{{infobox person | name = Yu Chenghui <br /> {{nobold|于承惠}} | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1939|8|16|df=yes}} | birth_place = Penglai, Shandong, China | death_date = {{death date and age|2015|7|4|1939|8|16|df=yes}} | death_place = Jinan, Shandong, China | occupation = Actor, action director, martial artist | years_active = 1982–2015 | module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes | p = Yú Chénghuì | j = Jyu4 Sing4-wai6 }} | module2 = {{infobox musical artist | embed = yes | alias = Yue Sing-wai }} }} {{family name hatnote|Yu|lang=Chinese}} '''Yu Chenghui''' (16 August 1939 – 4 July 2015), sometimes credited as '''Yue Sing-wai''', was a Chinese actor, action director and martial artist.
==Martial arts career== Yu started practising martial arts at the age of 11, specialising in the use of the ''jian'' (Chinese sword). He won the championship title at the age of 20 in a wushu competition held in Qingdao. He joined the Shandong wushu team later and emerged as the champion in the ''zuijian'' ("Drunken Sword") category in another wushu competition.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}
Yu once injured his leg during a training session and almost lost the use of his leg due to delayed medical treatment.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} He left the wushu team later to recover from his injury and worked in a factory for the next decade or so. During that period of time, Yu spent his free time studying martial arts and interacting with other martial artists to improve his techniques until he had fully recovered.
For 14 years during the course of his martial arts career, Yu had been working on recreating the ''shuang shou jian'' (double-handed sword) movement, which was believed to be extinct since the Tang dynasty.<ref name="HKMDB">[http://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=4792&display_set=eng Yu Chenghui] at the Hong Kong Movie Database</ref> In the wee hours of the morning of 15 September 1975, during a thunderstorm, Yu saw how a praying mantis reacted in response to the heavy downpour and conceived the ideas for completing the design of the swordplay technique.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} The ''shuang shou jian'' is now officially recognised as a category in wushu competitions.<ref name="HKMDB" />
==Film and television career== Yu was discovered by film director Chang Hsin-yen of Great Wall Pictures, who cast him as the villain "Wang Renze" in the 1982 film ''Shaolin Temple'', which starred Jet Li as the protagonist.<ref name="HKMDB" /> Following his first successful role in Chinese cinema, Yu continued to star in other martial arts films such as ''Kids From Shaolin'' (1984) and ''Martial Arts of Shaolin'' (1986).
In 1993, Yu served as the action director for the film ''Donggui Yingxiong Zhuan'' and was awarded the "Star of Martial Arts" kudos by the Chinese Wushu Association in 1998 for his unique achievements in his martial arts choreography on screen.<ref name="HKMDB" />
In the 2000s, Yu turned his attention to wuxia-themed television series. Between 2001 and 2009, Yu worked with television series producer Zhang Jizhong on a number of projects, mostly in adaptations of Louis Cha's wuxia novels. He also portrayed Ip Man in the 2008 television series ''The Legend of Bruce Lee''.
Yu stated in a 2005 newspaper interview that he never shaved his trademark beard, even at the request of movie producers, because he wanted to portray Zhou Tong, a famous Song dynasty military tutor, in a future film.<ref name=www.shm.com>{{cite web | author = Liang Lijie | title = Shandong actor would like to portray Zhou Dong and make him popular | url = http://www.shm.com.cn/shan-dong/2005-07/04/content_828794.htm | publisher = Populace daily paper | access-date = 2007-07-17 | language = zh | archive-date = 2007-08-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070807103521/http://www.shm.com.cn/shan-dong/2005-07/04/content_828794.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> He went on to say "He is an outstandingly able person from the Northern and Southern Song dynasties and many ''Water Margin'' heroes are his disciples. This person is very important in martial arts and many people want to portray him in films."{{Ref_label|j|j|none}}<ref name=www.shm.com/> He died at the age of 75 in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.163.com/15/0705/16/ATP8T6H80001124J.html|title=Yu Chenghui died|publisher=NetEase|date=5 July 2015|access-date=5 July 2015}}</ref>
==Filmography== {{col-start}} {{col-break}}
===Film=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes |- | 1982 || ''Shaolin Temple''<br>少林寺 || Wang Renze || |- | 1984 || ''Kids From Shaolin''<br>少林小子 || Pao Feng || |- | 1986 || ''Martial Arts of Shaolin''<br>南北少林 || He Sao || |- | 1988 || ''Yellow River Fighter''<br>黃河大俠 || Ma Yi || |- | 1993 || ''Donggui Yingxiong Zhuan''<br>東歸英雄傳 || || Action director, screenwriter |- | 2006 || ''A Battle of Wits''<br>墨攻 || Dongbo || |- | 2012 || ''Judge Archer'' <br> 箭士柳白猿 || || |- | 2014 || ''Snow Blossom <br> 大寒桃花开'' || || filmed in 2004 |- | 2014 || ''The Four III'' || || |}
{{col-break}}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes |- | 2001 || ''Laughing in the Wind''<br>笑傲江湖 || Feng Qingyang || |- | 2002 || ''Shaolin King of Martial Arts''<br>少林武王 || Tong Dabao || |- | 2003 || ''Lian Cheng Jue''<br>連城訣 || Mei Niansheng || |- | 2005 || ''Trail of the Everlasting Hero''<br>俠影仙蹤 || Taoist Chisong || |- | 2006 || ''The Return of the Condor Heroes''<br>神鵰俠侶 || Huang Yaoshi || |- | 2006 || ''Seven Swordsmen''<br>七劍下天山 || Fu Qingzhu || |- | 2007 || ''Sword Stained with Royal Blood''<br>碧血劍 || Mu Renqing || |- | 2007 || ''The Legend of Shaolin Temple''<br>少林寺傳奇 || Bandit leader || |- | 2008 || ''Royal Tramp''<br>鹿鼎記 || Feng Xifan || |- | 2008 || ''The Legend of Bruce Lee''<br>李小龍傳奇 || Ip Man || |- | 2009 || ''The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber''<br>倚天屠龍記 || Zhang Sanfeng || |- | 2011 || ''Journey to the West''<br>西遊記 || Subhuti || |- |} {{col-end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0401214}} *{{in lang|zh}} [http://www.cnmdb.com/name/13087 Yu Chenghui] at the Chinese Movie Database {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Chenghui}} Category:1939 births Category:2015 deaths Category:Chinese male martial artists Category:Chinese wushu practitioners Category:Male actors from Yantai Category:Sportspeople from Yantai Category:People from Penglai, Shandong Category:Chinese male television actors Category:Chinese male film actors Category:20th-century Chinese male actors Category:21st-century Chinese male actors