Five Shaolin Masters
Directed by	Chang Cheh
Written by	I Kuang
Produced by	Run Run Shaw
Starring	David Chiang Ti Lung Alexander Fu Sheng Chi Kuan Chun Meng Fei Wang Lung Wei
Cinematography	Kung Mu To, Hsu Te Li
Edited by	Kuo Ting Hung
Music by	Chen Yung Yu
Distributed by	Shaw Brothers Studio
Release date	25 December 1974 (1974-12-25)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Languages	Cantonese Mandarin

Five Shaolin Masters a.k.a. 5 Masters Of Death (Chinese: 少林五祖) is a 1974 Shaw Brothers kung fu film directed by Chang Cheh, with action choreography by Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing.

The film focuses on Shaolin's historic rivalries with the Qing Dynasty.

Plot

Five young fighters survive to escape the burning Shaolin temple after the Qing soldiers destroyed it in Shaolin Temple. The five regroup and establish secret codes to identify themselves and fellow patriots. They swear vengeance and decide to enlist other patriots, then reunite to escape from the Qing forces. They also commit to uncovering the identity of the traitorous insider who had sold out the Shaolin temple.

The traitor, Ma Fu-Yi, joins with top Qing fighters to eliminate the rebels, but he is exposed by Ma Chao-Tsing, one of the five Shaolin escapees, who gets captured. Hu Te-Ti meets up with a group of Shaolin fighters secretly posing as bandits and recruits them to help rescue Ma Chao-Tsing. Their bandit leader is killed in the process, so the bandits join the rest of the Shaolin patriots to fight the Qing invaders.

Suffering successive defeats at the hands of the Qing kung fu experts, the five young fighters return to the Shaolin temple ruins to perfect their kung fu and prepare to take revenge for their destroyed temple and murdered comrades. Each of the five must face a more seasoned master in single combat, so each trains to master fighting forms and techniques to counter the specific skills and weaponry of each individual enemy, man-to-man.

Cast

The five Shaolin patriots:

• Ti Lung as Tsai Te-Chung (Chinese: 蔡德中; Cantonese Yale: Cài Dézhōng)
• Alexander Fu Sheng as Ma Chao-Hsing (Chinese: 馬朝興; Cantonese Yale: Mǎ Cháo-xìng)
• Meng Fei as Fang Ta-Hung (Chinese: 方大鴻; Cantonese Yale: Fāng Dàhóng)
• Chi Kuan Chun as Li Shih-Kai (Chinese: 李世凱; Cantonese Yale: Lǐ Shì-kǎi)
• David Chiang as Hu Te-Ti (Chinese: 胡特提; Cantonese Yale: Hú Tè-tí)

Their five main adversaries:

• Liang Chia Jen as Chien San (Chinese: 建山; Cantonese Yale: Jiàn Shān)
• Feng Ko An as Chang Chin-Chiu (Chinese: 張金秋; Cantonese Yale: Zhāng Jīn-qiū)
• Chiang Tao as Chen Wen-Yao (Chinese: 陳文耀; Cantonese Yale: Chén Wén-yào)
• Tsai Hung as Pao Yu-Lung (Chinese: 鮑裕隆; Cantonese Yale: Bào Yù-lóng)
• Wang Lung Wei as Ma Fu-Yi (Chinese: 馬福義; Cantonese Yale: Mǎ Fú-yì)