Jointly and respectively directed by King Hu, Lee Hsing, and Pai Ching-Jui, three major Taiwan directors of the 1970s, this film consist of three shorts with the same cast of two actors and one actress, who through reincarnation meet in three different times.
The Crane Fighter is set just after the majority of the Shaolin monks have been outlawed and killed by the, I think, Ching Dynasty. A few have escaped, and live secretly among the common people. One old guy has a daughter that he has forbidden to learn kung fu, but she does so anyway, by watching some other monks in a nearby temple.
Beggars are being killed left and right to get their old leader to come out of hiding and face an old enemy. Meanwhile, young Wu Han Wei is being instructed by his blind grandfather to learn all six styles of the Butterfly technique. But when an old crazy beggar befriends the young student, his fate turns out to be intertwined with that of the fearsome Lu Din, a man with no arms or legs.
A corrupt Shaolin assassin, a master in Iron Claws, is hired to threaten members of the Ching Dynasty into resigning a secret letter for the restoration of the monarchy. The plot is unravelled when a police chief captures one of the assailants. The Shaolin Iron Master must be destroyed...
In wake of the First Sino-Japanese War 1894-1895, a group of Japanese warlords calculate that the best way to prepare an invasion of the rest of China from their southern Manchuria staging ground.
Despite the national resistance, the Manchurians have taken over China, but the Ching Emperor fears that the Shaolin Temple disciples would overthrow the dynasty. So he disguises himself as a disciple, in order to become a kung fu master and control the Shaolin monks. But according to custom, he must pass the test of the legendary 18 Bronzemen before he can leave the Temple.
During the Manchurian invasion of China, the son of the Ming Dynasty General takes refuge in the Shaolin Temple to learn martial arts, so that he may seek revenge for his dead father. But he must first endure the rigorous test of the temple's legendary 18 Bronzemen.
Lui is a powerful ex-minister who opposes the ambitious premier Hu Wei Yen. Lui is assassinated, so his daughter Lui Sin and an assorted band of people loyal to the emperor seeks revenge and justice. The premier made a mistake - he allowed a scroll of battle orders to fall into loyalist hands. Lui and Co learn this, and vow to take this proof of treason to the emperor.