Known as the 'Emperor of Kung Fu', Chinese martial arts superstar Jet Li has recently been promoting his new memoir, Beyond Life and Death: The Way of True Freedom. In the book, he writes: 'Every time I survive, my desire to be truly free becomes even stronger.' The 'freedom' he refers to is the Chinese concept of 'zizai', meaning inner ease or comfort. The state he seeks is to be able to remain at peace no matter what life throws at him, to 'free oneself from the need to control everything.'
Now 63 years old, Jet Li recently gave an interview with CNN, where he talked about several near-death experiences throughout his life. The most unforgettable for him was in 2004, when he and his family were vacationing in the Maldives and were caught in the South Asian tsunami. Gesturing to the level of his chin, he said: 'The water was up to here. If it had been any higher, I would have died.' At the time, he also witnessed his young daughter and her babysitter being swept away by a wave, but fortunately, alert hotel staff managed to rescue them. He described how the whole family felt 'extremely close to death.' A year after the tsunami, he had another frightening accident.
While filming Fearless, he fell from a 12-foot high platform, resulting in internal injuries. A few months later, he suffered from severe altitude sickness at a remote temple in Sichuan. Escaping death time and again gave Li a deep understanding of life's impermanence and further motivated him to seek ultimate inner peace.
In recent years, he’s gradually slowed down, especially since 2009 when he was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, an overactive thyroid. When his condition was particularly severe, he sometimes looked quite gaunt due to weight loss. However, his illness is 'finally under control' now.
But Jet Li has had to face the effects of aging and illness. He revealed that while filming fight scenes for The Escort in 2024, it was sometimes quite strenuous for him. He candidly admits in his book: 'I used to be able to do 10 moves in 1 second; now, it takes me 10 seconds to finish 1 move.' Nevertheless, Jet Li continues to use 'zizai'—inner ease—as his life’s compass. He describes it as embracing a 'let it be' mentality.
News Source: 壹苹新闻网