Louis Cha, , , known with his pen name
Jin Yong , is one of the most influential modern novelists. Co-founder of the Hong Kong daily ''Ming Pao'', which he started in 1959, he was the paper's first editor-in-chief and held this position until 1993, when he retired.
Cha's fiction, which are of the wuxia genre, has a widespread following in Chinese-speaking areas, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and United States. His fourteen novels and a short fiction composed between 1955 and 1972 earned him a reputation as one of the finest wuxia writers ever. He is currently the best-selling Chinese author alive; over 100 million copies of his works have been sold worldwide
Cha's works have been translated into , , , , , , and and he has many fans abroad as well, thanks to the numerous adaptations of his works made into films, television series, manhua ,and video games.
Asteroid 10930 Jin Yong is named after him.
Biography
A native of Haining county, Zhejiang province, Republic of China, Cha is the second of seven children 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, and of the classical fiction. He was once expelled from his high school for openly criticizing the regime as autocratic. He first studied at Zhejiang Province Jiaxing High School, and was admitted to the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Central University, located in Chungking . Cha later transferred to the Faculty of Law at Dongwu University to major in International Law, with the intention of working as a foreign relations official.
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. He would reside in Hong Kong for the rest of his life. When Cha was transferred to ''Hsin Wan Pao'' as Deputy Editor, he met , 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.
In 1959, together with fellow high-school mate Shen Pao Sing , Cha founded the Hong Kong newspaper ''Ming Pao''. Cha served as its Editor-in-Chief for years, writing both serialized novels and editorials, amounting to some 10,000 characters per day. His editorials were well respected, and ''Ming Pao'' gradually gained a reputation as one of Hong Kong's most highly rated press. His novels also earned him a large readership. Cha wrote his last wuxia novel in 1972, after which he officially retired from writing, and spent the remaining years of that decade editing and revising his literary works instead. The first complete definitive edition of his works appear in 1979. In 1980, Jin Yong wrote a postscript to Wu Gongzao's ''Wu Jia Taijiquan'', in which he described influences from as far back as Laozi and Zhuangzi on contemporary Chinese martial arts.
By then, Cha's martial arts novels have earned great popularity in Chinese-speaking areas. All of his novels have since been adapted into films, TV series and radio series in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China. The important characters in his novels are so well-known to the public that they can be alluded to with ease between all three regions.
In later years in the 1970s, Cha was involved in . He was a member of the Hong Kong Basic Law drafting committee, although, after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, he resigned in protest. He was also part of the Preparatory Committee set up in 1996 to supervise Hong Kong's transition by the Chinese government.
In 1993, Cha prepared for retirement 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.
Family Life
Cha married three times in his life. He divorced twice, and has two sons and two daughters, all from his second marriage. His eldest son committed suicide while a student at Columbia University.
Decorations and conferments
In addition to his novels, Cha has also written many non-fiction works on the history of China. For his achievements, he has received many honors.
Cha was awarded the in 1981. He is a '''' and a '''' , both awarded by the French government.
Cha has also been made an honorary professor by Peking University, Zhejiang University, Nankai University, Soochow University, Huaqiao University, National Tsing Hua University, Hong Kong University , the University of British Columbia, and Sichuan University, as well as an honorary doctor by Hong Kong University , Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Open University of Hong Kong, the University of British Columbia, Soka University and the University of Cambridge. He is also an Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford and Robinson College, Cambridge, and Wynflete Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.
When receiving his honorary doctorate at the University of Cambridge, Cha expressed a wish to be a full-time student at Cambridge for 4 years to attain a non-honorary doctorate. As of June 2007, Cha is still studying for his PhD in Oriental Studies at St. John's College, Cambridge.
Novels
Cha wrote a total of 15 pieces, of which one was a short story and the other 14 were novels and novellas of various length. Most of his novels were initially published in daily instalments in the newspaper. The book editions were printed later. In order of publication these are :
# ''The Book and the Sword'' - : :
# ''Sword Stained with Royal Blood'' - : :
# ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' - : :
# ''Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain'' - : :
# ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'' - : :
# ''Other Tales of the Flying Fox'' - : :
# ''Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse'' : :
# ''Blade-dance of the Two Lovers'' : :
# ''Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre'' - : :
# ''A Deadly Secret'' - : :
# ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils'' - : :
# ''Ode to Gallantry'' - : :
# ''The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'' -
# ''The Deer and the Cauldron'' - : :
# ''Sword of the Yue Maiden'' - : :
Of these, the novels make up a trilogy that should be read in that sequence; a number of his other works are also linked to this trilogy . ''Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain'' and ''The Young Flying Fox'' are companion pieces with the same protagonist with appearances of characters from ''The Book and the Sword''. Characters from ''Sword Stained with Royal Blood'' also appear in his final novel ''The Deer and the Cauldron''.
