Cultural depictions of Zhou Tong

Zhou Tong, the archery teacher of Song dynasty General Yue Fei, has appeared in black-and-white films, wuxia novels, and folktales.

He mainly appears in material dealing with Yue Fei, but also in media about his other students and his own biography and comic book.

[4][5] In an interview, Mr. Yu said he never shaved his famous beard for any role, even at the request of movie producers, because he wanted to portray the "Shaanxi knight-errant Iron Arm, Zhou Tong".

[6][7] Shortly after filming New Police Story in 2004, Jackie Chan reported that he would produce and play Yue Fei in a biopic about the general's life.

He continues, "I think Yue Fei is a man with great sense of loyalty, so am I. I've been loyal to Golden Harvest, to friends and to my country!"

He first appears in Chapter 2 when he becomes the new teacher of the Wang household (some 7 chronological years after newborn Yue Fei and his mother are rescued from the Yellow River flood).

The plot revolves around his vow to the military to destroy the bandits of Lake Tai and his resistance against armies of the Liao dynasty.

According to a moral tale called "Yue Fei Studies the Archery" in You Er Hua Bao (Chinese: 幼儿画报 – "Children's Pictorial"), a Chinese magazine tailored for children ages two through seven, young Yue Fei purchased a bow, a sword, and a spear to practice martial arts on his own since he did not have a teacher to train him properly.

One day when he was chopping fire wood, he passed by a village with a military training hall ran by a famous master.

At first the training was hard because the bright sun hurt his eyes, but he continued to practice the skill of the "far-sighted person" for many years.

[24][25] The following tale alternatively known as "Meeting Zhou Tong By Chance" and "Swordplay under the Moon" belongs to the "Wang School of Shui Hu" Yangzhou storytelling.

The tale takes place after Wu Song kills a man-eating tiger, resists the charms of his sister-in-law and accepts a mission from the Magistrate to transport money to Kaifeng, but before he becomes a bandit.

It explains how he came to learn swordplay from Zhou Tong: Wu was given orders to travel on assignment to the eastern Song capital of Kaifeng after becoming a constable for the Yanggu District police force in Shandong province.

When he arrived in Kaifeng, Wu took his introduction letter to the office of the local administration building and retired to an inn to await his summons.

The rain hurt the top of Wu's head so he huddled under the roof of a small shop along with several other people vying for safety.

When he stepped onto the bridge, Wu lifted up his clothing and looked down at his feet so he could avoid the huge puddles of water left from the freak rain shower.

When the two men brushed shoulders, despite being a master of Iron Shirt and Drunken Eight Immortals boxing, Wu was nearly knocked off the bridge and the pain caused saliva to pour from his mouth.

So he grabbed a bench to steady himself on and looked over the top of a brick wall that opened into the hall of a large mansion to the east of the inn.

But the stately-looking people attending this sumptuous feast were underneath the eaves of the hall watching a person practice his swordplay in the manor's courtyard.

Zhou wielded his swords to and fro and did it so fast that the flashes of light cast from the blades made it look like his entire body was wrapped in snow.

When he twirled around and ended up facing in his direction, Wu recognized Zhou as the old man he had bumped into on the bridge earlier in the day.

Zhou used his magical X-ray eyes to peer through the brick wall and into Wu's bone structure to see he was a special person indeed.

When Zhou asked for his name, he was delighted to learn Wu Song was the same fellow who became famous for killing a man-eating tiger with his bare hands on Jingyang Mountain in Shandong province the previous year.

Wu was thrilled to meet this old generation master who was famous throughout the rivers and lakes for his skill in military and civilian martial arts.