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The emperor (Lau Siu Ming) is so into Taoism that he no longer
cares for his country. Within the nation, Taoists are oppressing
Buddhists and think that Taoism is the best thing.
Worried about the future of Buddhism, the lead monk of Shaolin
Temple decides to invite Dharma (Ray Lui) from India to
succeed him. He tells one of his disciples named Kok Yuen to go
find Dharma when he dies. The secret Kung Fu booklet, 'Do Fan
Ging,' is involved here. When the lead monk passes away, Kok Yuen
gets out of the temple, on a quest to find Dharma. He carries
the clothing that only the lead monk is qualified to wear, to
hand it to Dharma upon the will of the lead monk.
Wong Leung (Lai Han Chi) is the bad guy who has the highest
power in the nation after the emperor. He is after Do Fan Ging
and wishes to bring Shaolin down to claim it. He has an adopted
son with the last name Fong (Michael To) and a Taoist named
Tin Hui as his henchman. When they find out that Kok Yuen is out
to find the successor of Shaolin, they try to kill him. With his
luck, Kok Yuen survives all the time, even with the help of Dharma
(they passed by each other at one point but Kok Yuen didn't recognize
Dharma).
Yee Gwong (Jimmy Au) is a spoiled rich brat who only likes
to play around and drink. His father always scolds him for his
actions and tells him to be more like his older brother On
(Francis Ng). Ah Gwong is actually a good guy who likes to stand
up for justice. He coincidentally meets Kok Yuen who was being
chased after by Fong. He hides Kok Yuen in his house and makes
him disguise as his servant. When Ah Gwong claims that Kok Yuen
is simply his servant, Fong can't object and he just leaves the
Yee household.
Ah Gwong asks Kok Yuen why he was being chased after by Fong,
but Kok Yuen refuses to speak. Ah Gwong then sends a hitman (who
was actually his servant) to Kok Yuen at night and makes him tell
the truth. So Ah Gwong realizes that Kok Yuen is a disciple of
Shaolin who came to find Dharma. The package he always carries
so preciously is the clothing for a lead monk. Ah Gwong then assures
Kok Yuen that he will be under protection.
But Ah Gwong's dad who holds a high position in the government
doesn't want to go against Wong Leung who is more powerful than
him. So he tells his son to send Kok Yuen out, but he doesn't
listen.
While Ah Gwong and Kok Yuen are out, they are attacked by Tin
Hui and Fong. Ah Gwong fights Fong and unable to beat him, he
passes out. Dharma, who was walking by, rescues Kok Yuen and takes
him to the temple he was staying nearby. There, Kok Yuen realizes
that Dharma had been the person he was looking for.
When Ah Gwong wakes up, he goes out to search for Kok Yuen and
finds him, but misunderstands Dharma for trying to attack Kok
Yuen. But all goes well and Dharma and Kok Yuen return to Shaolin,
and Dharma becomes the new leader.
Ah Gwong one day hears about this pretty girl who knits and sews
in order to earn her family's living. He gets to contact her maid
and tells her that he wishes to speak to the lady. The lady and
her maid come out to meet him but pull a prank on him to see if
he is worthy of her attention, so it upsets Ah Gwong greatly.
But he is surprised when he sees the lady who comes out of the
palanquin, she was ugly as sin! But he tells her that the appearance
doesn't matter and says he wants to become her friend. Touched
by all this, the lady reveals her true self and Ah Gwong is immediately
captured by her beauty. This lady is Luk Lin (Amy Chan),
who lives in poverty with her father, older brother, and her maid.
Ah Gwong's older brother, On, is responsible to deliver the emperor's
birthday gifts safely to the palace. But he is robbed on his way
and also captured by the mountain thieves. When his father finds
out, he wants to rescue his son but doesn't know how. Ah Gwong
suggests that they should draft young and strong men from the
village and train them in order to kill the mountain thieves.
So the draft is sent out and every young man is dragged to the
army.
Luk Lin's older brother, Luk Wan, is always bedridden and almost
dying due to his illness. When he is called to the army, Luk Lin
decides that her brother won't be able to handle it, so she disguises
herself as him and gets drafted in his place.
In the army camp, Ah Gwong is at first jealous of Luk Lin (who
enlisted under the name Luk Wan) because she is clever and is
favored by his father. Just to oppose her idea, he goes to the
mountain thieves at night and attacks them, but almost gets himself
and all of his men killed. Realizing what a stubborn fool he had
been, he befriends Luk Lin, still not knowing that she is a woman.
