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.

Novels

Cha wrote a total of 15 pieces, of which one ("Sword of the Yue Maiden") was a short story and the other 14 were novels and novellas of various length. Most of his novels were published on newspaper in daily installments initially. The book editions were printed later. In order of publication these are (alternate translation in parentheses):

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• (The Romance of the Book and Sword)- T: ????? S: ????? (first published on The New Evening Post in 1955)
• Sword Stained with Royal Blood - T: ??? S: ??? (first published on Hong Kong Commercial Daily in 1956)
• The Legend of the Condor Heroes (The Condor-Shooting Heroes) - T: ????? S: ????? (first published on Hong Kong Commercial Daily in 1957)
• Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain - T: ???? S: ???? (first installment appeared on the first issue of Ming Pao in 1959)
• The Return of the Condor Heroes (The Condor & The Lovers) - T: ???? S: ???? (1959)
• The Young Flying Fox - T: ???? S: ???? (1960)
• Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse T: ????? S: ????? (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
• Blade-dance of the Two Lovers (Lovers' Sabers) T: ??? S: ??? (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
• The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber - T: ????? S: ????? (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
• Requiem of Ling Sing (A Deadly Secret) - T: ??? S: ??? (first published on Southeast Asia Weekly ???????in 1963)
• Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (Eightfold Path of the Heavenly Dragon) - T: ???? S: ???? (1963)
• Way of the Heroes (Ode to the Gallantry) - T: ??? S: ???(1965)
• The Smiling, Proud Wanderer - ???? (first published on Ming Pao in 1967)
• The Deer and the Cauldron (Duke of Mount Deer) - T: ??? S: ??? (1969)
• "Sword of the Yue Maiden" - T: ??? S: ??? (1970)

Of these, the novels (The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, and The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber) make up a trilogy that should be read in that order; a number of the other works also link to this trilogy (Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is somewhat of a precursor to the Condor series). Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain and The Young Flying Fox are companion pieces with the same protagonist.

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Couplet

After Jinyong completed all his titles, another famous Chinese writer and Jinyong's close friend Ni Kuang discovered that the first characters of all 14 titles can be joined together to form a couplet with 7 characters on each line:

Related Topics:
Ni Kuang - Couplet

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Traditional Chinese:

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???????

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???????

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Simplified Chinese:

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???????

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???????

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loose translation:

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Shooting a white deer, snow flutters around the skies;

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Smiling, writes about the divine chivalrous one,

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leaning against bluish lovebirds

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Cha himself has stated that he has never intended there to be any such couplet, or even intended there to be 14 books in the first place; and his explanation is reasonable, since the couplet itself sounds somewhat forced in the second line. Thus, the couplet serves primarily as a handy mnemonic to remember all of Jinyong's work for his fans.

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Editions

Most of Jinyong's work were initially published in instalments in Hong Kong newspapers. Between 1970 and 1980, Jinyong revised all of his work. The result is called the "New Edition" (??), in contrast with the "Old Edition" (??).

Related Topics:
1970 - 1980

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In Taiwan, the situation is more complicated, as Jinyong's books were initially banned. As a result, there were multiple editions published underground, some of which were revised out of recognition. Only in 1979 was Jinyong's complete collection published by Taiwan's Yuenching Publishing House (?????).

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In mainland China, the Wulin (??) magazine in Guangzhou became the first to officially publish Jinyong's work, starting from 1980. Jinyong's complete collection in Simplified Chinese was published by Beijing's Sanlian Shudian (????) in 1994. Meanwhile Minheshe Singapore-Malaysia (????????) published Jinyong's collection, in Simplified Chinese for Southeast Asian readers in 1995.

Related Topics:
Mainland China - Guangzhou - 1980 - Simplified Chinese - Beijing - 1994 - Southeast Asia - 1995

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Currently, Jin Yong is revising his novels for the second (and probably last) time, which will be completed in spring 2006. The newly revised edition is noted for annotations in which Jinyong answers criticisms directed against the historical accuracy of his work. So far the following novels have been revised:

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• '
• Sword Stained with Royal Blood
• The Legend of the Condor Heroes
• The Return of the Condor Heroes
• Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain (this canon has two alternative short stories i.e. "Blade-dance of the Two Lovers" and "Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse")
• The Young Flying Fox
• Requiem of Ling Sing
• Way of the Heroes (this canon has an alternative short story too: "Sword of the Yue maiden")
• The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber
• Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils

