User:Paul August/Subpage 10 and The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter: Difference between pages

Revision as of 23:12, 19 January 2007

Revision as of 19:02, 20 January 2007

Line 1:

{{Infobox Film

[[Image:Eraclea Minoa Haus.jpg|thumb|300px|Heraclea Mino site]]

| name = Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter

| image =

| caption =

| director = [[Lau Kar-leung]]

| producer = Mona Fong<br/>Run Me Shaw<br/>Run Run Shaw

| writer = [[Lau Kar-leung]]<br/>Kuang Ni

| starring = [[Alexander Fu Sheng]]<br/>[[Gordon Liu]]<br/>[[Lau Kar-leung]]

| music = Stephen Shing

| distributor = [[Shaw Brothers Studio]]

| released = [[1983]]

| runtime = 98 min.

| country = [[Hong Kong action cinema|Hong Kong]]

| language = [[Cantonese (linguistics)|Cantonese]]

| amg_id = 1:258173

| imdb_id = 0086606

}}

'''''Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter''''' is a [[1983 in film|1983]] [[Cinema of Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] [[martial arts film]] produced by the [[Shaw Brothers Studio]] starring [[Gordon Liu]] and [[Alexander Fu Sheng]]. Fu Sheng died during the making of this movie and thus does not appear in the final showdown as originally written in the script. Writer-director [[Lau Kar-leung]] also makes an appearance as a hunter.

==Plot Summary==

'''Heraclea Minoa''' (Hêrakleia Minôia: Eth. Rhachlôtês, Heracliensis), in [[Sicily]], was an [[ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] city, situated on the south coast of the island, at the mouth of the river Halycus (modern [[Platani]]), between Agrigentum (modern [[Agrigento]]) and [[Selinus]], near modern [[Montallegro]].

'''''Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter''''''s story concerns the Yang family, a well-known family of soldiers in the service of the government. The Yangs are betrayed by a government official conspiring with the [[Mongol|Mongols]]. All of the Yang family males are killed except for two brothers (played by [[Alexander Fu Sheng|Fu Sheng]] and [[Gordon Liu]]). [[Alexander Fu Sheng|Fu Sheng]] loses his mind after the death of his family, while the other brother ([[Gordon Liu]]), takes refuge in a temple to put his anger and past behind him. Liu's superb martial arts skill, particularly with the [[Bo (weapon)|quarterstaff]], impress the temple's senior monks. After refusing to leave the temple at first, Liu later fights for the right to depart after he learns that his sister has been captured by the conspirators and a senior monk is killed by the Mongols. Liu confronts the Mongols and during the ensuing battle to free his sister, the monks from the temple arrive to lend support and help him to defeat the Mongols.

''Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter'' features [[Gordon Liu]] at his best with a dizzying display of [[Bo (weapon)|quarterstaff]] skills.

==Two legends==

Its two names were connected with two separate mythological legends in regard to its origin. The first of these related that [[Heracles]], having vanquished the local hero [[Eryx]] in a wrestling match, obtained thereby the right to the whole western portion of Sicily, which he expressly reserved for his descendants.<ref>Diodorus, [http://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4B.html 4.23]; Herodotus, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&layout=&loc=5.43 5.43]; Pausanias, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160&layout=&loc=3.16.1 3.16.4&ndash;5].</ref> He did not, however, found a town or settlement; but, somewhat later, [[Minos]], king of [[Crete]], having come to Sicily in pursuit of [[Daedalus]], landed at the mouth of the river Halycus, and founded there a city, to which he gave the name of Minoa; or, according to another version of the story, the city was first established by his followers, after the death of Minos himself. [[Heraclides Ponticus]] adds, that there was previously a native city on the spot, the name of which was Macara.<ref>Diodorus, [http://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4D.html 4.79], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084&layout=&loc=16.9 16.9.4]; Heraclides Ponticus, 29.</ref> The two legends are so distinct that no intimation is given by [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]] of their relating to the same spot, and we only learn their connection from the combination in later times of the two names.

''Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter'' is also singularly influential to the Wu-Tang Clan.