With Luk Lin's intelligence and tactics, the army brings down
all the mountain thieves and safely rescues On. The emperor wants
to reward Luk Lin but she refuses because she knows when she gets
caught being a woman, she will be in deep trouble.
The downfall of the mountain thieves was mainly due to this one
idiot who got caught by the army and was forced to betray his
fellows. When he is jailed with rest of the mountain thieves,
they try to kill him so Ah Gwong rescues him and makes him promise
that he will be a new man now. So at first, he was reformed and
worked in the Yee household as a servant but he got himself in
trouble again, so Ah Gwong had no choice but to send him to Shaolin.
Ah Gwong talks to Dharma and he becomes a monk, and Dharma gives
him a monk name called "Wai Sau."
Ah Gwong continues to visit Luk Lin's house, still believing
that she is Luk Wan. He even tells her to introduce the 'sister'
because he is in love with her! But when the real Luk Wan dies
of his illness, Ah Gwong is saddened at first but finds out that
Luk Lin was actually the one he knew. So they confirm their feelings
for each other and start dating, but they can only meet secretly
because Ah Gwong is afraid of his father's opposition.
 Dharma takes
his disciples on his excursion to the palace because he needs
to deliver the emperor's gifts for some kind of Taoism celebration.
The emperor is very displeased when he sees Dharma because Dharma
is a righteous man and says only right things to him. But the
Princess (Teresa Mo) is intrigued by his morals and eventually
falls in love with him, which is strictly forbidden because he
is a monk. On top of that, the emperor is trying to marry her
off to some prince from a neighboring nation. When Ah Gwong finds
out about this, he tries to persuade Dharma but Dharma tells him
that there is nothing that can be done. Ah Gwong calls him heartless
and cruel. Dharma gives in and takes the Princess to Shaolin,
but Wong Leung comes after them and threatens to bring the whole
temple to its ruins. The Princess reluctantly follows Wong Leung
back to the palace, but when the wedding approached, she shaves
her head and becomes a nun, deciding that it is for her best interest.
Ah Gwong is having his own troubles with Luk Lin because his
parents, mainly the father, are strongly against their relationship.
Ah Gwong wishes to marry Luk Lin and when he tells his parents
about this, he is given an ultimatum- if he marries her, he will
be disowned. He decides to go along with his will and marries
Luk Lin anyway and lives at her house. But one day, his brother
On visits him and asks him to leave the town with Luk Lin and
the rest because he is giving his father a bad reputation for
marrying a peasant girl. So Ah Gwong takes Luk Lin, her father,
and her maid and seeks Dharma for help. Dharma gives him a piece
of land from Shaolin and helps him settle down and everything.
Luk Lin gets pregnant and even though Ah Gwong has been disowned,
his mother misses him greatly and comes to Shaolin to see him
near the baby's birth time. She names the baby 'Chan.' Ah Gwong
and Luk Lin live next 5 years in happiness.
5 years later, Ah Gwong and Luk Lin are still living near Shaolin
with their son, Ah Chan. Ah Gwong hears the news that his father
is ill, so he goes back home to pay his visit. Ah Gwong's father
doesn't welcome him and Luk Lin at first because he is still unhappy
that his son defied him and married her, but when he sees Ah Chan,
he changes his mind and the family comes to a point of reconciliation.
Wong Leung still performs all the bad deeds with Tin Hui and
Fong. Ah Gwong's father asks the emperor to help the refuges and
poor people by awarding them sacks of rice. But Wong Leung orders
his men to switch the rice with dirt, and he takes the rice instead.
Yee On, the one who was in charge of distributing the rice, gets
upset when he finds this out and goes to Wong Leung to protest.
But Yee On is powerless compared to Wong Leung, and when Ah Gwong
discovers this, he goes to Wong Leung with his wife and yells
at him.
At this time, Wong Leung was having a tea with the King (the
emperor's younger brother). When the King sees Ah Gwong's wife
Luk Lin, he falls for her and wishes to claim her. So Wong Leung
sets up a conspiracy and later invites Ah Gwong and Luk Lin to
his house, to 'apologize.' Ah Gwong, Luk Lin, Wong Leung, and
the King are all eating their dinner and when Wong Leung leaves
the spot, the King says to Ah Gwong and Luk Lin that he never
really liked Wong Leung and he wants to tell the emperor about
all the evil things Wong Leung does. So he asks Ah Gwong if he
could write up a report to give to the emperor, and tells him
that Luk Lin will stay in a separate room while Ah Gwong finishes
the task.
When Ah Gwong is in the other room writing his report, the King
tries to rape Luk Lin. But Ah Gwong comes into save her in time
and accidentally leaves a scar on the King's arm. Incredibly angry
with all this, Ah Gwong and Luk Lin escape in hurry.
