Golden Sparrow
How good is your kung fu?
Lu Yan
He's got no kung fu. None!
The Forbidden Kingdom quotes
Page 1 of 2 Lu Yan
Jade Warlord
The seeker from the prophecy. Not quite what I expected.
Jason Tripitikas
A man is dying on Song Mountain. I need the elixir.
Jade Warlord
The power to save a life for the power to rule a kingdom, a most generous offer. This man, a good friend?
Jason Tripitikas
And a good teacher.
Jade Warlord
The man who honors his teacher honors himself.
Jason Tripitikas
How long as he been imprisoned?
Lu Yan
Five hundred years, give or take a few decades.
Jason
So how do I get home?
Lu Yan
You must return the staff you Five Elements Mountain, you must free the Monkey King!
Jason
I can't free the Monkey King. I gotta get home
Lu Yan
(ignoring Jason for the moment)
Innkeeper, more wine!
Jason
Geez, don't you think you had one too many?
Lu Yan
Wine is my inspiration. In some parts, I'm known as a poet. Gan bei. (Mandarin for 'cheers')
Lu Yan
[innkeeper arrives with the bill]
In other parts, I'm known as a beggar. [gently moves the innkeeper towards Jason for him to pay]
Jason Tripitikas
I can't understand you!
Lu Yan
[in English, when he previously spoke in a Chinese dialect]
That's because you're not listening!
Jason
Is this a dream?
Lu Yan
No, where you come from is the dream, through the gate of no gate.
Jason
What is that, like a wormhole or something?
Lu Yan
No, either you are a Zen Master, or you carry something very special.
Jason
[points to the staff]
This? It was in a pawnshop waiting for a guy to pick it up, and return it to its rightful owner.
Lu Yan
How can you fill your cup when it's full? Empty your cup.
Lu Yan
[Jason tosses tea out of his cup; it falls on the fire and puts it out]
It is hopeless! Hopeless!
Lu Yan
It is said that master and student walk side-by-side, sharing their fate, until they go their separate ways.
Jason
I will never forget you.
Lu Yan
I guess that's what being immortal truly means.
Silent Monk
What about two tigers, one mountain?
Lu Yan
We can kill each other when this is over.
Jason
[guards come into the inn]
What are we gonna do?
Lu Yan
How good is your Kung Fu?
Lu Yan
[Jason does not reply immediately]
Ah! He who speaks, does not know. He who knows, does not speak. Surely, you're masterful.
Lu Yan
[Lu Yan is in bed, dying from his arrow wound]
When I was your age, I was a scholar-warrior in training. My arrow was good, so too my kung fu. I was chosen to take the several exams. To pass would place me among a short line of scholar immortals. I failed.
Jason
You're not immortal?
Lu Yan
If one does not attach himself to people and desires, never shall his heart be broken. ....But then, does he ever truly live? I'd rather die a mortal, with a care for someone, than to live as an immortal free from his death.
Jason
I don't wanna lose you.
Lu Yan
Forget about me.
Monkey King
[grinning impishly and merrily at the Jade Warlord]
My turn!
The Silent Monk
But do not name it, my friend, for it is like water. Nothing is softer than water yet it can overcome rock. It does not fight. It flows around the opponent, formless, nameless.
Lu Yan
Formless, nameless, the true master dwells within. Only you can free him.
Ni Chang
How romantic. Men will tell you what you want to hear, Sparrow, but in the end they will leave you with nothing!
Lu Yan
Kung-Fu. Hard work over time to accomplish skill. A painter can have kung-fu. Or the butcher who cuts meat every day with such skill his knife never touches bone.