually led him to slaughter the embarrassment and confusion. Soon, Lian Jie left the Wushu team, and came to Shenzhen alone to explore the world before going to Hong Kong.Jet Li's original idea when he came to Shenzhen was to open a company serving martial arts athletes, including medical care, insurance, and filming channels, because Jet Li deeply knew that he had been exploited and squeezed, but he came from the Sports Bureau, Health Bureau, Taxation Bureau, and the care of this department and that department, the final result is that Lian Jie gave up the idea of ​​starting his own business in mainland China.

In 1987, the 24-year-old Jet Li came to the United States alone and started the second creative peak of his career.Of course, Lian Jie, who went to the United States, gained absolute freedom. As a person with absolute market development potential, his every move has received the attention of Hong Kong filmmakers. It is the production team in Hong Kong. The great Hong Kong director Luo Wei sneaked into Jet Lian's contract and filmed a not-so-good work "The End of the Dragon". Lian Jie at the scene described the film in such words, "Both are very contradictory and struggling. The actors met together, and Luo Wei (a well-known director in Hong Kong in the early days, whose style was not recognized by the market in the later period), who was also suffering, produced works that were not very contradictory."After bidding farewell to "The End of the Dragon", Jet's career has fallen into an unprecedented crisis. Where should he stay has become the primary problem that troubles him.

Struggling is painful, and when the pain is extreme, it is thought that the turning point is coming.The turning point in Jet Li's life was when he met Tsui Hark and Jiahe. At that time, Golden Harvest Film Company contacted Jet Li: "The conditions are up to you, agree to come to my place to make a movie." This is what the boss of Golden Harvest gave him. "Two conditions, I promise you, one, director Tsui Hark. Two, four films." Before, director Tsui Hark belonged to New Art City Film Company, and was a competitor with Jiahe.But Jiahe didn't want to miss the talent of Jet Li, so after hard work, he finally persuaded Tsui Hark, the leading figure in the Hong Kong film industry at that time, to come to him.

The first film "Dragon Walking World" is Tsui Hark's first work on a journey to the west. The grasp of fashion and the exploration of realistic style, this film did not get the expected results, Tsui Hark and Jet Li decided to return to Hong Kong to start again . "Director Xu is brilliant." Jet Li commented on Tsui Hark. "He never told me how to perform. He took me to the zoo to watch animals fight, see animals hunt, watch wild animals fight, and let me understand the spirit, energy, and spirit of animals before fighting." In the few years after returning to Hong Kong, the cooperation between Tsui Hark and Lian Jie can undoubtedly be recorded in the annals of history. The unprecedented success of "Swordsman: The Undefeated East" and "Once Upon a Time in the East" made Tsui Hark and Jet Li brilliant.The talents of the two lonely masters caused a big wave of Hong Kong movies in the 1990s in a corner of the world.Jet Li, who has achieved unprecedented success, has become a hot figure in the Hong Kong film industry. In order to gain more room for development, Jet Li resolutely left Golden Harvest and founded his own production company. ", "Fang Shiyu Series", "Tai Chi Zhang Sanfeng", "Die Hard", "Adventure King", "Black Man", "Letter to Dad", "Hong Xiguan" and other blockbuster action movies.

This is Jet Li's golden age in Hong Kong.Lian Jie was less than thirty at this time. In the program, Director Tsui Hark connected to "Art Life" live, and together with Jet Li recalled various past events in their cooperation. In order to further seek a breakthrough in his career, Jet Li resolutely stepped into Hollywood.Jet Li's first film in Hollywood was "Sky Cannon 4", in which he played a killer from Hong Kong, with only a few lines and simple and practical actions, Jet Li hurriedly completed his first work in Hollywood .Jet Li said that the first time the producer called him and told him to play a villain with a salary of 1 million US dollars.After thinking about it, Jet Li called the film studio and said it was acceptable, but the film studio told him that the current film salary is 750,000 US dollars to sign the contract.Seeing her husband's situation, Li Zhi insisted on returning to Hong Kong, but Jet Li told his wife that even if there was no pay this time, he would not give up this opportunity, so when Jet Li called the film again, the film had already lowered the salary to 500,000. Finally, Jet Li signed the "Lethal Weapon 4" crew.

