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The Peking Opera Schools were boarding schools located throughout Mainland China
Mainland China

Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China , excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which run on One Country, Two Systems....
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
, Macau
Macau

The Macau Special Administrative Region, , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong....
 and Taiwan
Taiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands...
. The most well known of these schools are those that were based in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 60s, as many of the attending students subsequently embarked on successful careers in the Hong Kong film industry
Cinema of Hong Kong

The Movie theater of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language film, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan....
.

Attending students learned Peking opera
Beijing opera

Beijing opera or Peking opera is a form of Chinese opera which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century....
, martial arts
Martial arts

Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. While they may be studied for various reasons, martial arts share a single objective: to physically defeat other persons and to defend oneself or others from physical threat....
, acrobatics
Acrobatics

Acrobatics is one of the performing arts, and is also practiced as a sport. Acrobatics involves difficult feats of balance, agility and motor coordination....
 and tumbling
Floor (gymnastics)

In gymnastics, the floor refers to a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts....
 and performed these skills for audiences. The schools produced a generation of stunt performer
Stunt performer

A stunt performer is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be....
s, action coreographers
Stage combat

Stage combat is a specialized technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions....
, actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
s and film director
Film director

A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
s including some of the most famous stars of Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema

Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Cinema of Hong Kong's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Cinema of the United States, with Chinese culture storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural appeal....
.






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The Peking Opera Schools were boarding schools located throughout Mainland China
Mainland China

Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China , excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which run on One Country, Two Systems....
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
, Macau
Macau

The Macau Special Administrative Region, , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong....
 and Taiwan
Taiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands...
. The most well known of these schools are those that were based in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 60s, as many of the attending students subsequently embarked on successful careers in the Hong Kong film industry
Cinema of Hong Kong

The Movie theater of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language film, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan....
.

Attending students learned Peking opera
Beijing opera

Beijing opera or Peking opera is a form of Chinese opera which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century....
, martial arts
Martial arts

Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. While they may be studied for various reasons, martial arts share a single objective: to physically defeat other persons and to defend oneself or others from physical threat....
, acrobatics
Acrobatics

Acrobatics is one of the performing arts, and is also practiced as a sport. Acrobatics involves difficult feats of balance, agility and motor coordination....
 and tumbling
Floor (gymnastics)

In gymnastics, the floor refers to a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts....
 and performed these skills for audiences. The schools produced a generation of stunt performer
Stunt performer

A stunt performer is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be....
s, action coreographers
Stage combat

Stage combat is a specialized technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions....
, actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
s and film director
Film director

A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
s including some of the most famous stars of Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema

Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Cinema of Hong Kong's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Cinema of the United States, with Chinese culture storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural appeal....
. Public interest in Peking Opera waned in the late 1960s and the schools were closed.

Historically, pupils had been handpicked at a young age by a teacher (or sifu
Sifu

Sifu is the identical pronunciation of two Chinese language terms for a master. The character ? means ?teacher?. The meaning of ? is ?tutor?, and of ?, ?father?....
) and trained for a period of seven to ten years, on contract from their parents. As the teacher provided food and accommodation for the pupils during this period, they accrued a debt to the teacher that was later repaid through performance earnings. After 1911, training took place in more formally organised schools. Typically, students at these schools rose at five o'clock in the morning for exercises. The daytime would be spent learning the skills of acting and combat, and the senior students would perform in outside theatres in the evenings. If they made any mistakes during such performances, it was not uncommon for the entire group to be beaten with bamboo canes. Schools with less harsh training methods began to appear in 1930, but all schools were closed down in 1931 after the Japanese invasion. The modern schools, such as the China Drama Academy and the Spring and Autumn Drama School opened after the war, in around 1952.

