Jinyong

Louis Cha, OBE (born June 6, 1924), known to most by his penname Jinyong, Kam-yung (Cantonese), is one of the most influential modern Chinese-language novelists who is also the co-founder of the Hong Kong daily Ming Pao.

Biography

A native of Haining county, Zhejiang province, mainland China, Cha was the second of seven children, coming from an illustrious family of scholars; his grandfather was a jinshi. Cha was an avid reader of literature from an early age, especially of wuxia fiction. He first studied at Zhejiang Province Jiaxing High School, then was admitted to the Faculty of Foreign Languages in Chunking Central University and transferred to the Faculty of Law of Dongwu University to major in International Law.

Related Topics:
Haining - Zhejiang - Mainland China - Jinshi - Chunking Central University - Dongwu University

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In 1947, Cha entered Shanghai's newspaper Ta Kung Pao as a journalist. One year later, he was posted to the Hong Kong division as a copyeditor. When Cha was transferred to Hsin Wan Pao as Deputy Editor, he met Chen Wentong, who in 1953 wrote his first wuxia novel under the pseudonym Liang Yusheng (???). Chen and Cha became good friends, and it was under the former's influence that Cha began work on his first serialized martial arts novel, The Romance of the Book and Sword, in 1955. In 1957, while still working on wuxia serializations, he quit his previous job and worked as a scenarist-director and scriptwriter at the Great Wall Movie Enterprises Ltd and Phoenix Film Company.

Related Topics:
1947 - Shanghai - Ta Kung Pao - Copyeditor - Hsin Wan Pao - Chen Wentong - 1953 - Liang Yusheng - The Romance of the Book and Sword - 1955 - 1957 - Great Wall Movie Enterprises Ltd - Phoenix Film Company

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In 1959, together with fellow high school mate Sham Po Sun (???), Cha founded the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao. Cha served as its Editor-in-Chief for years, writing both serialized novels and editorials. His editorials were well respected, and Ming Pao gained a reputation as one of Hong Kong's most highly rated press. Cha wrote his last wuxia novel in 1972, after which he officially retired from writing, instead spending the remaining years of that decade editing and revising his literary works. The first complete definitive edition of his works appear in 1979.

Related Topics:
1959 - Sham Po Sun - Hong Kong newspaper - Ming Pao - 1972 - 1979

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By then, Cha's martial arts novels have earned great popularity in Chinese-speaking areas. All of his novels has since then been adapted into films, TV series and radio series, in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China, and important characters in his novels are so well-known to the public that they can be alluded to with ease between all three regions.

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In later years in the late 1970s, Cha began to be involved in Hong Kong politics. He was one of the writers who drafted the Hong Kong Basic Law, although he resigned in 1989 after the Tiananmen Square massacre in protest.

Related Topics:
Hong Kong politics - Hong Kong Basic Law - 1989 - Tiananmen Square massacre

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In 1993, Cha prepared himself to retire from editorial work, selling all his shares in Ming Pao. Together with the royalties from his works, Cha's personal wealth is estimated at some HK$600 million, and his books have sold over 300 million copies worldwide (over 1 billion if one includes bootleg copies).

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