After that, Jet Li successively filmed "Fatal Romeo", "The One" and "Kiss of the Dragon", and "Kiss of the Dragon" completely surpassed the previous three films. Hollywood respect. Hollywood's adventures made Jet Li once again fall into the situation of "lonely" master.For his brand-new performance, some people accept it, some people despise it, but persistently, he still maintains the calmness and courage of a master in the face of such mixed public opinion.He hopes to inherit the essence of martial arts through his performance, so that more people can know and understand martial arts.He also hopes that when people come into contact with foreign friends again after many years, they will not only know the brilliance and beauty of Chinese Kung Fu, but also taste some of the Chinese culture and inner meaning that was born in it.

At this time, Jet Li no longer needed to worry about remuneration and film contracts. It was from this time that he began to think about a question: what is the essence of martial arts. Jet Li's thought was recognized by Jet Li, but Zhang Yimou had no choice but to turn it into a work known as a visual feast, but the record box office did not bring Jet Li any breakthrough. The subsequent "Cradle of Death" still repeated the routine of "Romeo". The success at the box office and the bombardment by the media made Jet Li uncertain. Of course, this also gave Jet Li an opportunity to think again, to rethink the true connotation of the martial arts he is obsessed with. Kung Fu movies are a form, and through this form, it is necessary to express a kind of thought, rather than simply repeating martial arts movements. At the same time, Jet Li, who experienced the tsunami and earthquake in Southeast Asia, also began to rethink the definition of life. In his own words, when the sea water is about to grind him, let him understand that life is so fragile, even you can't control your life direction.The problems that bothered me once seemed so pale and humble at this moment.On the night tied up in the hotel, Jet Li made the second change in his life. At this time, Jet Li took over the filming of his first transformation work "Danny the Wolf Dog" producer Lu Besson. The point of view expressed in the film is exactly what Jet Li thinks, "Great kung fu can make your force stronger, destroy your enemies through killing, and bring you money, but in the end Danny is really influenced by love and love." "Education" Although this movie did not have a big breakthrough at the box office and was not unanimously recognized by the western media, it created another world for Jet Li. That is why Jet Li decided to shoot the last martial arts movie in his life. The movie "Fearless", through the role of a national hero like Huo Yuanjia, interprets his understanding of martial arts and his perception of life for so many years.Although Jet Li later affirmed that he will take action movies in the future, "Fearless" is the end of his personal narration of martial arts movies. Jet Li's new film "Fearless" will be his last martial arts film, which has attracted the attention of a wide audience.In "Art Life", Jet Li once again explained his purpose and significance of making this film. All of Jet Li’s life perceptions are not groundless. In the past year, Jet Li faced death three times. He found that life is the most precious. The earthquake in South Asia was all experienced by me in one year. To be honest, when facing death, I only thought of keeping my family safe. This may be everyone’s instinct of love, but after returning to calmness, I I would think that those fame, fortune, and power cannot be taken away. For everyone, they just play a role in safekeeping, just like the line I added in the movie "Fearless" 'I have no way to choose The beginning of life, but I have the courage to go to the end of my life.' I hope to use my remaining time to do some charity and help poor people and regions." In "Art Life", Jet Li revealed for the first time his emotional journey towards the two women in his life, and his open mind is enough to confess to the world. For the love of society, Jet Li has achieved the extreme, and for his other half, Jet Li is even more willing to give his life, and his wife Li Zhi is still very affectionate, just like a couple in love, "This is what we used to have. A promise, if we still have that passion ten years later, we will get married and have children." This agreement also caused Jet Li to lose the opportunity to film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", but Jet Li did not regret it, because he felt that he I found a good wife who can be with me for life. For the love of his wife Li Zhi, Jet Li is considered to be fully devoted, but for the relationship with