stories, specific skills can be learned by spending several years in seclusion with a master or training with a group of fighters. Menpai (门派) Menpai is often translated as sect, school, society, church, house, or cult. Members of the same menpai follow the guidance and train under the same leader. If the members of the menpai are related, then it can be translated as clan. Since some of the menpai are religiously affiliated, sect have come to be a common translation for the non-family based menpai. However, it would be inaccurate to use sect to denote menpais that are not associated with religion. Literature Notable modern wuxia writers include: Comics New and original wuxia writings have dwindled significantly in modern times, particularly so as patronage and readerships of the genre decimated due to readily available alternatives in entertainment such as DVDs, gaming consoles, and other newer forms of entertainment. However, the genre has persisted in the form of manhua (Chinese comics) in places like Hong Kong and Taiwan, with the core essentials of the wuxia genre living on in weekly editions equivalent to the Japanese manga. Some notable comic artists are listed as follows: Film and television The earliest wuxia films date back to the 1920s. Extant early wuxia films produced in China include Red Heroine (1929), Woman Warrior White Rose (1929), and Woman Warrior of the Wild River 6: Rumble at Deerhorn Gully (1930), the sixth film in a series. Hua Mu Lan (1939), another surviving film, is considered a representative of the second wave of wuxia films, during the Anti-Japanese War. Films directed by King Hu and produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio featured sophisticated action choreography using wire and trampoline assisted acrobatics combined with sped-up camera techniques. The storylines in the early films were loosely adapted from existing literature. Cheng Pei-pei, Jimmy Wang and Connie Chan are among the better known wuxia movie stars in the 1960s–70s, when films made by King Hu and the Shaw Brothers Studio were most prominent. More recent wuxia movie actors and actresses include Jet Li, Brigitte Lin, Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen, Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi. Yuen Woo-ping is a choreographer who achieved fame by crafting action-sequences in wuxia films. Wuxia was introduced to Hollywood studios in 2000 by Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, though influence of the genre was previously seen in the United States in the 1970s television