Couplet
After Jin Yong completed all his titles, it was discovered that the first characters of the first 14 titles can be joined together to form a couplet with 7 characters on each line:
; Traditional Chinese:
; Simplified Chinese:
; Loose translation:
Shooting a white deer, snow flutters around the skies;
Smiling, writes about the divine chivalrous one,
leaning against bluish lovebirds
Cha himself has stated that he has never intended for any such couplet, or to have 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 Jin Yong's work for his fans.
Editions
Most of Jin Yong's work were initially published in installments in Hong Kong newspapers, most often in ''Ming Pao''. ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'' was his first novel serialized in ''Ming Pao'', which was launched on 20 May 1959. Between 1970 and 1980, Jin Yong revised all of his work. The result is called the "New Edition" , in contrast with the "Old Edition" . Some characters and events were written out completely, most notably mystical elements and 'unnecessary' characters, such as the "red bird" and "Qin Nanqing", the mother of Yang Guo in the first edition.
In Taiwan, the situation is more complicated, as Jin Yong's books were initially banned. As a result, there were multiple editions published underground, some of which were revised beyond recognition. Only in 1979 was Jin Yong's complete collection published by Taiwan's Yuenching Publishing House .
In mainland China, the ''Wulin'' magazine in Guangzhou became the first to officially publish Jin Yong's work, starting from 1980. Jin Yong's complete collection in Simplified Chinese was published by Beijing's Sanlian Shudian in 1994. Meanwhile Minheshe Singapore-Malaysia published Jin Yong's collection, in Simplified Chinese for Southeast Asian readers in 1995.
From 1999 to 2006, Jin Yong revised his novels for the second time. Each of his works is carefully revised, re-edited and re-issued in the order when he wrote them. This revision has been completed in spring 2006, with the publication of the last, ''The Deer and the Cauldron''. The newly revised edition, known variably as the , or , is noted for annotations in which Jin Yong answers criticisms directed against the historical accuracy of his work.
Patriotism, Jiang Hu and development on Hero-ism
Chinese nationalism or patriotism is a strong theme in Jin Yong's work. Throughout his books, Jin Yong places emphasis on the idea of 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 s, Jurchens, Mongols, or Manchus. However, Jin Yong gradually evolved Chinese nationalism into an inclusionist concept which encompasses all present-day non-Han minorities. Jin Yong himself expresses a fierce admiration for positive traits of non-Han Chinese people, 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.
Jin Yong's books references ranging from Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, , music, calligraphy, , 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 is which—a feature that attests to the believability of his characters.
His works show 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 , between master and disciple, and fellow disciples. However, he also questions the validity of these values in the face of a modern society, such as ostracism experienced by his two main characters—Yang Guo's romantic relationship with his martial arts master Xiaolongnü in ''The Return of the Condor Heroes''. Jin Yong also places a great amount of emphasis on traditional values such as and honour.
Jin Yong breaks all the rules down in his final work ''The Deer and the Cauldron'', where Wei Xiaobao is a bastard brothel boy who is greedy, lazy, and utterly disdainful of traditional rules of propriety. In his fourteen other serials, the protagonists or the heroes were explored meticulously in various aspects of their relationships with their masters, their immediate kins and relatives, and with their suitors or spouses. With the exception of Wei XiaoBao, all the heroes have acquired and attained the zenith in martial arts, most would be epitome or embodiment of the traditional Chinese values in words or deeds, i.e. virtuous, honourable, respectable, gentlemenly, responsible, patriotic and so forth.
In The Deer and the Cauldron, Cha intentionally created an anticlimax and an ''anti-Hero'' in Wei Xiaobao who possesses none of the desirable traditional values and no knowledge in any form of martial arts, and depends on a protective vest made of alloy to absorb full-frontal attack when in trouble, and a knife that can cut through anything. Wei was a street wise womanising weasel in short, with no admirable qualities whatsoever. One of Cha's contemporaneous fiction writer Ngai Hong or Ni Kuang wrote a connected critique to all of Cha work and concluded that Cha culminated his work with The Deer and the Cauldron as a satire to his earlier work, and a reminder to the readers for a reality check.