==History==

The first notice of the city which we find in historical times represents it as a small town and a colony of Selinus, bearing the name of Minoa<ref>Herodotus, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&layout=&loc=5.46 5.46].</ref> but we have no account of its settlement. It was in this state when Dorieus the [[Sparta]]n (brother of [[Cleomenes I]]) came to Sicily, with a large body of followers, with the express view of reclaiming the territory which had belonged to his ancestor Heracles. But having engaged in hostilities with the [[Carthage|Carthaginians]] and [[Segesta|Segestans]], he was defeated and slain in a battle in which almost all his leading companions also perished. Euryleon, the only one of the chiefs who escaped, made himself master of Minoa, which now, in all probability, obtained for the first time the name of Heraclea.<ref>Herodotus, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&layout=&loc=5.42 5.42&ndash;46].</ref> This is not, indeed, expressly stated by [[Herodotus]], who gives the preceding narrative, but is. evidently implied in his statement at the beginning of it, that Dorieus set out for the purpose of founding Heraclea, combined with the fact that Diodorus represents him as having been its actual founder.<ref>Diodorus, [http://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4B.html 4.23].</ref> Hence there seems no reason to suppose (as has been suggested) that Heraclea and Minoa were originally distinct cities, and that the name of the one was subsequently transferred to the other. From the period of this new settlement (B.C. 510) it seems to have commonly borne the name of Heraclea, though coupled with that of Minoa for the sake of distinction.<ref>''Hêrakleian tên Minôan'', Polybius, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0233:book=1:chapter=25 1.25.9]; ''Heraclea, quam vocant Minoam'', Livy. [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/livy/liv.24.shtml#35 24.35].</ref>

==See also==

* [[List of Shaw Brothers Films]]

==External links==

Diodorus tells us that the newly founded city of Heraclea rose rapidly to prosperity, but was destroyed by the Carthaginians, through jealousy of its increasing power. (Id. iv. 23.) The period at which this took place is uncertain. It was probably related by Diodorus in his 10th book, which is now lost: at least he makes no mention of any such event on occasion of the great expedition of [[Hamilcar]], in B.C. 480, to which epoch we might otherwise have referred it; while, from the absence of all notice of Heraclea during the subsequent century, and the wars of [[Dionysius]] with the Carthaginians, it seems certain that it did not then exist, or must have been in a very reduced condition. Indeed, the next notice we find of it (under the name of Minoa), in B.C. 357, when [[Dion]] landed there, represents it as a small town in the Agrigentine territory, but at that time subject to Carthage. (Diod. xvi. 9; Plut. Dion. 25.) Hence it is probable that the treaty between Dionysius and the Carthaginians which had fixed the Halycus as the boundary of the latter, had left Heraclea, though on its left bank, still in their hands: and, in accordance with this, we find it stipulated by the similar treaty concluded with them by [[Agathocles]] (B.C. 314), that Heraclea, Selinus, and [[Himera]] should continue subject to Carthage, as they had been before. (Diod. xix. 71.) From this time Heraclea reappears in history, and assumes the position of an important city; though we have no explanation of the circumstances that had raised it from its previous insignificance. Thus we find it, soon after, joining in the movement originated by [[Xenodicus]] of Agrigentum, B.C. 307, and declaring itself free both from the Carthaginians and Agathocles; though it was soon recovered by the latter, on his return from Africa. (Id. xx. 56.) At the time of the expedition of [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]] it was once more in the hands of the Carthaginians, and was the first city taken from them by that monarch as lie advanced westward from Agrigentum. (Diod xxii. 10. Exc. H. p. 497.) In like manner, in the [[First Punic War]], it was occupied by the Carthaginian general [[Hanno]], when advancing to the relief of Agrigentum, at that time besieged by the Roman armies, B.C. 260. (Id. xxiii. 8. p. 502; Pol. i. 18.) Again, in B.C. 256, it was at Heraclea that the Carthaginian fleet of 350 ships was posted for the purpose of preventing the passage of the Roman fleet to Africa, and where it sustained a great defeat from the consuls [[Regulus]] and [[Manlius]]. (Pol. i. 25--28, 30; Zonar. viii. 12.) It appears, indeed, at this time to have been one of the principal naval stations of the Carthaginians in Sicily; and hence in B.C. 249 we again find their admiral, [[Carthalo]], taking his post there to watch for the Roman fleet which was approaching to the relief of [[Lilybaeum]]. (Id. i. 53.) At the close of the war Heraclea, of course, passed, with the rest of Sicily, under the Roman dominion; but in the [[Second Punic War]] it again fell into the hands of the Carthaginians, and was one of the last places that still held out against [[Marcellus]], even after the fall of [[Syracuse]]. (Liv. xxiv. 35, xxv. 27, 40, 41.)

