Kwai Chang Caine
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Kwai Chang Caine is a fictional television character played by David Carradine as an adult, Keith Carradine as a younger Caine and Radames Pera as the youngest Caine, in the 1972-1975 western television series, Kung Fu.
In the late 19th century, Kwai Chang Caine was the orphaned son of an American man and a Chinese woman. He was raised in a Shaolin monastery, and was trained by the monks to be a Shaolin master. Kung Fu follows his adventures as he travels to the American Old West (armed only with his skill in martial arts) as he seeks his half-brother, Danny Caine. Although it was his intention to find his brother Danny in a way which would escape notice, the demands of his training as a priest in addition to the sense of social responsibility which was instilled within him during his childhood, forced Caine to repeatedly come into the open to fight for justice. He would then leave his new surroundings in a further search for anonymity and security.
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[edit] Synopsis
In the late 19th century, Kwai Chang Caine was the orphaned son of an American man and a Chinese woman. He was raised in a Shaolin monastery, and was trained by the monks to be a Shaolin master.
Orphaned after his grandfather's death, Caine eventually found himself outside the local Shaolin temple along with other hopeful candidates. After waiting patiently for several days (even after being told to go home), Caine and the few other remaining candidates were taken inside the temple where only Caine passed a subtle test in manners. Although taking a student of mixed parentage into the order was unprecedented, the head monk sagely noted "There is always a first time," and welcomed Caine.
Following his induction into the order, Caine then lived in the temple until adulthood, mastering many of the fighting forms and lessons taught by the Shaolin monks. At one point during his training he was shown the various forms and his instructor explained that it would take a lifetime to master one of the forms. Later, while in America, when asked by a student which forms he teaches, Caine's response would be "All of them."
One of his first instructors, a blind monk named Po, became like a father to Caine and gave him the nickname "Grasshopper." The reference was from an exchange where the still ignorant young Caine asked the blind man how he could function without seeing. Po then described the room in detail, including a grasshopper at Caine's feet. Incredulous, Caine asked Po, "Old man - how do you see these things?". Po's reply was, "Young man, how do you not?". From that point on, Po affectionately called Caine "Grasshopper".
Years after his graduation, Caine travels to the capital to meet Po, whose lifelong ambition was to travel to the city on that date. While talking, the Emperor's nephew and his entourage come along and an altercation ensues. While defending himself from an unruly and belligerent guard, Master Po is shot from behind by the nephew. In a fit of rage, Caine kills both guards as well as the nephew. With his dying words, Po instructs Caine to flee to America. Caine ended up in the American Old West during which time he discovers that he has a half-brother, Danny. At the same time, he was on the run from a steady stream of bounty hunters and Chinese agents searching for him.
Although it was his intention to find Danny in a way which would escape notice, the demands of his training as a priest in addition to the sense of social responsibility which was instilled within him during his childhood, forced Caine to repeatedly come into the open to fight for justice. He would then leave his new surroundings in a further search for anonymity and security.
This conflict between a desire for anonymity and a sense of social reponsibility is conveyed through the frequent use of flashbacks. In these flashbacks, the adult Caine (Carradine) recalls a particular lesson during his training in the monastery while a child (Rad Pera) by his teachers, the blind Master Po (Keye Luke) and Master Kan (Philip Ahn).
During the concluding four episodes of the third (and final) season (Barbary House, Flight to Orion, The Brothers Caine, and Full Circle,) Caine not only finds his brother Danny, but his nephew Zeke as well.
[edit] Characteristics and skills
Caine is a Master In Shaolin Kung Fu. This school contained various arts in real Chinese history, but the styles known to the character are following:
In addition to lessons in physical combat and weapons, he was also instructed in eastern philosophy and medicine. Upon his graduation to rank as a Shaolin Master Caine left the school via a special exit designed for this purpose. Barring the exit was an iron cauldron with the figures of a dragon on one side and a tiger on the other. By lifting the cauldron with his forearms, the graduate (in this case Caine) brands himself with the figures. Caine therefore has a dragon branded on one inner forearm and a tiger on the other. On several occasions these scars were used to identify him as a Shaolin monk.
Caine's character is humble, intelligent, inquisitive, and usually very soft-spoken. His only known pastime is the playing of a bamboo flute. Caine is fluent in both Cantonese and English. He is also very skilled in the schools of herbalism and healing.