Themes

Chinese nationalism is a strong theme in Jinyong's work. Throughout his books, Jinyong places great emphasis on Han Chinese self-determination and identity, and many of his novels are set in time periods when China proper was occupied or under the threat of occupation by northern peoples such as Khitans, Jurchens, Mongols, or Manchus. However, Jinyong gradually evolved Chinese nationalism into an inclusionist concept which encompass all present-day non-Han minorities. Jinyong himself expresses a fierce admiration for positive traits of non-Han Chinese peoples like the Mongols and Manchus. In The Legend of the Condor Heroes, for example, he casts Genghis Khan and his sons as capable and intelligent military leaders against the corrupt and ineffective bureaucrats of the Han Chinese Song Dynasty. And similarly, in The Deer and the Cauldron, Jinyong portrays the Manchu Kangxi Emperor as a sovereign of compassion and ability. In Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Xiao Feng's split loyalty between the his blood ancestry as a Khitan and his adopted Han Chinese identity led to his tragic downfall.

Related Topics:
Chinese nationalism - Han Chinese - China proper - Khitan - Jurchen - Mongol - Manchu - Genghis Khan - Song Dynasty - Kangxi Emperor - Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils - Xiao Feng

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Jinyong's books are often said to be a mini-encyclopedia on Chinese customs and culture, with references ranging from Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, wushu, music, calligraphy, weiqi, tea culture, philosophical thoughts like Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and imperial Chinese history. Historical figures often intermingle with fictional ones, making it difficult for the layperson to distinguish which are which--a feature which attests to the believability of his characters.

Related Topics:
Encyclopedia - Traditional Chinese Medicine - Acupuncture - Wushu - Music - Calligraphy - Weiqi - Tea culture - Confucianism - Buddhism - Taoism - Chinese history

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Although his works show clearly a great amount of respect and approval for traditional Chinese values, especially Confucian ideals, such as the proper relationship between empire and subject, father and son, elder brother and younger brother, and (particularly strongly, due to the wuxia nature of his novels), between master and disciple, and fellow disciples, he sometimes questions the validity of these values in something approaching a modern society. This is particularly obvious in the ostracism experienced by his two main characters -- Yang Guo's romantic relationship with his martial arts master Xiao Long Nuu (which was considered highly improper) in The Return of the Condor Heroes. Jinyong also places a great amount of emphasis on traditional values such as face and honour.

Related Topics:
Wuxia - Yang Guo - Xiao Long Nuu - Face

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Finally, Jinyong breaks all the rules down in his final work The Deer and the Cauldron, whose anti-hero protagonist, Wei Xiaobao, is a bastard brothel boy who is greedy, lazy, and utterly disdainful of traditional rules of propriety.

Related Topics:
The Deer and the Cauldron - Anti-hero - Wei Xiaobao - Brothel

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Reaction

The study of Jin Yong's work has spun off an individual area of study and discussion: Jinology. For years, readers and critics have written works discussing, debating, and analyzing his fictional world of martial arts; amongst the most famous are by Jin Yong's close friend and famous Chinese sci-fi novelist, Ni Kuang, who has written series of criticism analyzing the various personalities in his books.

Related Topics:
Sci-fi - Ni Kuang

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Despite Jin Yong's popularity, some of his novels were banned outside Hong Hong due to political reasons. A number of them were outlawed in the People's Republic of China in the 1970s as they were thought to be satires of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution; others were banned in the Republic of China on Taiwan as they were thought to be in support of the Chinese Communist Party. None of these bans exists today, and Jinyong's complete collection has been published multiple times in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China. Many politicians on both sides of the Straits are known to be readers of his works; Deng Xiaoping, for example, was himself an avowed fan.

Related Topics:
People's Republic of China - Satire - Mao Zedong - Cultural Revolution - Republic of China - Taiwan - Chinese Communist Party - Hong Kong - Mainland China - Deng Xiaoping

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In late 2004, the People's Education Publishing House (???????) of the People's Republic of China sparked controversy by including an excerpt from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (????) in a new senior high school Chinese textbook. While some praised the inclusion of popular literature, others feared that the violence and unrealistic martial arts described in Jinyong's work were unsuitable for high school students. At about the same time, Singapore's Ministry of Education announced a similar move for Chinese-learning students at secondary and junior college levels.http://www.zaobao.com/chinese/pages1/chinese_sg040305.html

Related Topics:
2004 - People's Republic of China - Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils - Secondary - Junior college

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