Xu Xialing is sister of Shang-Chi in the movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, she is daugher of Jiang Li, guardian of Ta Lo and Xu Wenwu, leader of the criminal organization Ten Rings.
Zu Xialing was played by Chinese actress Meng’er Zhang.
Creation
Xu Xialing was created specifically for the 2021 live action motion picture, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Xu Xialing was partially inspired by Zheng Bao Yu, the Cursed Lotus, daughter of Zheng Zu and half-sister of Shang Chi, she is a version of Fah Lo Suee, daughter of Fu Manchu in the literary series created by Sax Rohmer, she had her name changed after Marvel lost its license to use characters from the literary series.
She leads a fight club called the Golden Daggers, which harks back to the Golden Daggers Sect led by Fah Lo Suee.
According to Meng’er Zhang, Xu Xialing would have a red streak in her hair, however, she convinced director Destin Daniel Cretton that this was a stereotype of Asian women characters and convinced him to remove it, however, in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: Who Guards My Sleep?, Xu Xialing appears with pink streaks as a child.