That night, when the King is sleeping, Tin Hui sneaks in and
puts some kind of deadly poison on the King's wound from Ah Gwong's
knife. So the King dies and the next thing Ah Gwong knows is that
he has been accused of this murder! The emperor orders his execution
and Wong Leung is the one to perform this. On the execution day,
the whole Yee family comes to rescue Ah Gwong. In the process,
Ah Gwong's father, mother, and On are all killed. Ah Gwong is
separated from Luk Lin and his son, and barely escapes to Shaolin.
 Dharma pities
Ah Gwong for all the things that happened to him. Ah Gwong wishes
to become a Shaolin disciple so he can learn the high Kung Fu
and avenge for his family's death. But Dharma tells him that in
order to become a monk, there has to be no hatred and anger harbored
in one's mind. However, Ah Gwong is so determined to become Dharma's
disciple. Dharma tries to make him give up by telling him, 'If
you can make the snow turn red, I will accept you.' Ah Gwong accomplishes
this by cutting off his arm, and the snow turns red from his blood.
So Dharma has no choice but to accept him, and thus, Ah Gwong
becomes a monk and his official name is Wai Ka (but I will continue
to refer to him as Ah Gwong).
Ah Gwong buries so much hatred and vengeful thoughts in him,
it makes Dharma worry. The training for him is exceptionally hard
because he now has only one arm. But with his determination, he
is able to learn Kung Fu.
A while later (I am assuming it is a few years because his son
couldn't recognize him), when he is passing by some place, he
sees the wildflowers and is reminded of his wife. So he follows
the trail of flowers and amazingly discovers his wife and the
son. Luk Lin, who thought her husband had been dead all along,
is very happy to see him, but is soon crushed when she sees his
shaved head, wearing a Shaolin costume. Ah Gwong, as glad as he
is to know that Luk Lin and Ah Chan are still alive, is still
stubborn about remaining his status as a monk. So he tells Luk
Lin to forget all about him, which is an impossibility for her.
She decides to take on the revenge herself and recklessly goes
to fight Wong Leung, but is captured as a result. Wong Leung publicly
tortures her in order to attract Ah Gwong who possesses 'Do Fan
Ging' now. Ah Gwong is witnessing all this in the streets but
is unable to help. At last, he is about to step up but some nun
stops him, and it turns out to be the Princess.
With the help of Dharma, Ah Gwong is able to fight Wong Leung
and try to save Luk Lin but unfortunately, Luk Lin gets killed
by Wong Leung here. Before she dies, she begs her husband to not
to avenge for her death and also to take care of Ah Chan, even
though he is a monk. But Ah Gwong is unable to keep the 1st promise,
as he is now even more determined. He forgets about everything
else (except Ah Chan) and only practices his Kung Fu.
 Dharma is pleased
with how bright Ah Gwong is, so he is thinking of appointing Ah
Gwong as the next leader of Shaolin. Wai Sau (the reformed mountain
thief in the beginning) is very jealous of Ah Gwong for this fact.
Seeing this as a chance, Wong Leung bribes him that he'd help
him get the spot of the next leader if he kills Dharma. Out of
mixed emotions of guilt and greed, Wai Sau poisons Dharma. Dharma
dies from this and the Kung Fu booklet, 'Do Fan Ging,' is handed
over to Ah Gwong.
Wong Leung breaks his promise to Wai Sau and lets Fong take over
Shaolin, so the holy temple becomes the place of sin, as Fong
likes to drink, eat meat, and be around women all the time. Wai
Sau is kicked out of Shaolin by his fellow monks for what he did
to Dharma. He eventually turns insane and dies.
One fateful night, Ah Gwong decides to go on a revenge spree
when he is confident that his skills learned from 'Do Fan Ging'
are high enough to win over Wong Leung. Ah Gwong first kills Fong
and Tin Hui, then later attacks Wong Leung in the forest. At first,
Wong Leung is winning over him. Ah Gwong seemingly fails and as
Wong Leung is trying to kill him, he asks, "Were you the one who
killed the King?" Wong Leung answers 'Yes' and when the answer
is heard, behind the bushes, there are the Princess and the emperor.
While Wong Leung is shocked by this plan, Ah Gwong brings him
down and kills him.
The emperor offers Ah Gwong that he will be able to claim all
his former family honor, but Ah Gwong refuses, now that he is
a monk and the leader of Shaolin. When the disciples of Shaolin
and he pay their respect in front of Dharma's grave, they see
an image of Dharma rising to the heaven.
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