Master Ma


Master Ma is a 1998 Hong Kong-Taiwanese two-season television series produced by the television stations ATV and CTV. It is loosely based on the life of Ma Yongzhen, a prominent 19th-century Hui Chinese martial artist. The series was directed by Fan Sau-ming and starred Kenny Ho as the eponymous character.

Plot

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, where they raise horses for Marshal Duan's army. One night, the stables mysteriously catch fire and the horses are lost. The marshal's men arrest Ma Yongzhen and his mother and prepare to execute them for their negligence, but they escape from prison. Ma Yongzhen later makes his way alone to Shanghai to earn a new living.
In Shanghai, Ma Yongzhen becomes famous after winning a horse race and 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 Liu Juchi, an opera singer and Xue Changchun's mistress. With the help of Duan Lengcui and others, Ma Yongzhen forms the Zhendong Gang to help the poor and fight injustice, unlike the other gangs. At the end of Season 1, Ma Yongzhen and his Zhendong Gang destroy the Wuhu Gang and make an uneasy peace with the White Gang.

Season 2

Season 2 revolves around a rivalry between Ma Yongzhen and Bai Laili. Bai Laili resorts to various cunning means in his attempt to destroy Ma Yongzhen and the Zhendong Gang. First, he sends his men to infiltrate the Zhendong Gang and steal a shipment of foreign goods from their warehouses. Next, he orders his henchman, Tang Biao, to assassinate the French consul and frame Ma Yongzhen for the murder. Eventually, Duan Lengcui's father, who turns out to be Marshal Duan, helps Ma Yongzhen clear his name and resolve the crisis. With Marshal Duan's support, Ma Yongzhen manages to thwart the White Gang's schemes.
At the same time, Ma Yongzhen's feelings for Liu Juchi gradually diminish as he becomes more romantically attracted to Duan Lengcui and they are eventually engaged. Marshal Duan and the Japanese consul convince Ma Yongzhen to support them in opening a hospital to provide medical services for the poor in Shanghai and improve Sino-Japanese ties. However, Ma Yongzhen and his friends later discover that Marshal Duan is secretly collaborating with the Japanese to develop biological weapons in the hospital. In return, the Japanese will aid the marshal in defeating the Kuomintang government. At the same time, Ma Yongzhen encounters Kimura, a hostile Japanese karateka working for Bai Laili.

Cast

  • Kenny Ho as Ma Yongzhen – the protagonist and boss of the Zhendong Gang
  • Grace Yu as Liu Juchi – an opera singer who is also Xue Changchun's mistress and Ma Yongzhen's first romantic partner
  • Anita Lee as Duan Lengcui – Marshal Duan's daughter and Ma Yongzhen's second romantic partner
  • Cheng Pei-pei as Ma Daniang – Ma Yongzhen's mother
  • Chan Hung-lit as Bai Laili – the boss of the White Gang
  • Norman Chui as Xue Changchun – the boss of the Wuhu Gang
  • Fan Bingbing as Bai Xiaodie – Bai Laili's daughter who turns out to be Ma Yongzhen's long-lost younger sister Ma Suzhen
  • Howie Huang as Sun Jisheng – a doctor and Kuomintang spy who becomes Bai Xiaodie's romantic partner
  • Yang Sheng as Jiang Shiguang – a journalist and Jiang Shiguang's romantic partner
  • Cheng Sihan as Lu Kuangtian – a warlord who takes control of Shanghai
  • Lung Tien-hsiang as Tang Biao – Bai Laili's right-hand man
  • He Zhonghua as Luo Zhan – Xue Changchun's henchmen who later becomes a Kuomintang spy
  • as Duan Tianfeng – a warlord who takes control of Shanghai
  • Mondi Yau as Chen Jiamei – a Japanese spy in disguise as a courtesan who becomes Bai Laili's mistress
  • Shen Meng-sheng as Ding Xianjin – a businessman who starts a drama troupe to provide free entertainment to the poor and becomes Liu Juchi's romantic partner
  • Kou Zhanwen as Kimura – a ruthless Japanese karateka working for Bai Laili

    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.