The character was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin, debuting in Special Marvel Edition #15 (December 1973) in the Bronze Age of Comic Books, and starring in his own solo title until 1983.

Described as the greatest martial artist alive, Shang-Chi has been trained since birth to be the ultimate fighter with a specialization in various unarmed and weaponry-based wushu styles, including the use of the gùn, nunchaku, and jian.

In later editions, his connection to Dr. Fu Manchu was underplayed after Marvel lost the comic book rights to the latter's character; to get around this problem, the publisher eventually renamed Shang-Chi's father Zheng Zu.

Editor-in-chief Roy Thomas agreed, but only if they would include the Sax Rohmer's pulp villain Dr. Fu Manchu, as Marvel had previously acquired the comic book rights to the character, and made their protagonist half-white.

[17] Similarly, Shang-Chi's half sister Fah Lo Suee was later renamed Zheng Bao Yu in 2013's The Fearless Defenders #8, written by Cullen Bunn,[18][19] while Smith and Petrie have not appeared in any Marvel properties since the end of the Master of Kung Fu series in 1983.

In 2009, the black and white one-shot Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu was released, with stories written by Jonathan Hickman, Mike Benson, Charlie Huston and Robin Furth and illustrated by Tomm Coker, C.P.

Written by Haden Blackman and illustrated by Taljic, the four-issue series is a wuxia-inspired story that takes place in the Battleworld domain of K'un-Lun and centered around Shang-Chi in his fight to overthrow his despotic father, Emperor Zheng Zu.

[23] In 2017, after a 34-year gap, Shang-Chi once again starred in Master of Kung Fu's 126th issue as part of the Marvel Legacy relaunch, written by mixed martial artist CM Punk and illustrated by Dalibor Talajic.

Together with Smith, Tarr, fellow MI-6 agents Clive Reston and Leiko Wu (his eventual love interest), and Dr. Petrie, Shang-Chi goes on many adventures and missions, usually thwarting his father's plans for world domination.

[48] Soon after his father's death, a guilt-ridden Shang-Chi quits Freelance Restorations, severs all ties with his former allies, forsakes his life as an adventurer, and retires to a village in remote Yang-Tin, China, to live as a fisherman.

The plot is uncovered by Misty Knight and Annabelle Riggs of the Fearless Defenders with help from Elsa Bloodstone; the three track Bao Yu and the Hai-Dai assassins and scientists to an underground laboratory.

[71] Per the instructions of the new Madame Web, Shang-Chi is assigned to train Spider-Man in kung fu to compensate for the loss of his spider-sense, which was 'overloaded' after the wall-crawler had to transmit a strong signal on the same frequency to disable a drone army of Spider-Slayers.

After making sure Iron Fist and the rest of the Immortal Weapons are evacuated, Shang-Chi collapses the mansion hideout on Ai Apeac, leaving him immobilized for the Avengers to put back into custody.

As Manifold returned to grab reinforcements, Shang and Natasha managed to defeat the entire security force, save the general who proved to be too much for even the Master of Kung Fu.

[84] When the Illuminati were exposed to have tampered with the mind of Captain America and attempting to destroy worlds threatening Earth as part of the Incursions as seen in the Time Runs Out storyline, Shang-Chi joined a faction of the Avengers led by Sunspot.

With the Mao Shan Pai spellbook taken by the White Dragon's men, M'Nai plans to use its magic to give him power and influence over the triad clans, finally fulfilling Zheng Zu's legacy.

Shang-Chi and the others defend Seoul from Malekith's ally Queen Sindr and her Fire Goblin forces from Muspelheim with help from the Korean heroes White Fox, Crescent, Io and Luna Snow.

Brawn eventually summons the Chinese heroes the Sword Master and Aero, Filipina heroine Wave, and the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire and Volcanoes Pele from Shanghai to help assist in the fight against Sindr.

The newly summoned heroes are less than pleased for being taken out of their previous battle, but Pele quickly puts a stop to the infighting, warning the group that Sindr plans to melt the polar ice caps if they do not work together.

Despite given the chance to surrender, Sindr flees using the Black Bifrost, only for Shang-Chi and the others to follow her with Brawn's teleporter, where they help Captain Marvel defeat her and her remaining forces at the Great Wall of China near Beijing.

Concurrently, the other Agents find Atlantis' missing sea serpent imprisoned in Nguyen's personal tower, where her magical scales are being harvested to power Pan's portals.

[114] Shortly after taking control of the Five Weapons Society, Shang-Chi and Leiko spend vacation together in Seoul, where they witness several gas bombs detonate across the city, turning victims into trees.

After establishing a new House of the Deadly Hand in New York City's Chinatown to serve as the Society's main headquarters, Shang-Chi is reunited with his exiled mutant half-sister Zheng Zhilan, who rejoins their family as the new Sister Staff, and his biological mother Jiang Li, who had been previously trapped in the Negative Zone for years.

[122] While spending time with his mother at the New House of the Deadly Hand, Jiang Li reveals her past to Shang-Chi, including her history as a Qilin Rider from the mystical dimension of Ta-Lo and how she met and married his father.

[127] When Shang-Chi tries resisting Zheng Zu's influence, Xin is able to take six of the Rings from him and defeats the Champions before heading to the House of the Deadly Hand to join the Qilin Riders in destroying the Society.

[136] During the events of "Gang War", Shang-Chi attends a meeting held by the heads of New York's criminal families following the attempted assassination of Tombstone, claiming that he acting in the best interests of the Five Weapons Society.

While Shang-Chi's gambit to pit his biggest rivals against each other while keeping them out of Chinatown succeeds, it creates further destruction throughout the rest of city, prompting Mayor Luke Cage into gathering Spider-Man, Danny Rand, She-Hulk and Tombstone to confront him.

had been dealing with as cover for several robberies, Shang-Chi joins Captain America's team to confront Tiger Snake and the Serpent Society while they are committing a heist at a mine close to Latveria.

[113][127] While adventuring in Ta-Lo, Shang-Chi acquired the heavenly Ten Rings from the Jade Emperor, granting him a variety of powers and abilities, including superhuman strength, speed, durability and stamina, as well as allowing him to fly and levitate.

[127][128] Shang-Chi can control the Rings telepathically which can be used in a variety of ways, including launching them as projectiles, utilizing them as platforms for transportation and generating makeshift chains to grab objects and restrain opponents.