King of Beggars
King of Beggars is a 1992 Hong Kong martial-arts comedy film directed by Gordon Chan, starring Stephen Chow, Sharla Cheung, Ng Man-tat and Norman Chui. It is a loose retelling of the legend of So Chan, also known as Beggar So, a famed fighter from Canton.
Plot in brief:
So Chan is the spoiled son of a rich Canton general. He is lazy but a skilled martial artist, and he falls for Yu-shang, a prostitute who is secretly working to avenge her father by targeting a corrupt official, Chiu Mo-kei. To win Yu-shang’s love, So enters the imperial martial arts contest. His father helps him cheat on the written part of the exam, and So wins through his martial arts skill. But the emperor discovers he is illiterate and confiscates his family’s wealth, turning them into beggars.
As a beggar, So struggles until he joins the Beggars’ Gang. An elderly beggar helps him heal and teaches him the Sleeping Arhat Skill. Yu-shang is kidnapped by Chiu, and So, pretending to be possessed by the gang’s spirit, becomes their leader. He studies the gang’s ancient martial arts manual and learns seventeen of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.
Chiu traps Yu-shang with magic and tries to use her to kill the emperor. So leads the Beggars across the Great Wall to stop Chiu and fights him. Although his initial moves aren’t enough, the final move is created by combining the first seventeen moves, which defeats Chiu and saves Yu-shang and the emperor.
In the end, Yu-shang agrees to marry So. The emperor asks what reward he wants; So chooses to remain the King of Beggars, arguing that as long as people are cared for, there will be no beggars to threaten the throne. So and Yu-shang wander the streets with their growing family, aided by an imperial tablet that lets them collect money from the rich.
The film’s theme song is The Long Road Accompanies You On Your Adventure, performed by George Lam. Composer: Joseph Koo; lyricist: James Wong Jim.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:29 (CET).