Bruce Lee: The Man, the Myth, and the Echo

AD Staff
Sep 19
3 min read

Bruce Lee may have been known for lightning-fast kicks, nun chucks spinning like a blur, and that legendary one-inch punch, but Jeff Chang’s new book Water, Mirror, Echo reminds us that behind all the hype and hypnotic moves, he was also a real person with a complicated, gritty, and deeply human story.

Chang stopped by KQED’s Forum to talk about the book, and the way he reframes Lee’s life is striking. The title comes from a piece of philosophy Lee copied as a teenager: “Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo.” It’s more than just a cool quote. It became a kind of life map for him, and Chang uses it as the backbone of his narrative.

Bruce nailed the first part of that idea. Be like water. He embodied adaptability, whether in martial arts, acting, or reinventing himself for a world that wasn’t ready for an Asian American superstar. But the mirror and echo parts? Those came later, after his sudden death. As Chang puts it, “He becomes a mirror for millions of people around the world, across multiple generations. And his words continue to echo today.” The Bruce Lee we know now is not just the man who lived, but the reflection of what countless people needed him to be.

The book also digs into Bruce’s beginnings, which were anything but glamorous. Born in San Francisco in 1940 while his parents were on tour, he was American by birthright. But with the Chinese Exclusion Act still in effect, his parents had no plans to stick around. They returned to Hong Kong, a city devastated by war and hunger. As a child, Bruce nearly starved.

Out of that harsh environment came his obsession with martial arts. Post-war Hong Kong was alive with clashing kung fu cliques, where kids studied different styles and tested themselves in street fights. Survival meant fighting, and fighting meant learning. Chang, who has written extensively about hip-hop, even compares it to the Bronx in the 60s and 70s. Same energy. Same creativity bubbling up out of chaos. “In the middle of all this, kids study different kung fu styles, form cliques, and an elaborate fight culture develops,” he explains. That fight culture became the seed of something much bigger. It set the stage for kung fu movies, a genre that exploded across the globe. And Bruce Lee was the spark that lit it.

Writing about someone as iconic as Lee comes with its own weight. Chang admits he felt a deep responsibility, knowing that for the Lee family, Bruce wasn’t a symbol. He was a son, a brother, a husband, a father. The book tries to peel away the legend and show us the man. And in the process, it shows how Bruce Lee, born in turbulence and raised in struggle, came to redefine what it means to be Asian American.

Bruce Lee wasn’t just a fighter on screen. He was a mirror. He was an echo. And half a century later, we are still seeing ourselves in him and still hearing his words.

Jeff Chang is the author of many books, including Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation, Who We Be, and We Gon’ Be Alright. Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America, published by Harper Collins is set to be released on Sept. 25, and is available for pre-order now.