A Step into the Past broadcast in 2001 is a television drama adapted from a novel authored by Wong Yi with the same Chinese title, which integrates science fictional elements into a martial arts story. A Step into the Past is a masterpiece of Wong Yi and the very first time-travel novel. The television drama was broadcast during the 34th anniversary of TVB, pioneering the history of time-travel television dramas. In the television drama, Xiang Shaolong was played by Louis Koo Tin-lok.
Officer Xiang Shaolong from the Hong Kong Police Force’s VIP Protection Unit (commonly known as G4) accidentally travelled back more than two thousand years to the Warring States period in a time-travelling experiment. At that time, Ying Zheng, Qin Shi Huang (the first Emperor of China), had not yet ascended the throne. Thanks to his G4 expertise and modern scientific knowledge, Xiang Shaolong repeatedly came out safely from danger. He helped Prince Zhao Pan who was out of favour to change his identity and replace the deceased Prince of Qin, Ying Zheng. He also helped Zhao Pan unify the Qin Empire to become Qin Shi Huang.
In the novel, Xiang Shaolong is agile with extraordinary martial arts skills. Mozi’s swordsmanship was the first martial arts skill that he learned after travelling in time. Later, he even created his own martial arts skills and chopped off a section of the blade on the sword of Cao Qiudao, the “Great Swordsman”, with Hundred Battle Sabre Skill and was therefore known as the “King of Sabre”. The several outfits of the character fully showcase his sturdy and elegant demeanour, perfectly matching Louis Koo Tin-lok, who is handsome and dashing. This television drama has also become a classic masterpiece in the hearts of many fans born in the 1980s and 1990s.
Bonus: Xiang Shaolong, a modern man, travelled back to ancient times. His choice of words and expressions were often amusing. Louis Koo Tin-lok added a lot of humour while portraying this character. For example, in a funny scene where Xiang Shaolong confessed to Wu Tingfang, he said with gestures in English, “I LOVE YOU!”. In addition, Louis Koo Tin-lok had always admired Wong Yi’s supernatural talents and regarded him as his mentor. He later purchased the film copyright of A Step into the Past and brought the work to the big silver screen, in which he once again played Xiang Shaolong.
