Written by Wai-ma Group Country of origin Hong Kong
Taiwan Network China Television Genre Historical period drama | Theme music composer Wong Bong-yin First episode date 1998 Number of seasons 2 | |
 | ||
Directed by Fan Sau-ming
Wong Kun-fai Starring Kenny Ho
Yu Hsiao-fan
Anita Lee
Cheng Pei-pei
Chan Hung-lit
Norman Chu
Fan Bingbing
Howie Huang Opening theme Tit Huet Nam Yee (鐵血男兒) performed by Ngan Chun-lam Languages Standard Cantonese, Standard Mandarin Similar Vagabond Vigilante, Legend of Dagger Li, The Return of the Condor H, Taiji Prodigy, The Legend of the Cond | ||
Master Ma is a two-season 1998 Hong Kong-Taiwanese television series produced by the television stations ATV and CTV. It is loosely based on the life of Ma Yongzhen (馬永貞), a Hui Chinese martial artist who lived in the late Qing dynasty. The series was directed by Fan Sau-ming and starred Kenny Ho as the eponymous character.
Contents
Season 1
The series is set in the Warlord Era of early 20th-century China. Ma Yongzhen and his mother, Ma Daniang, live in Shandong Province, where they raise horses for Marshal Duan's army. One night, the stables mysteriously catch fire and the horses are lost. Marshal Duan's men arrest and imprison Ma and his mother, but they fight their way out and escape. Ma makes his way alone to Shanghai to earn a new living.
In Shanghai, Ma becomes famous after winning a horse race and a martial arts tournament. However, he also gets into trouble with the two most powerful gangs in Shanghai: the White Gang led by Bai Laili, and the Wuhu Gang led by Xue Changchun. At the same time, he starts a romance with Xue's mistress, the opera singer Liu Juchi, but has no chance to be together with her. With the help of Duan Lengcui and others, Ma creates the Zhendong Gang, which, unlike the other gangs, aims to help the poor and fight injustice. At the end of the season, Ma eliminates the Wuhu Gang and makes peace with the White Gang.
Season 2
Season 2 revolves around a rivalry between Ma Yongzhen and Bai Laili. Bai resorts to various cunning means in his attempt to eliminate Ma and the Zhendong Gang. First, he sends his goons to infiltrate Ma's gang and steal a shipment of foreign goods stored in Ma's warehouses. Next, he orders his henchman Tang Biao to assassinate the French consul and frame Ma for the murder. Eventually, with help from Duan Lengcui's father, who turns out to be Marshal Duan, Ma succeeds in clearing his name and resolving the problems. With Marshal Duan as his ally, Ma manages to keep Bai Laili and the White Gang at bay for some time.
At the same time, Ma's feelings for Liu Juchi gradually diminish as he becomes more romantically involved with Duan Lengcui. Ma and Duan Lengcui are engaged to be married. Marshal Duan and the Japanese consul convince Ma to support them in opening a new hospital to provide medical services for the poor in Shanghai and improve Sino-Japanese ties. However, Ma and his friends discover later that the hospital is actually being used for sinister purposes — Marshal Duan is collaborating with the Japanese to develop biological weapons in the hospital, and in return, the Japanese will aid him in defeating the Kuomintang government. At the same time, Ma encounters a hostile Japanese martial artist, Kimura, who supports Bai Laili and constantly seeks to create trouble for him.
Cast
Remake
The series was remade in 2012 as a mainland Chinese television series titled Ma Yongzhen, directed by Kuk Kwok-leung and starring Danny Chan as Ma Yongzhen. Norman Chu and He Zhonghua are cast in the remake as Bai Laili and Xue Changchun respectively.