The Happiest Moment

An old man of the village tells kinky ghost stories to a few of it's inhabitants after all the kids have gone to bed. What follows are stories that have horror elements and some soft-core nudity thrown in.

TIGER KILLER (1982) is a straightforward adaptation of one story from the sprawling Chinese literary epic, "The Water Margin." It tells the tale of Wu Song, who slays a man-eating tiger preying on farmers and villagers and becomes the hero of the province, getting appointed as a constable by the local magistrate. He is reunited with his older brother, the short, disfigured Wu the Elder, a peddler of buns, who invites Wu Song to move in with him and his new wife. The wife, Golden Lotus, is an attractive young former maid who had been forced to marry Wu the Elder as punishment for getting caught in bed with her master by the master's wife. She takes a liking to the handsome, strong Wu Song, who rebuffs her attempts to seduce him. When Wu Song is sent on a long journey, the wife begins an affair with a rich local merchant. When Wu Song returns from his mission, he is met with shocking news which sets off a series of violent acts of retribution.

This story is centering around a Ming Dynasty brothel that steams with secret erotic myths, trysts and twists of pleasurable indulgence. A shaw production

Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin Lien, the beautiful wife of one of the townspeople.

Hsi Shih: The Beauty of Beauties was one of the most ambitious films made in the Taiwan film industry in the 1960s. After leaving The Shaw Brothers studio in Hong Kong and moving to Taiwan, filmmaker Li Han-hsiang mounted this historical epic. Told through the story of Xishi (Hsi Shih), one of the 'Four Great Beauties' of Chinese history, the film portrays the war between two Chinese Kingdoms during the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C). After the kingdom of Yue is defeated by the kingdom of Wu, King Goujian of Yue takes pains to prepare for his revenge and rebuild his country. Knowing that King Fucha of Wu is lewd and lustful, he offers Xisi to the court of Wu to serve as Fucha’s concubine, with Fucha unaware that she is also a spy. She uses her charm to draw Fucha away from his office and governance, while King Goujian rallies his forces together to attempt to reclaim his lands.

Hong Kong comedy directed by Li Han-Hsiang.

In this dreamy romance set in China during the fourth-century, a young woman convinces her parents to allow her to dress as a boy and attend university.

Directed by some of most well known Chinese-language directors of the time, the portmanteau film Four Moods was an attempt to alleviate Li Han-hsiang’s financial troubles during the late 1960s. Arguably one of his best works, King Hu’s short Anger is an adaptation of the famous Peking opera San Cha Kou; set to opera instrumentation and stylishly shot, the film deftly captures the tense showdown between political schemers, avengers and vagabonds inside an inn. Li Han-hsiang’s Happiness, inspired by the Strange Tales of Liaozhai, tells a tale of reprieve for a kind-hearted ghost, while Pai Ching-Jui’s Joy and Lee Hsing’s Sadness both explore the fateful encounters between mortal men and ghostly women.

Han Hsiang Li's lush epic re-creates the fascinating life and times of Tzu Hsi, the Manchu Qing dynasty empress who rose from the ranks of Emperor Xianfeng's many concubines to become the de facto ruler of China for nearly 50 years.

Dramatization of events from the Second Opium War which culminated in the looting and destruction of imperial estate "Yuan Ming Yuan", AKA the Old Summer Palace by invading English and French troops.

A corrupt local official, Xi Men Qing, who lusts after women and money, pursues his brother's young wife, Lee Ping Er. Ping finds Men attractive, and under her drunken husband's nose, she and Men work their way through the illustrations of a pillow book, the "Golden Lotus." Men pursues the same feat with his fourth concubine, Pan Jing Lien, who lives in the compound next to Ping. Jing's jealousy compounds a tale of humiliation, childbirth, death, and depravity. Does karma or enlightenment await anyone?

No list of the screen's comic geniuses would be complete without Michael Hui Kwun-man. He created a hilarious and lovable comic persona that was both uniquely Asian but also universally beloved. This, his first film, not only showcased his incomparable sense of humor but revolutionized Hong Kong comedy. Evoking Chaplin, he plays a warlord in early 20th Century China, but makes the role his own with both laughs and some of the sexiest ladies on the Shaw Brothers lot.

The renowned Li Li Hua plays Wu Ze Tian, the most famous woman in China's four thousand year history.

Perhaps the most notorious concubine in Chinese history, Yang Guifei set a pudgy standard of beauty in her days of glory during the Tang dynasty. The Emperor Minghuang was so besotted with the woman that when An Lushan stages his rebellion against the empire, the ruler takes Yang Guifei along with his imperial entourage in an escape to the mountainous area of modern-day Sichuan, and sanctuary of sorts. But the concubine had roused the jealousy of the court and unfortunately for her and to the great sorrow of the king, her brother and others among the king's retainers demanded she be strangled to death while they were still in the mountains. This is the story told in this interesting Taiwanese adaptation by director Li Han-hsiang (Li Hanxiang).

Tang Dynasty emperors, Ming Dynasty scholars, assorted fortunetellers, and several Buddhist monks figure in a trio of erotic and mystical Chinese legends.