The China Drama Academy

The China Drama Academy (??????, sometimes noted as the China Drama and Opera Academy) is famous for being the childhood home of such famous actors as Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan, Silver Bauhinia Star, Member of the Order of the British Empire is an actor, Stage combat, film director, film producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer from Hong Kong....
 (Yuen Lo), Sammo Hung
Sammo Hung

Sammo Hung is a Chinese people actor, Film producer and film director from Hong Kong, known for his work in many Chinese martial arts Martial arts film and Hong Kong action cinema....
 (Yuen Lung), Yuen Biao
Yuen Biao

Yuen Biao is an actor from Nanjing, China. He specialises in martial arts and has worked on over 80 films as actor, stuntman and stage combat. Along with Peking Opera School "brothers" at the China Drama Academy, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan, he was one of the Seven Little Fortunes....
, Yuen Qiu
Yuen Qiu

Yuen Qiu is an actress and martial artist. She is an expert of both Chinese martial arts and Beijing opera skills, and was apprenticed under the same master as Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung at China Drama Academy....
 and Corey Yuen
Corey Yuen

Corey Yuen Kwai is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and film producer. He is one of the Seven Little Fortunes....
 (Yuen Kwai). The Peking Opera school was run from a small theatre in the Lai Chi Kok
Lai Chi Kok

Lai Chi Kok is an area in New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It locates east of Kwai Chung and west of Cheung Sha Wan. Mei Foo Sun Chuen is the largest housing estate in the area....
 amusement park
Amusement park

Amusement park is the generic term for a collection of Amusement ride and other entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group of people....
, Kowloon
Kowloon

Kowloon refers to an urban area in Hong Kong made up of Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon, bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutters Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south....
 by Master Yu Jim Yuen
Yu Jim Yuen

Yu Jim Yuen was the master of the China Drama Academy, one of the main Peking Opera Schools in Hong Kong from which Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Yuen Qiu, Yuen Wah, and Corey Yuen received their training....
, a northern kung fu practitioner and a very stern teacher. Children were usually enrolled for a period of 10 years, whilst Yu taught them the acrobatic and acting skills that would later introduce many of them into the world of Chinese Theatre and movies.

Whilst attending the opera school under the tutelage of Yu Jim Yuen, the students all adopted their sifu's given name "Yuen" as their family name. The most capable children would become members of the performance troupe, the "Seven Little Fortunes
Seven Little Fortunes

The Seven Little Fortunes , sometimes known as The Lucky Seven, were a group of top martial arts students of the China Drama Academy Peking Opera School in Hong Kong in the 1960s....
". Though there were more than seven pupils in the troupe at any one time, only seven would appear in each performance. Jackie Chan was one of the Seven Little Fortunes and when asked about his most famous pupil, Master Yu Jim Yuen said that Jackie was "not one of the best, but the naughtiest, yes."

Life in the Opera School

Practice at the Peking Opera School was very strict. The students had been signed into contracts that would allow the instructors to punish them up until death. Training would take place up to 18 hours a day and included stretching, weapons training, acrobatics
Acrobatics

Acrobatics is one of the performing arts, and is also practiced as a sport. Acrobatics involves difficult feats of balance, agility and motor coordination....
, martial arts and acting
Acting

Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a Fictional character and, usually, Speech communication or singing the written text or Play ....
. In an interview in 2008, Jackie Chan described the experience:
"It was really arduous, we hardly had enough to eat, enough clothes to keep warm, training was extremely tiring, and Master could cane us anytime!"
Hung retorted:
"...at that time, majority of the people in Hong Kong were poor. It was equally gruelling whichever profession you were in. We were considered fortunate. Our Master was an exceptional person, and he adopted Jackie Chan as his son, and doted on him the most. [..] Our Master took in many disciples, but he didn't take a single cent from us, and even slept on the floor together with us."
In Chan's biography, he elaborates on how students would be made to adopt the horse stance
Horse stance

Horse stance, also called "mab?" in Chinese language, in Japanese language, and "kuda kuda" in Indonesian language, is an important posture in martial arts and takes its name from the position assumed when horse riding a horse....
 and other balancing poses, for long periods of time. If one student fell, they would be beaten and all students would be made to restart the exercise.