Criticisms
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-also a fan of Jinyong, who has written series of criticism analyzing the various personalities in his books.
Despite Jin Yong's popularity, some of his novels were banned outside Hong Kong 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 Communist Party of China. None of these bans exists today, and Jin Yong'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 a well-known reader.
In late 2004, the People's Education Publishing House of the People's Republic of China sparked off 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 Jin Yong'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 and junior college levels.
Characters
Leading male characters
Lead male characters of Jin Yong novels are often portrayed from a young age . The plot usually follows their trials and tribulations, before they eventually attain the highest levels of martial arts.
Leading female characters
While leading female characters are mostly depicted in a supporting role in many contemporary martial arts works, many leading female characters in Jin Yong's novels are central to the plots, and depicted as strong, independent, and intelligent individuals as well as accomplished martial artists. For example, Huang Rong in ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' is portrayed not only as a companion of the male protagonist Guo Jing but also an independent, street-smart individual. Her intelligence and quick thinking is complementary to his physical strength. The female protagonist Huo Qingtong in ''Book and Sword: Gratitude and Revenge'' is a strong martial artist, a protective elder sister, a loyal daughter, and a guardian who vehemently fights for her people's interests. Indeed, she has more fight scenes than the male protagonist Chen Jialuo. Even though Qingtong's younger sister Princess Fragrance does not know wushu, she plays an essential role in the novel. Near the end of the novel, Princess Fragrance shows that she is not just beautiful but also intelligent enough to see through the emperor's design. She also has the courage to sacrifice herself to uphold her and her tribe's dignity and warn Chen Jialuo of the true intentions of the emperor. Yin Susu, Zhao Min, and Zhou Zhiruo are well characterized, showing courage, determination, and intelligence that at least equal those of the male protagonists in ''The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber''.
Jin Yong also experimented with some colourful but extremist female characters in Miejue Zitai the despicable wretched Buddhist/Taoist nun in Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre who despite of her training and religious belief conducted herself criminously to the opposite. In Li Mochou in The Return of the Condor Heroes who was a powerful opponent of Yang Guo to the end was a disturbed and the most ruthless killer from her failed courtship, in strong contrast to her younger alumnus from the Gumu Pai school Xiaolongnu who would be the most pristine, innocent and beautiful female second-lead in all of Jin Yong's novels. The venomous Qiu Chianchi was a tragic fully-paralyzed victim to avenge her own husband after surviving 18 years in a subterranean ravine in the The Return of the Condor Heroes. Jin Yong's brief descriptions of Dongfang Bubai in The Smiling Proud Wanderer was a self-castrated male nemesis who did so in order to complete his training in the superlative Sunflower Scripture , a role later portrayed in movies by female actress.
The "Five Supreme" martial artists
One of the most successful portrayal of characters in Jin Yong's works is the creation of the "Five Supreme" martial art practitioners in the ''Condor Heroes'' series. The quintet, which originally comprised Huang Yaoshi , Ouyang Feng of the West , , Hong Qigong and Wang Chongyang in ''Condor Heroes'' after the first , proved to be both a source of controversies and a scene of drama as the story proceed through ''Condor Heroes'' into ''The Return of the Condor Heroes''. The composition of the quintet was eventually updated to comprise Huang Yaoshi , Yang Guo , , Guo Jing and Zhou Botong .
Wang Chongyang , the winner of the Hua Shan duel, was a true historical Taoist practitioner or daoshi who founded the Quanzhen Sect of Taoism in the Song Dynasty. Jin Yong paid him the highest accolade by according him the champion of the Five Supremes who taught generations of heroes to follow. It is also done in recognition of Taoism teachings where the many variants of the martial arts terminologies in his novels were derived from, in namesake if not in practice.
Dugu Qiu Bai
Dugu Qiu Bai is a unique character in Jin Yong's novels. The character himself never appeared in any of the novels, only his name and legendary skill were mentioned. His name roughly translates to "the loner who seeks defeat". It is a reference to his solitary lifestyle and his unsurpassed fighting skills which leave him undefeated. His name was first mentioned in ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'', and then again in ''The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'' . He was last mentioned in ''The Deer and the Cauldron''.
Huang Shang
Huang Shang is another unique character in Jin Yong's novel but much less known than Dugu Qiu Bai. But he and Dugu Qiu Bai are of the same period; late Song dynasty. He was mentioned by Zhou Botong in The Legend of the Condor Heroes as the creator of Jiu Yin Zhen Jing. His early life was a court official who fought against the powerful Ming Cult 明教 of his time.
