sumber-sumber berita, termasuk tsui sendiri, memiliki perbedaan dalam hal dimana ia sebenarnya dilahirkan: apakah di provinsi kanton (guangdong) di china atau di vietnam.
ia dibesarkan di daerah pecinan kota saigon oleh orang-tuanya yang berimigrasi kesana, dalam sebuah keluarga besar bersama enam belas saudaranya.
tsui sudah dari kecil tertarik pada dunia pertunjukan dan perfilman.
ketika ia berusia sepuluh tahun, ia dan beberapa temannya menyewa sebuah kamera 8mm untuk merekam acara sulap yang mereka adakan di sekolah.
ia juga menggambar buku-buku komik --- sebuah hal yang akan memengaruhi gaya film-nya.
tsui masuk ke sekolah menengah di hong kong tahun 1966.
ia kemudian belajar perfilman di texas, pertama di southern methodist university dan kemudian di university of texas di austin, lulus pada tahun 1975.
ia mengaku memberitahu orang-tuanya bahwa ia belajar untuk menjadi apoteker seperti ayahnya.
saat kuliah inilah tsui kemudian mengganti nama depannya menjadi "hark" yang bermakna 'mengatasi'.
setelah lulus, tsui pindah ke new york city.
ia bekerja pada proyek from spikes to spindles (1976), sebuah film dokumenter yang cukup bagus karya christine choy mengenai sejarah pecinan di kota tersebut.
ia juga menjadi seorang editor sebuah surat kabar pecinan, turut membangun sebuah grup teater kota dan bekerja di stasiun televisi berbahasa china.
ia pulang kembali ke hong kong pada tahun 1977.
die bian (1979)
aka the butterfly murders
diyu wu men (1980)
aka hell has no gates
aka kung fu cannibals
aka no door to hell
aka we're going to eat you (hong kong: english title)
di yi lei xing wei xian (1980)
aka dangerous encounters of the first kind
aka don't play with fire
aka playing with fire
aka ti-yi-lei-hsing wei hsien
gui ma zhi duo xing (1981)
aka all the wrong clues
aka all the wrong clues for the right solution
aka wrong clues...
suk san: sun suk san geen hap (1983)
aka warriors from the magic mountain
aka zu mountain: new legend of the zu mountain swordsmen
aka zu time warriors
aka zu warriors
aka zu: warriors from the magic mountain
aka zu: warriors of the magic mountain
aka zuo shan: shen zuo shan jian ke
search for the gods (1983)
shanghai zhi ye (1984)
aka shanghai blues (hong kong: english title)
zuijia paidang zhi nuhuang miling (1984)
aka aces go places 3: our man from bond street
aka mad mission iii: our man from bond street
king worker (1985)
da gung wong dai (1985)
aka da gong huang di (china: mandarin title)
aka hit work emperor (literal english title)
aka working class
do ma daan (1986)
aka dao ma dan (china: mandarin title)
aka knife horse dawn (usa: literal english title)
aka peking opera blues (usa)
"liegui aisha" (1986) tv series
aka spirit chaser aisha
cheng shi te jing (1988) (uncredited)
aka the big heat (usa)
long xing tian xia (1989)
aka the master
aka wong fei hung
ying hung boon sik iii (1989)
aka a better tomorrow iii
aka a better tomorrow iii: love and death in saigon (usa)
aka ying xiong ben se iii xi yang zhi ge
xiao ao jiang hu (1990)
aka the swordsman (1990)
wong fei hung (1991)
aka huang fei-hong
aka once upon a time in china
haomen yeyan (1991)
aka ho moon ye yin (hong kong: cantonese title)
aka party of a wealthy family (usa)
aka the banquet
cai shu zhi huang sao qian jun (1991)
aka the raid
kei wong (1991) (uncredited)
aka the king of chess
sinnui yauwan iii: do do do (1991)
aka a chinese ghost story iii
xin long men ke zhan (1992) (uncredited)
aka dragon inn
aka new dragon gate inn (uk: dvd title)
aka new dragon inn
wong fei hung ji yi: naam yi dong ji keung (1992)
aka huang fei-hong zhi er nan er dang zi qiang
aka once upon a time in china ii
shuang long hui (1992)
aka brother vs. brother
aka double dragon
aka duel of dragons
aka the twin dragons
aka when dragons collide
wong fei hung ji saam: si wong jaang ba (1993)
aka huang fei-hong zhi san shi wang zheng ba
aka once upon a time in china iii
aka the invincible shaolin (usa)
ching se (1993)
aka blue snake
aka green snake
aka qing she (hong kong: mandarin title)
aka white snake, green snake
wong fei-hung zhi wu: long cheng jian ba (1994)
aka once upon a time in china v
aka wong fei-hung v
leung juk (1994)
aka butterfly lovers
aka leung &
chuk (literal english title)
aka liang zhu (china: mandarin title)
aka the lovers (hong kong: english title)
jin yu man tang (1995)
aka gam yuk moon tong (hong kong: cantonese title)
aka the chinese feast
hua yue jia qi (1995)
aka love in the time of twilight
aka the blade (usa)
da san yuan (1996)
double team (1997)
aka the colony
a chinese ghost story: the tsui hark animation (1997)
knock off (1998)
seunlau ngaklau (2000)
aka time and tide (usa)
aka shunliu niliu
shu shan zheng zhuan (2001)
aka the legend of zu
aka zu warriors (usa)
black mask 2: city of masks (2002)
aka hak hap 2
aka hei xia 2
chat gim (2005)
aka qi jian
aka seven swords
the warrior (2006)
triangle (2007) (co-directed with ringo lam and johnnie to)
tsui hark di website internet movie database
tsui hark di website senses of cinema