Young men, angered by the repressive and corrupt Ching government, come to the Shaolin Temple to study. Fearing that the Shaolin Temple is a harbor for rebels wanting to overthrow the government, the Ching Emperor Yungzheng kills the monks wherever he can find them. After the Emperor orders the destruction of the Shaolin Temple, his name becomes the most feared and hated in China. After years of struggling, the surviving Shaolin disciples, led by Carter Wong, move to assassinate the Emperor. This epic tale of Manchu China has all the scope and action you'd expect from Hong Kong master Joseph Kuo.

A general goes on a search for a book that reveals the names of revolutionaries in the area, leading to a showdown at a Shaolin temple where he faces off against the revolutionaries.

During the Cultural Revolution in China in the late 20th century, ethnic Manchu people were persecuted and forced to give up such cultural traditions as the shaman dance (tiao tchin, meaning "spirit-jumping" or "god's dance"). However, on Changbai Mountain in Northeast China, a farmer named Guan Yunde decided to start designing and building traditional Manchu shaman drums. At age 70, he is one of a minority of ethnic Manchu people in China's Jilin province, and one of the few people keeping the Manchu shamanic tradition alive.