The Chinese Manchus were a northern tribal people who conquered the country and formed the last Imperial dynasty. Most Chinese considered the Manchus to be foreigners. Many patriotic Chinese formed themselves into secret groups and sought martial-arts training at the anti-Imperial Shaolin temple. In this movie, Shih, a former student at the Shaolin temple who has defected to the Manchus, leads in the effort to suppress that temple and the martial arts which came from it. The abbot of that temple is forced to hunt down the renegade monk Shih. He finds unexpected allies on the road. The film was directed by Wu Yu Sen, who later became better known to Western audiences as John Woo.