Whilst there, Chan earned the nickname "Double Boy" from the other students, due to the fact that he would often have to endure twice the training as the other students, but had twice the spirit. According to his book, "I Am Jackie Chan", one of the reasons Chan excelled was because he had been "adopted" by Yu, at the request of his parents. This meant any failure would have been a particular embarrassment, so he was made to practice for longer and often when others made mistakes, Chan was punished twice as hard as the perpetrator.

Students of the China Drama Academy

Common Name Opera School Name Birth Name Alternates
Sammo Hung
Sammo Hung

Sammo Hung is a Chinese people actor, Film producer and film director from Hong Kong, known for his work in many Chinese martial arts Martial arts film and Hong Kong action cinema....
 		 Yuen Lung
Yuen Chu 		Hung Kam-Bo
Hong Gam-Bou
 
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan, Silver Bauhinia Star, Member of the Order of the British Empire is an actor, Stage combat, film director, film producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer from Hong Kong....
 		 Yuen Lou
Yuen Lo 		Chan Kong Sang Cheng Long
Yuen Biao
Yuen Biao

Yuen Biao is an actor from Nanjing, China. He specialises in martial arts and has worked on over 80 films as actor, stuntman and stage combat. Along with Peking Opera School "brothers" at the China Drama Academy, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan, he was one of the Seven Little Fortunes....
 		 Yuen Biao Hsia Ling-Jun Bill Yuen
Jimmy Yuen
Corey Yuen
Corey Yuen

Corey Yuen Kwai is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and film producer. He is one of the Seven Little Fortunes....
 		 Yuen Kwai
Yuen Fui 		Ying Gang-Ming Don Yuen
Yuen Wah
Yuen Wah

Yuen Wah is a Hong Kong based Chinese people Hong Kong action cinema actor, stage combat and stunt double who has appeared in over 160 films since his first, Fist of Fury and over 20 television series....
 		 Yuen Wah Yung Chi
Yung Zhi 		 
Yuen Tak Yuen Tak
Yuen Tai 		Hung Tak Cheung Richard Hung
Chiang Lin
Yuen Mo Yuen Mo
Yuen Miu
Yuen Wu 		Chow Yuen Miu
Yuen Qiu
Yuen Qiu

Yuen Qiu is an actress and martial artist. She is an expert of both Chinese martial arts and Beijing opera skills, and was apprenticed under the same master as Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung at China Drama Academy....
 		 Yuen Qiu Cheung Cheun-Nam Cheung Yuen Chau
Lam Sau
Kan Chia-Fong
Gam Ga-Fung
Phoenix Kim
Ng Ming Tsui Yuen Choi
Yuen Ting 		Ng Ming Tsui
Ng Ming Choi
Wu Ming-Tsai 		 
Yuen Bo Yuen Bo
Yuen Bao 		 
Meng Yuen Man Yuen Man
Yuen Mun 		Mang Leung
Yuen Fai Yuen Fai Yuen Gam Fai
Wan Yuen Fai
Yuen Bun Yuen Bun
Yuen Bing 		Tiu Chow-Kwan
To Chau Kwan 		 
Ng Yuen Jun Yuen Chun
Patrick Wu
Wu Yuen Chun
Yuen Chu Yuen Chu
Yuen Guk


The Spring and Autumn Drama School

The Spring and Autumn Drama School was another opera school in Hong Kong, and was to some extent the China Drama Academy's "rival". It was run by Madame Fan Fok-Fa (???, aka Fen Juhua), who had been China's first female martial arts actress. The school also produced a number of stunt performers and actors, most notably Lam Ching Ying
Lam Ching Ying

Lam Ching-ying was a Chinese actor, action director and film director. A graceful martial artist and one of the most physically-talented bodies to have graced the screens....
 and Josephine Siao
Josephine Siao

Josephine Siao Fong-Fong MBE is a Hong Kong movie star who became popular as a child and continued her success as a mature actress, winning numerous awards including best actress at the 1995 Berlin Film Festival....
. Mars went on to become a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team
Jackie Chan Stunt Team

The Jackie Chan Stunt Team , also known as Jackie Chan's Stuntmen Association is a group of stunt double and martial arts who work alongside Jackie Chan....
 (Sing Ga Ban) and several others became members of Hung Ga Ban, Sammo Hung's stunt team.

