Don’t know if this explains it well enough, but I copied this from Wikipedia. The program was called “Kung Fu” and was quite popular in the 70’s during the era of Bruce Lee and Kung Fu Fighting. Always liked that name “Grasshopper. Very philasophical.
Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine) is the orphaned son of an American man and a Chinese woman in mid-19th century China.[3] After his maternal grandfather’s death he is accepted for training at a Shaolin Monastery, where he grows up to become a Shaolin priest and martial arts expert.
In the pilot episode Caine’s beloved mentor and elder, Master Po, is murdered by the Emperor’s nephew; outraged, Caine retaliates by killing the nephew. With a price on his head, Caine flees China to the western United States, where he seeks to find his family roots and, ultimately, his half-brother, Danny Caine.
Although it is his intention to avoid notice, Caine’s training and sense of social responsibility repeatedly force him out into the open, to fight for justice or protect the underdog. After each such encounter he must move on, both to avoid capture and prevent harm from coming to those he has helped.
Flashbacks are often used to recall specific lessons from Caine’s childhood training in the monastery from his teachers, the blind Master Po (Keye Luke) and Master Kan (Philip Ahn). Part of the appeal of the series was undoubtedly the emphasis laid, via the flashbacks, on the mental and spiritual power that Caine had gained from his rigorous training.
* In these flashbacks, Master Po calls his young student “Grasshopper” in reference to a scene in the pilot episode:*
Master Po: Close your eyes. What do you hear?
Young Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds.
Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat?
Caine: No.
Po: Do you hear the grasshopper which is at your feet?Caine: Old man, how is it that you hear these things?Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?
Don’t know if this explains it well enough, but I copied this from Wikipedia. The program was called “Kung Fu” and was quite popular in the 70’s during the era of Bruce Lee and Kung Fu Fighting. Always liked that name “Grasshopper. Very philasophical.
Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine) is the orphaned son of an American man and a Chinese woman in mid-19th century China.[3] After his maternal grandfather’s death he is accepted for training at a Shaolin Monastery, where he grows up to become a Shaolin priest and martial arts expert.
In the pilot episode Caine’s beloved mentor and elder, Master Po, is murdered by the Emperor’s nephew; outraged, Caine retaliates by killing the nephew. With a price on his head, Caine flees China to the western United States, where he seeks to find his family roots and, ultimately, his half-brother, Danny Caine.
Although it is his intention to avoid notice, Caine’s training and sense of social responsibility repeatedly force him out into the open, to fight for justice or protect the underdog. After each such encounter he must move on, both to avoid capture and prevent harm from coming to those he has helped.
Flashbacks are often used to recall specific lessons from Caine’s childhood training in the monastery from his teachers, the blind Master Po (Keye Luke) and Master Kan (Philip Ahn). Part of the appeal of the series was undoubtedly the emphasis laid, via the flashbacks, on the mental and spiritual power that Caine had gained from his rigorous training. * In these flashbacks, Master Po calls his young student “Grasshopper” in reference to a scene in the pilot episode:*
Master Po: Close your eyes. What do you hear? Young Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds. Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat? Caine: No. Po: Do you hear the grasshopper which is at your feet? Caine: Old man, how is it that you hear these things? Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?