Born into a family that greatly suffered under the Maoist regime, as a young girl she was made to sing for the party propaganda. Her exceptional drive and athletic skills, however, first won her a place at the prestigious Shanghai School of Physical Education, then with the Chinese National Wushu team. Hundreds of millions young Chinese athletes compete for those positions, admission being subject to the fiercest selection procedures and discipline. Li Rong Mei’s homecoming and diary-keeping bring her back to her roots, to the heart of her culture, and disclose the philosophical foundations of her discipline. Travelling across four of the Great Continent’s regions, she visits her surviving family, her elderly Taoist teachers, her former team members, the baffling 25,0000 students school around the Shaolin monastery, the wonderful mountain of Wudangand finally the tomb of her great master Fu Zhonwen. In this setting of extraordinary transformations, of astonishing performances of the best martial artists, the personal and professional events in the life of the Winter Flower help highlight the fundamental aspects of the country’s culture and history where past and present co-exist.
|