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EspañolJIN YONG
'Jin Yong' (), born February 6, 1924, pen name of 'Louis Cha' (), OBE, is one of the most influential modern Chinese-language novelists. Co-founder of the Hong Kong daily ''Ming Pao'', whom 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, and Southeast Asia. His fifteen novels and short fiction composed between 1955 and 1972 earned him a reputation as one of the finest wuxia ("martial arts and chivalry") writer ever. He is currently the best-selling Chinese author alive; over 100 million copies of his works have been sold worldwide[1] (not including unknown number of bootleg copies)[2]
Cha's works have been translated into Korean, English, Japanese, French, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Burmese and Thai and he has many fans abroad as well, thanks to the numerous adaptations of his works made into films, television series, and video games.
Asteroid 10930 Jin Yong (1998 CR2) is named after him.[3]
Biography
| Names | ||
|---|---|---|
| Given name | Pen name | |
| Trad. | 查良鏞 | 金庸 |
| Simp. | 查良镛 | 金庸 |
| pinyin | Zhā Liángyōng | Jīnyōng |
| Cantonese Yale | Chàh Lèuhng-yùhng | Kām-yùhng |
| Thai | กิมย้ง | |
| Vietnamese | Tra Lương Dung | Kim Dung |
| Korean | Sa Ryang Yong | Kim Yong |
| pen name created by splitting last character of given name | ||
A native of Haining county, Zhejiang province, 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 of the Nationalist-funded 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 (Chongqing) [4]. 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 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.
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 tai chi classic ''Wu Jia Taijiquan'', in which he described influences from as far back as Laozi and Zhuangzi on contemporary Chinese martial arts[5].
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 Hong Kong politics. 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.[6]
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, although the eldest son has passed away.
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 OBE in 1981. He is a ''Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur'' (1992) and a ''Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (2004), both awarded by the French government.[7]
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 (Department of Chinese Studies), the University of British Columbia, and Sichuan University, as well as an honorary doctor by Hong Kong University (Department of Social Science), 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.[8] As of June 2007, Cha is still studying for his PhD in Oriental Studies (Chinese History) at St. John's College, Cambridge.
Novels
Oxford University Press edition of Louis Cha's final wuxia novel, ''The Deer and the Cauldron''
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 initially published in daily instalments in the newspaper. The book editions were printed later. In order of publication these are (alternate translation in parentheses):
# ''The Book and the Sword'' - T: 書劍恩仇錄 S: 书剑恩仇录 (first published on ''The New Evening Post'' in 1955)
# ''Sword Stained with Royal Blood'' - T: 碧血劍 S: 碧血剑 (first published on ''Hong Kong Commercial Daily'' in 1956)
# ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' - T: 射鵰英雄傳 S: 射雕英雄传 (first published on ''Hong Kong Commercial Daily'' in 1957)
# ''Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain'' - T: 雪山飛狐 S: 雪山飞狐 (first installment appeared on the first issue of ''Ming Pao'' in 1959)
# ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'' - T: 神鵰俠侶 S: 神雕侠侣 (1959)
# ''Other Tales of the Flying Fox'' - T: 飛狐外傳 S: 飞狐外传 (1960)
# ''Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse'' T: 白馬嘯西風 S: 白马啸西风 (first published on ''Ming Pao'' in 1961)
# ''Blade-dance of the Two Lovers'' T: 鴛鴦刀 S: 鸳鸯刀 (first published on ''Ming Pao'' in 1961)
# ''Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre'' - T: 倚天屠龍記 S: 倚天屠龙记 (first published on ''Ming Pao'' in 1961)
# ''A Deadly Secret'' - T: 連城訣 S: 连城诀 (first published on ''Southeast Asia Weekly'' 《東南亞周刊》in 1963)
# ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils'' - T: 天龍八部 S: 天龙八部 (1963)
# ''Ode to Gallantry'' - T: 俠客行 S: 侠客行(1965)
# ''The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'' - 笑傲江湖 (first published on ''Ming Pao'' in 1967)
# ''The Deer and the Cauldron'' - T: 鹿鼎記 S: 鹿鼎记 (1969-1972)
# ''Sword of the Yue Maiden'' - T: 越女劍 S: 越女剑 (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 sequence; a number of his other works are also linked 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 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:
飛雪連天射白鹿
笑書神俠倚碧鴛
; Simplified Chinese:
飞雪连天射白鹿
笑书神侠倚碧鸳
; Loose translation:
Shooting a white deer, snow flutters around the skies;
Smiling, [one] writes about the divine chivalrous one,
leaning against bluish lovebirds (or lover)
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 instalments 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" (新版, also known as 修訂版), in contrast with the "Old Edition" (舊版). 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 (遠景出版社).
