A Touch of Zen (1971)
1971 Taiwanese wuxia film directed by King Hu
- Released
- 1971
- Country
- Taiwan, Hong Kong
- Language
- Standard Taiwanese Mandarin
- Genre
- Martial arts film
- Director
- King Hu
- Screenplay
- King Hu
- Editing
- King Hu
- Starring
- Hsu Feng, Roy Chiao, Tien Peng, Wang Rui, Miao Tian
- Running time
- 200 minutes
- Production company
- Union Films
- Distributor
- Netflix
- Budget
- HK$678,321
- Set in
- Ming dynasty
A Touch of Zen (俠女) is a two-part wuxia film written, co-edited and directed by King Hu, originally released in 1970 and 1971. The film is set in the Ming dynasty under the dominance of eunuchs and explores a variety of themes including the transcendence of dichotomies, Zen Buddhism, feminism, conservative female roles, and the ghost story.
The film was produced in Taiwan and funded by the Union Film Company. In his book on the film, Stephen Teo suggests that the film has roots in Hong Kong cinema, noting the number of both Taiwanese and Hong Kong actors and crew members. Because the director Hu was a filmmaker in the Shaw Brothers Studio before moving to Taiwan, the emergence of the film established the international visibility of the Hong Kong New Wave. At the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, the film was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Technical Grand Prize award, the second-ever Chinese-language film to win an award at the festival.
More films directed by King Hu
- Come Drink with Me 1966
- Dragon Gate Inn 1967
- The Fate of Lee Khan 1973
- The Valiant Ones 1975
- Raining in the Mountain 1979
- The Swordsman 1990
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q704780 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.