Does Chen Zhen exist in history?

Main answer

Chen Zhen did exist in history, but he was not the one in the legend. The story of Chen Zhen in movies and TV series is fictional.

Supplementary answer

Chen Zhen, a native of Xiangyang, Hubei, later lived in Xuhui District, Shanghai, and was a disciple of Huo Yuanjia, a martial artist in the late Qing Dynasty. According to legend, he was killed by the Japanese after avenging his master who was killed by the Japanese. In fact, this is just a rumor from outsiders. Chen Zhen did not die. He just fled Shanghai and immigrated to the Philippines (there is also a rumor that he immigrated to Malaysia). Later he lived in seclusion. This legend has been made into movies and TV series many times. Many film and television works portray Chen Zhen as Huo Yuanjia's fifth apprentice.

According to legend, Chen Zhen was an abandoned baby boy on the roadside in Xiangyang, Hubei. At that time, Huo Yuanjia, a kind-hearted martial arts practitioner, was meeting friends in Hubei and happened to find the baby boy on the roadside. Huo Yuanjia suddenly felt pity, adopted the poor orphan, took him back to Shanghai Jingwu Hall, and named him Chen Zhen.

When he was a child, due to Chen Zhen's physical weakness, Huo Yuanjia thought that Chen Zhen was not suitable for martial arts training, so he did not teach Chen Zhen martial arts. But Chen Zhen secretly vowed to stand out and win glory for his master! Every day, when Huo Yuanjia was teaching martial arts to his brothers and sisters, Chen Zhen lay on the rafters and secretly learned Huo Yuanjia's martial arts and practiced hard in private. Until one day, Chen Zhen said to his master Huo Yuanjia: I have learned your most expressive martial art-Mizong Fist. Please accept me as your disciple. I will work hard. Huo Yuanjia was greatly surprised. Chen Zhen actually learned this martial art with great proficiency, which even Chen Zhen's senior brothers and sisters had not learned! While I feel sorry for Chen Zhen's pitiful life experience, I am even more proud of Chen Zhen's super talent! Huo Yuanjia immediately taught Chen Zhen all kinds of more powerful and peerless martial arts (it is said that Huo Yuanjia personally taught Chen Zhen more than 60 kinds of peerless martial arts! After Chen Zhen's death, many of them were lost).

Chen Zhen is not only highly skilled, but after his master Huo Yuanjia was suddenly killed, he returned from Japan to redress his master's injustice and rectify the bloody shame of Jingwu Hall. This figure enjoys a similar reputation as Huo Yuanjia and became a national hero who bravely resisted Japan. In fact, historical records about Huo Yuanjia's apprentices do include Chen Zhen, but he is not who he is in the legend. When Bruce Lee originally filmed "Fist of Fury", he invited Ni Kuang to write the script. Chen Zhen, the most profitable "Fist of Fury Hero", was tailor-made by Ni Kuang in 1972 for the kung fu superstar Bruce Lee. There are many stories about Chen Zhen in the play It's all fiction. Chen Zhen's life experience should be taken from Liu Zhensheng, who trained under his master; his character should be taken from Chen Qimei, who dares to think and do whatever it takes, and has a background in Japan; his martial arts must be taken from Chen Gongzhe and Chen Tiesheng, real martial arts masters.