his ex-wife, Jet Li has been put on the hat of "betrayal", so why did this relationship that has not been revealed end? What about? "Because I became famous too early, and I didn't know what feelings were when I was very young. I knew that this girl was beautiful and that girl was good to me. It was as simple as that. The first wife was in school. She was two years older than me. I often take care of me, and I don’t know what love is, it’s a kind of liking for each other. This relationship was vague until I started filming "Shaolin Temple", and I became famous and popular. I thought that if we The two broke up, are you sorry? I was also afraid that people would have misunderstood me, so I found the director of "Shaolin Temple" again, filmed the second part, and introduced her as the heroine, so I felt at ease. Because I think I am right for her. I succeeded, and I hope you succeed too! It’s not that I became popular and dumped you, but you also succeeded. After that, we both often filmed outside, and she I also know that we are going to break up, but she still treats me very well and takes care of me, so this relationship has been going on like this." Jet Li said frankly that his ex-wife loves him 80% to 90%, but his love for her is only 20%, although this relationship was not so perfect, it finally had results. On June 3, 1997, the two became husband and wife, and this marriage lasted only three years. "Actually, everyone knew this feeling before this, so we were still very good friends until the day of the divorce. When we broke up, she said that she was unable to take care of the two children, and she hoped to put all the property in the United States. Give it to her, because she has no ability to live. In fact, this is what I want to say. Except for the child, I will take care of it, and I will give you everything else, because I still felt a little guilty at the time. In fact, many people later said that Jet Li abandoned his wife and son. This is really unfair. , These two children have always been taken care of by me and my brothers and sisters, but I don’t want to explain those rumors, I think it’s really unnecessary.” Summing up these two relationships, Jet Li said that the failure of the former lies in his immaturity in love, "For the previous relationship, I didn't have the feeling of giving for love, and I still don't understand what love is. After meeting Li Zhi, I found that the love for her can make me give up all my fame, fortune, status, and even my life, and I have a feeling of going all out, and I think this is the real love." In the nearly four-hour talk in "Life in Art", Jet Li narrated his life journey, psychological journey, and his life realm in his forties, which made the audience deeply moved. In 1998, Jet Li officially became a Buddhist. His outlook on the world and life has undergone tremendous changes. "Love" and "giving" have become the main body of his life. He began to devote himself to various charitable causes.In his own words: "I have already left that 'small self', I think that I should be in this position today, and slowly give back to everyone, to the whole world, the love that the whole world gave me. , and that’s what I’m going to do now and for a long time to come.” Jet Li has long stated that "Fearless" is his final work in martial arts films, "Until Huo Yuanjia, I have played almost all of the most famous martial artists in Chinese history, so I let go of a burden."He will devote more energy to public welfare and charity in the future. Looking back on the past, Jet Li felt satisfied, "Every stage of life has different pursuits. At my age, I should go with the situation and face the future life and work with a natural attitude." Jet Li's eyes were clear when he said these words.He has been in the world for many years, but he is still the traditional oriental man, honoring his widowed mother until the end of his life, respecting and caring for his wife, taking care of his four older brothers and sisters, and responsibly treating his two daughters born to his ex-wife and his daughter born to his current wife two daughters. If you have watched "Fearless", you will never forget the last shot of the film for a long time: on a grass covered with moonlight, Fearless is concentrating on punching a set of punches, combining strength and softness, which is both powerful and full of beauty , It can be said that it is as graceful as a frightened bird, as if a dragon is swimming in a dragon; as chic as flowing clouds and flowing water, and as frustrated as a sudden rain and strong wind.The night breeze blew his white clothes, and everything seemed like a dream. This is the externalization and extension of Jet Li's martial arts realm and even his life realm.