Set around the turn of the century in China, the White Lotus Society plots to put the next Emperor on the throne. To do this they want their protege to marry the Princess Sun Yu who possesses an important jade ring. They dispatch Yueng Kwan to fetch her. However, Yueng Kwan is a patriot, working for the revolutionary forces of Sun Yat Sen. He abducts Sun Yu and finds refuge with the father of the future hero Wong Fei Hung.

An exotic, legendary battle between the forces of good and evil comes to life as the celebrated disciples of the Shaolin Temple -- monks who practice a lethal and spiritual form of martial arts -- fight the evil followers of China's Manchu rulers.

While the Emperor needs the Little Buddha - hidden amongst the little monks at the Shaolin Temple - to save him from a deadly disease, King Fifth, who wants to become the Emperor himself, treks to the Shaolin Temple with the intention of killing the Little Buddha. While escaping from King Fifth, the little monks have a number of adventures, including learning Drunken Fist style kung fu.

Rocky, an American martial-arts student who leaves San Francisco for the famous Shaolin temple, where he proves his kung-fu prowess by dodging the abbot's mystical laser beams and performing other feats of skill. Rocky is then allowed to join the Shaolin as a student, and later helps the monks defeat a gang of thieves, led by the evil Pao, who wants to steal an invaluable Flying Horse statue from the temple.