Adaptation of actual historical figures
Jin Yong was very liberal in adapting actual historical characters into his books, often making them important support characters and attributing to them fictional dialogue, actions, and so forth, especially where the historical records are brief or silent as to their biographical details. For example, , the youngest son of Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, appears as a boyhood friend of Guo Jing, protagonist of ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes.'' Guo Jing's Mongolian teacher Jebe was a legendary warrior under Genghis Khan.
Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty is a smart and capable ruler, and a close friend of Wei Xiaobao, the protagonist in ''The Deer and the Cauldron''. Other historical characters in ''The Deer and the Cauldron'' consist of Ao Bai, Wu Sangui, Wu Yingxiong; Wu Sangui's son, Li Zicheng, Chen Yuanyuan, Princess Changping; Ah-Ke's teacher, Shunzhi Emperor; Kang Xi's father and Songgotu who also called Suoertu; Wei XiaoBao's corrupted sworn brother who's the inner court high official.
Li Zicheng, Princess Changping, Wu Sangui, Dorgon or Duoergun and Huang Taiji are also mentioned in Sword Stained with Royal Blood.
In Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain, Li Zicheng was mentioned as the ancestors of the Hu, Miao, Fan and Tian were generals serving under him. Qianlong Emperor was mentioned inside as well.
Qianlong emperor and Princess Fragrance were mentioned in The Book and the Sword.
Even some lead characters are historical characters. For example, Duan Yu from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Princess Changping from Sword Stained with Royal Blood and Princess Fragrance from The Book and the Sword.
Schools
A recurring theme in contemporary martial arts books is to group characters into different schools and sects and to portrait heroics of the main characters in the context of historical rivalries between and schools of martial arts. Jin Yong's books are no exception to this. Many of the schools of martial arts portrayed by Jin Yong's works, such as the Shaolin Monastery Sect and the Wudang School , did exist in real life, though their details are inevitably subject to the artistic license of Jin Yong; other cults, such as the Beggars' Sect , are less well documented. It should be noted that Jin Yong's portrait of the schools and sects are mostly in line with their contemporary image in martial arts literature, and new sects such as the Ming Cult is the exception, used specifically as a fictional lead into the next era after the Mongolian in Ming Dynasty.
Timeline
1—The time frame of ''The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'' is unspecified; Jin Yong states that it is intentionally left ambiguous because the novel is in nature. Nevertheless, people have speculated on the timeframe; the most possible candidate is the Ming Dynasty, because the Wudang and Emei sects appear prominently, and because the Manchus are not mentioned. In several movie adaptations including 'Swordsman II' starring Jet Li, the story is specified to take place during the reign of the Wanli Emperor, which would make it the late Ming Dynasty but just before the period of Manchu encroachment.
2 The time frame of ''Ode to Gallantry'' is also unspecified. The only sources that would put the story in Ming Dynasty are that the mention of Zhang Sanfeng being already dead and the illustrations depict men wearing Han hairstyle.
3 The time frame of ''A Deadly Secret'' was ambiguous in its first and second editions. That Jin Yong specifically states that the story is inspired by the tragic story of his grandfather's servant seems to suggest that the events of the novel occurs near the end of the Qing Dynasty. That the novel illustrations depict men wearing Manchu hairstyle supports this idea. In the third edition of the novel, Jin Yong links the story with a character from The Deer and the Cauldron, thus fully integrates it into Qing Dynasty.
Jin Yong in English
In the last few years, Jin Yong's novels have been translated into English. The books currently available are:
* The Book and the Sword - published by Oxford University Press, translated by Graham Earnshaw, edited by John Minford and Rachel May
* The Deer and the Cauldron - published by Oxford University Press, translated by John Minford
* The Legend of the Condor Heroes - forthcoming from John Minford and Oxford University Press
* - published by the China University Press, translated by Olivia Mok
Other works available in English include:
* The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber - in comic book form by Wing Shing Ma, published by ComicsOne
* - in comic book form by Tony Wong, published by ComicsOne
* - DVD collection of the 2001 CCTV series with English subtitles released in the United States.
Adaptations
There are more than sixty TV series and films adapted from Jin Yong's novel. Dozens of role-playing games are based on Jin Yong's novels, a notable example of which is ''Heroes of Jin Yong'' , which was based on the major characters in Jin Yong's novels.
