Outside of Film
ONE FOUNDATION: HUMANITARIAN WORK
A near-fatal experience during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami became a profound turning point for Jet Li, inspiring him to establish One Foundation under the Chinese Red Cross on April 19th, 2007. In January 2011, One Foundation became the first registered private charitable fundraising organization in China.
Built on the simple, powerful formula of “one person + one yuan/dollar + one month = one big family,” the foundation is grounded in the belief that small contributions from individuals can create meaningful and lasting change. One foundation focuses on disaster relief, children’s welfare, training public welfare professionals, supporting grassroots charities across China, etc.
Jet Li advocates that social responsibility I snot limited to governments or corporations, but belongs to every individual. By the end of 2024, One Foundation received more than 9.87 billion individual donations and participation records, raising over 4.69 billion yuan (approximately USD 686 million), and helped to improve the lives of more than 52 million people.
MENTAL WELLNESS & HIS JOURNEY WITH BUDDHISM
Jet Li’s life journey, marked by extraordinary success as well as profound personal challenges, led him to Buddhism in 1997, during a period when he felt the need to turn inward. In the years that followed, he immersed himself in study and practice, reading extensively, seeking guidance from respected teachers, and devoting much of his free time to Buddhist practice. He also undertook a series of formal retreats, the longest lasting two years and three months.
Jet Li documented part of this spiritual journey in his book Beyond Life and Death, aiming to share how he learned to train his mind, live with ease, and find freedom beyond limitation.