General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

A Chinese Ghost Story (倩女幽魂)

A Chinese Ghost Story (倩女幽魂) is a 1987 Hong Kong supernatural romance film directed by Ching Siu-tung and produced by Tsui Hark for Cinema City, adapted from the story "Nie Xiaoqian" in Pu Songling's Qing-dynasty collection Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (聊斋志异). Leslie Cheung plays the scholar Ning Choi-san, who falls in love with the ghost Nie Xiaoqian (Joey Wong), and the film blends romance, horror, fantasy, martial-arts action, and comedy.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Release	Hong Kong premiere 18 July 1987; Taiwan 15 August 1987³
Director / producer	Ching Siu-tung (director), Tsui Hark (producer); screenplay by Yuen Kai-chi¹
Production company	Cinema City¹
Cast	Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong, Wu Ma, Lau Siu-ming, Lam Wai¹
Source	Pu Songling's "Nie Xiaoqian" from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio¹
Major awards	Three wins at the 7th Hong Kong Film Awards (1988), including Best Art Direction; four Golden Horse Awards⁴^•⁵^•¹⁶
Follow-ups	Sequels in 1990 and 1991 and a 1997 animated film⁶

Spoilers

Story and source

The plot follows Ning Choi-san (Leslie Cheung), a penniless young scholar and tax collector who takes shelter for the night in the abandoned Lanro Temple, over the objections of the Taoist swordsman Yen Chek-ha (Wu Ma). Attracted by qin music at midnight, he meets the beautiful Nie Xiaoqian (Joey Wong), not knowing she is a ghost controlled by the thousand-year tree demon Lau-lau (Lau Siu-ming), who forces her to lure men so it can drain their life essence. Seeing that Ning is honest and kind, she cannot bring herself to harm him, and the two fall in love. Ning and Yen Chek-ha then join forces against the tree demon and the Old Demon of Black Mountain so that Xiaoqian can be reincarnated, though the lovers are parted between the worlds of the living and the dead.³^•⁷^•²

The story had reached the screen before. Li Han-hsiang directed a 1960 Shaw Brothers version of the same tale, and the 1987 film was created anew from that earlier picture, adding comic dialogue and Tsui Hark's characteristic special effects.⁸^•⁷ The Hong Kong Film Archive credits the production with reinterpreting the classic from a modern perspective, pairing a modern-style romance between a human and a ghost with Hong Kong-style fight scenes, comedy, and visual effects.⁹

Production and style

A hybrid genre film. The Hong Kong Film Archive describes the film as kicking off a new trend of supernatural-themed films in Hong Kong cinema, with Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-tung responsible for the special effects and action scenes while Cheung and Wong provided the emotional anchor as the star-crossed lovers.¹ Reviewers have noted its rapid genre shifting across action, romance, comedy, horror, and musical numbers, its use of slow motion and tilted angles, and action choreography by Ching Siu-tung.⁴ Art director Yee Chung-man's production design was singled out at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and the Archive credits it with making the film's visual effects exceptionally rich.⁴^•⁹

The music by Romeo Díaz and James Wong, and the title song sung by Leslie Cheung, became part of the film's identity; the Archive notes that Cheung's rendition of "倩女幽魂" is still widely sung.⁴^•⁷

Reception and awards

At the 7th Hong Kong Film Awards (1988) the film won Best Art Direction (Yee Chung-man), Best Original Score (Romeo Díaz and James Wong), and Best Original Song, and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Joey Wong), Best Supporting Actor (Wu Ma), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Action Design.⁴^•³ The American Film Institute catalog records five Golden Horse Awards including Best Feature Film, and the Hong Kong Film Archive notes that Wu Ma won the Golden Horse Best Supporting Actor award for his Taoist swordsman.⁵^•⁷ The Fribourg International Film Festival states that the film won awards at all the fantasy film festivals of 1987 and 1988 and calls it a landmark in the history of ghost films.¹⁰

Although it did not make Hong Kong's annual box-office top 10, the film revived the ghost-film genre that had dominated local screens earlier in the decade.¹¹ It never had a theatrical release in mainland China, yet it became a cult hit there through its mix of comedy, romance, and idealism, a following that scholars have studied as a case of cross-border film reception.⁵^•¹²

Legacy and adaptations

The film's success produced A Chinese Ghost Story II (1990) and A Chinese Ghost Story III (1991), and an animated version of the same story in 1997.⁶ Its influence reached Hollywood: Sam Raimi borrowed scenes from the film for an Evil Dead film and for episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess.¹³ A third live-action remake, directed by Wilson Yip, followed in 2011, making three Hong Kong film versions of "Nie Xiaoqian" in 1960, 1987, and 2011.⁸

The 1987 film has remained in circulation through restorations and re-releases. A 4K restoration was re-released in mainland China on 21 March 2025, following a 2009 mainland re-release.³ The Hong Kong Film Archive has screened a 2K digital restoration in its repertory programs, and the film appears in its "100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies" selection.¹⁴^•¹⁵

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026