*{{imdb title|id=0086606|title=Wu lang ba gua gun}}

*[http://www.kungfucinema.com/reviews/eightdiagrampolefighter.htm Review at Kung Fu Cinema]

[[Category:1983 films]]

We hear but little of it under the Roman dominion; but it appears to have suffered severely in the [[Servile War]] (B.C. 134--132), and in consequence received a body of fresh colonists, who were established there by the praetor [[P. Rupilius]]; and at the same time the relations of the old and new citizens were regulated by a municipal law, which still subsisted in the time of [[Cicero]]. (Cic. Verr. ii. 5. 0) In the days of the great orator, Heraclea appears to have been still a flourishing place (Ib. v. 33); but it must soon after have fallen into decay, in common with most of the towns on the southern coast of Sicily. (Strab. vi. p. 272.) But though not noticed by [[Strabo]] among the few places still subsisting on this coast, it is one of the three mentioned by [[Mela]]; and its continued existence is attested by [[Pliny]] and [[Ptolemy]]. The latter author is the last who mentions the name of Heraclea: it appears to have disappeared before the age of the Itineraries. (Mel. ii. 7. § 16; Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 6.)

[[Category:Action films]]

[[Category:Cantonese-language films]]

==Present day==

[[Category:Drama films]]

The site of Heraclea is now wholly deserted, and scarcely any ruins remain to mark the spot; but the position of the ancient city may still be clearly traced. It was situated a few hundred yards to the south of the river Platani (the ancient Halycus), extending nearly from thence to the promontory of [[Capo Bianco]]. In [[Fazello]]'s time the foundations of the walls could be distinctly traced, and, though no ruins remained standing, the whole site abounded with remains of pottery and brickwork. An [[aqueduct]] was then also still visible between the city and the mouth of the river; but its remains have since disappeared. The site does not appear to have been examined with care by any modern traveller. (Fazell. de Reb. Sic. vi. 2; Smyth's Sicily, p. 216; Biscari, Viaggio in Sicilia, p. 188.)

[[Category:Hong Kong films]]

The Capo Bianco, a conspicuous headland in the immediate neighbourhood of Heraclea, is evidently the one called by Strabo, in his description of the coasts of Sicily, the Heraclean promontory (vi. p. 266), which he correctly reckons 20 miles distant from the port of Agrigentum.

==Notes==

{{reflist}}

==References==

<div class="references-small">

*[[Cicero|Cicero, Marcus Tullius]], [http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/Set.php?recordID=0043 ''The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero''], C. D. Yonge (translator), B. A. London. George Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1891. 4 volumes.

*[[Diodorus Siculus]]. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084 ''Diodorus Siculus: The Library of History'']. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 4. Books 9&ndash;12.40. ISBN 0674994132.

*[[Herodotus]]; [[The Histories of Herodotus|''Histories'']], [[A. D. Godley]] (translator), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920; ISBN 0674991338. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hdt.+1.1.0 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].

*[[Livy]]; [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/liv.html ''Ab Urbe Condita''] ("From the Founding of the City (Rome)"). c. 59 BC&ndash;AD 17.

* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+1.1.1 Description of Greece]''. W. H. S. Jones (translator). [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. (1918). Vol. 2. Books III&ndash;V: ISBN 0674992075.

*[[Pliny the Elder]]; [[Pliny's Natural History|''The Natural History'']] (eds. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A.) London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. (1855). [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+toc Online version] at the Perseus Digital Library.

*[[Plutarch]]; [[Parallel Lives|''Plutarch's Lives: Volume I'']], Arthur Hugh Clough (editor), [[John Dryden]] (translator). Modern Library; Modern Library Paperback Ed edition (April 10, 2001). ISBN 0375756760. [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/674 Downloadable version] at Project Gutenberg.

*[[Polybius]]; [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+1.1 ''Histories''], Evelyn S. Shuckburgh (translator); London, New York. Macmillan (1889); Reprint Bloomington (1962).

*[[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]]; ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'': [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064&query=entry%3D%234804&layout=&loc=heracleia-geo04 "Heracleia"], London (1867)

*[[Strabo]], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+6.1.1 ''Geography'',] translated by Horace Leonard Jones; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. (1924). Vol. 3, Books 6&ndash;7 ISBN 0674992016.

*[[Joannes Zonaras|Zonaras, Joannes]]. ''Extracts of History''.

*{{SmithDGRG}}