JET LI

 

Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963),^[1] better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean^[2] martial artist, former Wushu champion, film actor, film producer, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most iconic Chinese film stars and one of the most renowned martial arts stars of his generation.^[3][4]

After three years of training with acclaimed Wushu teacher Wu Bin, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. Between 1974 and 1979, he won the title of Men's All-Around National Wushu Champion five times.^[5] After retiring from competitive Wushu at age 18, Li went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor, making his debut with the film Shaolin Temple (1982), which instantly catapulted him to stardom in East Asia.^[6] He went on to star in many critically acclaimed films, most notably as the lead in Zhang Yimou's Hero (2002), Fist of Legend (1994), the first three films in the Once Upon a Time in China series (1991–1993), in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei-hung, and Fearless (2006), which is loosely based on the life of Huo Yuanjia. His movie career in China is credited with reviving Wushu in Hong Kong martial arts films during the 1990s,^[5] and revitalising the Shaolin Temple.^[7] Li is also noted for his contribution to making new Wuxia films popular internationally during his career.^[6]

Li's first role in a non-Chinese film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), and his first leading role in a Hollywood film was as Han Sing in Romeo Must Die (2000). He has gone on to star in many international action films, including in French cinema with the Luc Besson-produced films Kiss of the Dragon (2001) and Unleashed (2005). He co-starred in The One (2001) and War (2007) with Jason Statham, The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) with Jackie Chan, the first three of The Expendables films with Sylvester Stallone, and as the title character villain in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008).

After a long movie career, in 2007 Li turned to philanthropy. He founded the One Foundation, an independent fundraising foundation in mainland China which mainly focuses on natural disaster relief, environmental protection, medical treatment, education and poverty problems. Since the start of the foundation, Li has been involved with recovery efforts in seven disasters, including the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the 2008 Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan, and the 2013 Lushan earthquake in Ya’an, Sichuan.^[8][9][10] Li also subsequently founded Taiji Zen, an online health and wellness program providing instruction in meditation and tai chi.^[11]