Ip Man's Grave

Portrayed by Donnie Yen in the film series named after him and loosely based on his life, Ip Man was born to a wealthy family in Foshan, Guangdong province in 1893. Having taken up Wing Chun at age 13 under the tutelage of Chan Wah Shun, he moved to Hong Kong two years later to complete his schooling.

After seeing a police officer beating a local woman while heading to school with a classmate, Ip Man intervened, neutralizing the police officer. The classmate mentioned the incident to a friend of his father's, who promptly invited Ip Man for a friendly sparring session.

Unbeknownst to Ip Man, the man was Leung Bik, whose father Leung Jan was the master of his former teacher Chan Wah Shun. Despite being in his 50s at the time, Leung Bik easily defeated his younger opponent. Humbled, Ip Man trained under Leung Bik for 5 years, vastly improving his skills until his mentor's passing in 1913.

Ip Man returned to Foshan in 1916, working for the army and as a police officer for the Kuomintang government. He remained there until 1949, returning to Hong Kong to avoid persecution after the Communist party's victory in the Chinese Civil War.

Establishing a Wing Chun school in Hong Kong in the early 1950s, many of his students went on to become notable masters. Most famously, film icon Bruce Lee, who trained under Ip Man for 6 years before moving to the United States.

Ip Man continued to promote and teach Wing Chun until his death from laryngeal cancer in 1972. His grave, which sits in an overgrown graveyard in Fanling, has become a pilgrimage site for Wing Chun practitioners to pay homage to the legendary grandmaster.