Fictional television character, played by David Carradine as an adult, Keith Carradine as a younger Caine and Radames Pera as the youngest Caine, in the western television series Kung Fu. Caine is a Shaolin monk of Henan province, China. He is forced to flee to the United States when he kills the emperor's nephew. The nephew murdered Caine's Master Po because Master Po disciplined one of his bodyguards. During his time in the USA Caine discovers members of his family, including his half-brother Daniel Caine. Master Po often referred to young Caine by the nickname Grasshopper, in reference to the creature that unknown to him was present near his feet during their first meeting. David Carradine in April, 2005 David Carradine (born John Arthur Carradine on December 8, 1936 in Hollywood, California) is an American actor. ... Keith Carradine Keith Carradine (born August 8, 1949, in San Mateo, California) is an Academy Award-winning actor born into a family of actors. ... Rad Pera (born Radames Pera 14 September 1960 in New York, New York, USA) is an actor who starred in many TV shows. ... Kung Fu is a television series that ran for three years beginning in 1972, about the adventures of a Shaolin monk in the Wild West armed only with his skill in martial arts. ... Main gate of the Shaolin temple in Henan. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ...

Characteristics and Skills

Caine is a Master In Shaolin KungFu. This school contained various arts in real chinese history, but the styles known to the character are following:

• White Crane
• Dragon
• Tiger
• Snake
• Mantis
• Eagle Claw

In additon to lessons in physical combat and weapons, he was also instructed in eastern philosophy and medicine. Upon his graduation to rank as a Shaolin Master Caine branded himself by moving a cauldron of hot coal containing the figures of a dragon and of a tiger. Combat, or fighting, is purposeful violent conflict between one or more persons or organizations, often intended to establish dominance over the opposition. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Caine's character is humble, intelligent, inquisitive, and in general low key. His only known past time is the playing of a bamboo flute. Bang Di The Di Zi (笛子, pinyin dí zi), is a very unique kind of Chinese transverse flute. ...

Known Relatives

• Father: Thomas Henry Caine
• Mother: Kwai Lin
• Brother: Daniel Kane
• Uncle: American farmer
• Grandfather: Henry Rafael Caine (American stone cutter)
• Grandmother: Elizabeth Hale Caine
• Nephew: Zeke (Son of Daniel Kane)
• Son: Chung Wang (Kung Fu: The Movie)
• Grandson: Kwai Chang Caine (Kung Fu: The Next Generation)
• Great-grandson: Johnny Caine (Kung-Fu: The Next Generation)
• Son: Matthew Caine (Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues)
• Distant ancestor: Kwai Chang (Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues)
• Grandson: Kwai Chang Caine (Kung Fu: The Legend Continues)
• Grandson: Damon Caine (Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues)
• Grandson: Martin Bradshaw (Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues)
• Great-grandson: Peter Caine (Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues)

Trivia about Caine's name

In the third episode of season three ("The Small Beheading"), William Shatner's character presents Caine with a scroll that is written in Chinese. As the camera pans down the scroll, we see the Chinese characters for Caine's name for the first time in the series: William Shatner (born March 22, 1931 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian actor, who gained fame for his starring role as Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969 and in seven of the subsequent movies. ...

• note: in Chinese, the surname is written first

The Min Nan pronunciation of the characters seems to most closely match the English spelling of Caine's name. In the series, Caine was supposed to have attended the Shaolin Temple in Henan province. The priests at the temple would most likely have spoken Mandarin. From the above, we may infer one of two possibilities: Mǐn N n (Chinese: 閩南語), also spelt as Minnan or Min-nan; native name B ; literally means Southern Min or Southern Fujian and refers to the local language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China. ... Taiwanese (Chinese: 台語, 台灣話 or 福佬話; Taiwanese Pe̍h-oÄ“-jÄ«: Tâi-oân-oÄ“ or Hō-ló-oÄ“; Hanyu Pinyin: TáiyÇ” or Táiwānhuà) is the primary spoken language of 70% of the Taiwanese population. ... Mandarin, or Beifanghua (Chinese: 北方話; Pinyin: BÄ›ifānghuà; literally Northern Dialect(s)), or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; Pinyin: Guānhuà; literally official speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ... Pinyin is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin, where pin means spell(ing) and yin means sound(s)). This article describes the most common variant called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; pinyin: HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n), also known as scheme... IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ... IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ... IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ... IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ... IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ... IPA may refer to: The International Phonetic Alphabet or India Pale Ale ... Mǐn N n (Chinese: 閩南語), also spelt as Minnan or Min-nan; native name B ; literally means Southern Min or Southern Fujian and refers to the local language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China. ... The Shaolin temples (少林寺; pinyin: Shàolín Sì, Wade-Giles: Shao-lin Ssŭ) are a group of Chinese Buddhist monasteries famed for their long association with Chán (Japanese Zen) Buddhism and martial arts. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... Mandarin, or Beifanghua (Chinese: 北方話; Pinyin: BÄ›ifānghuà; literally Northern Dialect(s)), or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; Pinyin: Guānhuà; literally official speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ...

1. The series staff member who wrote the scroll was a native Min Nan speaker, and not overly concerned that viewers might pick up on such a subtle point.
2. Caine's mother was from Amoy (from where Min Nan originates), which was China's main port in the 19th century for exporting tea. Caine's father would have likely met and fell in love with her there.

In order for the second scenario to work: Mǐn N n (Chinese: 閩南語), also spelt as Minnan or Min-nan; native name B ; literally means Southern Min or Southern Fujian and refers to the local language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China. ... Xiamen (Simplified Chinese: 厦门; Traditional Chinese: 廈門; pinyin: Xiàmén; Wade_Giles: Hsiamen) is a coastal sub_provincial city in Fujian Province, southern China. ... Mǐn N n (Chinese: 閩南語), also spelt as Minnan or Min-nan; native name B ; literally means Southern Min or Southern Fujian and refers to the local language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tea leaves in a Chinese gaiwan. ...

1. Caine would have had to learn Mandarin (which is not mutually intelligible with Min Nan).
2. Caine would have had to travel from Fujian to Henan (a distance of approx. 1100 km).

The most likely explanation could be that Caine's maternal grandfather was a Mandarin speaker living in Henan. Either Caine's mother moved to Henan to be with her grandfather after her husband died, or Caine's grandfather arranged for the boy to live with him after Caine's mother died. You may recall from the pilot episode, that it was the grandfather who taught young Caine proper manners. Part of the grandfather's tutoring could have included instruction in Mandarin. Mandarin, or Beifanghua (Chinese: 北方話; Pinyin: BÄ›ifānghuà; literally Northern Dialect(s)), or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; Pinyin: Guānhuà; literally official speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ... Mǐn N n (Chinese: 閩南語), also spelt as Minnan or Min-nan; native name B ; literally means Southern Min or Southern Fujian and refers to the local language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China. ... (Chinese: 福建; Pinyin: Fújiàn; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal System Pinyin: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... KM, Km, or km may stand for: Khmer language (ISO 639 alpha-2, km) Kilometre Kinemantra Meditation Knowledge management KM programming language KM Culture, Korean Movie Maker. ... Mandarin, or Beifanghua (Chinese: 北方話; Pinyin: BÄ›ifānghuà; literally Northern Dialect(s)), or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; Pinyin: Guānhuà; literally official speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... Mandarin, or Beifanghua (Chinese: 北方話; Pinyin: BÄ›ifānghuà; literally Northern Dialect(s)), or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; Pinyin: Guānhuà; literally official speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ...

Teachers and Associates

• Master Kan
• Master Po
• Master Sun

External links