Students of the Spring and Autumn Drama School

Common Name Birth Name Alternates
Lam Ching Ying
Lam Ching Ying

Lam Ching-ying was a Chinese actor, action director and film director. A graceful martial artist and one of the most physically-talented bodies to have graced the screens....
 		Lam Gun-bo Park Chung Ying
Chin Kar Lok Chin Kar Lok  
Chan Lung Chan Lung Peter Chan
Chung Fat Chung Fat
Chung Fa 		 
Meng Hoi Meng Hoi
Mang Hoi 		Randy Mang
Harrison Mang
Mars Cheung Wing Fat
 Fu Sing
Feng Shing
Fung Hak-on Fung Hak-on
Fung Hark-on 		Fung Yuen
Lee Hoi Sang Lee Hoi Sang
Lee Hoi San
Li Hai-Sheng 		 
John Lone
John Lone

John Lone is an American actor....
 		 Juen Lung  
Hsiao Hou Hou Yiu-chung Hsiao Ho
Tung Wei Tung Wei Stephen Tung
Stephen Tung Wei
W. W. Tung
Wong Wai-Wan
Austin Wai Wai Tin Chi Jacky Yuen
Siu Sei
Josephine Siao
Josephine Siao

Josephine Siao Fong-Fong MBE is a Hong Kong movie star who became popular as a child and continued her success as a mature actress, winning numerous awards including best actress at the 1995 Berlin Film Festival....
 		 Xiao Liang Siao Fong-fong
Siao Fung Fung
Connie Chan Po-chu
Connie Chan Po-chu

Connie Chan Po-chu was born in 1947 in Guangdong, China to impoverished parents and at least 8 other siblings. To increase their children's chances of surviving, Chan's birth parents gave away some of their youngest to other families....
 		 Chan Po-Chu
Chan Poh-Chee 		 


Fu Sheng Opera School (Taiwan)

A similar school in Taipei
Taipei

Taipei has been the de facto capital of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, since the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and the capital of Taiwan since Japanese rule that began in 1895....
, Taiwan was attended by another group of people who subsequently worked in the Hong Kong film industry
Cinema of Hong Kong

The Movie theater of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language film, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan....
. They included:

Common Name Birth Name Alternates
Chiang Sheng Chiang Sheng
Kong Sang 		Venom
Chia Ling Chia Ling
Ga Ling 		Judy Lee
Charline Chia Ling
Charline Liu
Philip Kwok
Philip Kwok

Philip Kwok is a Hong Kong based actor and stuntman....
 		 Kwok Chung Fung
 Jun Kwok
Kwok Chui
Venom
Angela Mao
Angela Mao

Angela Mao is a martial arts film actress best known for the string of kung fu films in which she starred during the 1970s. She is also known as Mao Ying, Angela Mao Ying, and Mao Fu Ying....
 		 Mao Ying
Mao Fu-Ying 		 
Lee Yi Min Lee Yi Min
Lee I Min 		Lee Gong
Lee Ngai Nan
James Lee
Simon Lee
Robert Tai Tai Chi Hsien
Tai Yee Tin 		Tai Chi
James Tien
James Tien (actor)

James Tien Chun is a Chinese people actor from Guangdong, People's Republic of China. He appeared in almost 70 films, primarily in Hong Kong action cinema, including roles in the films of martial arts stars including Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung....
 		 Tien Chun
Tien Jun 		Chan Man
Chan Wen
James Tyan
Paul Tien