[edit] Teachers
- Master Kan: (Philip Ahn)
- Master Po: (Keye Luke)
[edit] Known relatives
[edit] Kung-Fu
- Father: Thomas Henry Caine
- Mother: Kwai Lin
- Brother: Daniel Kane
- Uncle: American farmer
- Grandfather: Henry Rafael Caine
- Grandmother: Elizabeth Hale Caine
- Nephew: Zeke (John Blyth Barrymore)
[edit] Kung-Fu: The Movie
- Son: Chung Wang (Brandon Lee)
[edit] Kung-Fu: The Next Generation
- Grandson: Kwai Chang Caine
- Great-grandson: Johnny Caine (Brandon Lee)
[edit] Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues
- Son: Matthew Caine
- Distant ancestor: Kwai Chang
- Grandson: Kwai Chang Caine
- Grandson: Damon Caine
- Grandson: Martin Bradshaw
- Great-grandson: Peter Caine
[edit] Trivia about Caine's name
In the third episode of season three ("The Small Beheading"), William Shatner's character presents Caine with a scroll that is written in Chinese. As the camera pans down the scroll, we see the Chinese characters for Caine's name for the first time in the series:
| Chinese | English | Zhangzhou accented Min Nan (POJ) | Mandarin (Pinyin) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 虔 | Caine | Khiân (IPA: [kʰɪɛn]) | Qián (IPA: [tɕʰiɛn]) |
| 官 | Kwai | Koaiⁿ (IPA: [kuaĩ]) | Guān (IPA: [kuan]) |
| 昌 | Chang | chhiang (IPA: [tɕʰiaŋ]) | chāng (IPA: [tʂʰɑŋ]) |
- note: in Chinese, the surname is written first
The Zhangzhou accented Min Nan pronunciation of the characters seems to most closely match the English spelling of Caine's name. In the series, Caine was supposed to have attended the Shaolin Temple in Henan province. The priests at the temple would most likely have spoken Mandarin. From the above, we may infer one of two possibilities:
- The series staff member who wrote the scroll was a native Min Nan speaker, and not overly concerned that viewers might pick up on such a subtle point.
- Caine's mother was from Amoy (Zhangzhou is just south of Amoy), which was China's main port in the 19th century for exporting tea. Caine's father would have likely met and fell in love with her there.
In order for the second scenario to work:
- Caine would have had to learn Mandarin (which is not mutually intelligible with Min Nan).
- Caine would have had to travel from Fujian to Henan (a distance of approx. 1100 km).
The most likely explanation could be that Caine's maternal grandfather was a Mandarin speaker living in Henan. Either Caine's mother moved to Henan to be with her grandfather after her husband died, or Caine's grandfather arranged for the boy to live with him after Caine's mother died. In the pilot episode, it was the grandfather who taught young Caine proper manners. Part of the grandfather's tutoring could have included instruction in Mandarin.
In the episode 'The Tong', Caine also communicates in Cantonese with the leader. Cantonese was the most frequently spoken Chinese dialect in the American west of the 19th century. It is entirely possible that Caine learned Cantonese so that he could communicate with his fellow Chinese.
[edit] Spin-offs
- In 1986 Kung Fu: The Movie premiered as a made-for-tv movie. In reality, the movie was the pilot for a new series in which Caine finds himself hunted by the father of the royal nephew killed by Caine in the original pilot. The royal's primary weapon against Caine is a young man named Chung Wang - unknowingly Caine's adult son (played by Brandon Lee).
- In 1987 a second series called Kung Fu:The Next Generation was supposed to be launched detailing the adventures of Caine with his newly discovered adult son, played by Brandon Lee. Throughout this series, Caine would travel with and teach his son of the Shaolin ways. The series idea never took off beyond the pilot, however, and was not launched.
- In 1993 a third series was begun, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, wherein Carradine played the grandson of the original Caine. Identical in appearance to the first Kwai Chang Caine and named after him as well, this Caine undertook a pilgrimage to seek out and reconcile with his son with whom he was separated twenty years ago. Now an adult man raised by a Los Angeles policeman, the son is also a detective - one who knows very little about martial arts or Shaolin mysticism.
[edit] References
- Pilato, Herbie J. The Kung Fu Book of Caine: The Complete Guide to TV's First Mystical Eastern Western. Boston: Charles A. Tuttle, 1993. ISBN 0-8048-1826-6