In mainland China, the ''Wulin'' (武林) 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 (三联书店) in 1994. Meanwhile Minheshe Singapore-Malaysia (明河社星马分公司) 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 (and probably last) 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 世紀新修版, 新修版 or 新新版 (in contrast to 新版), is noted for annotations in which Jin Yong answers criticisms directed against the historical accuracy of his work.
Themes
Chinese nationalism is a strong theme in Jin Yong's work. Throughout his books, Jin Yong 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, 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. And similarly, in ''The Deer and the Cauldron'', Jin Yong portrays the Manchu Kangxi Emperor as a sovereign of compassion and ability. In ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils'', Xiao Feng's split loyalty between his blood ancestry as a Khitan and his adopted Han Chinese identity led to his demise.
Jin Yong'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 is which — a feature that attests to the believability of his characters.
His works clearly 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 (particularly strongly, due to the wuxia nature of his novels), between master and disciple, and fellow disciples. However, he sometimes questions the validity of these values in the face of 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 Xiaolongnü (which was considered highly improper) in ''The Return of the Condor Heroes''. Jin Yong also places a great amount of emphasis on traditional values such as face and honour.
Finally, Jin Yong 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.
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, 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 an avowed fan.
In late 2004, the People's Education Publishing House (人民教育出版社) of the People's Republic of China sparked off controversy by including an excerpt from ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils'' (天龙八部) 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 secondary and junior college levels.[9]
Characters
Leading Male Characters
Lead male characters of Jin Yong novels are often portrayed from a young age (around adolescence). The plot usually follows their trials and tribulations, before they eventually (usually) attain the highest levels of martial arts. Unlike most wuxia works that came before and even among his contemporary in which the protagonists were already gongfu masters by the time they were introduced, Jin Yong's works have surprising amounts of details of the training of the protagonists.
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 '' 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 equal, if not exceed those of the male protagonists in ''The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber''.
The Five Supreme Martial Artists (五絕)
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 ("東邪" 黃藥師) ("East Heretic"), Ouyang Feng of the West ("西毒" 歐陽鋒) ("West Venom"), Duan Zhixing ("南帝" 段智興) ("South Emperor"), Hong Qigong ("北丐" 洪七公) ("North Beggar") and Wang Chongyang ("中神通" 王重陽) ("Central Divinity") in ''Condor Heroes'' after the first Duel of Hua Shan (華山論劍), 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 ("東邪" 黃藥師) ("East Heretic"), Yang Guo ("西狂" 楊過) ("West Obsession"), Yideng the Monk ("南僧" 一燈) ("South Monk"), Guo Jing ("北俠" 郭靖) ("North Hero") and Zhou Botong ("中頑童" 周伯通) ("Central Mischief").
Dugu Qiu Bai (獨孤求敗)
Dugu Qiu Bai is a unique character in Jin Yong's novels. The character himself never appeared in any of the novel, only his name was mentioned. His name was first mentioned in ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'', and then again in ''The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'' (笑傲江湖). He was last mentioned in ''The Deer and the Cauldron''.
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, Borjigin Tolui, the youngest son of Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, appears as a boyhood friend of Guo Jing, protagonist of ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes.'' 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''.
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 (少林派) and the Wudang School (T: 武當派 S: 武当派), 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 (T: 丐幫 S: 丐帮), 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 明教) is the exception rather than the norm in Jin Yong's works.
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 allegorical in nature. Nevertheless, people have speculated on the timeframe; the most possible candidate is the Ming Dynasty, because the Wudang and Emei sects (founded at the start of the Ming Dynasty) appear prominently, and because the Manchus (who destroyed the Ming Dynasty) 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 ''A Deadly Secret'' is also ambiguous. 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. On the other hand, the novel describes the treasure as having been hidden "several hundred" years ago. The Emperor Liang hid the treasure in the 6th Century CE. Therefore, this would suggest that the novel occurs much earlier than the 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 (書劍恩仇錄) - published by Oxford University Press, translated by Graham Earnshaw, edited by John Minford and Rachel May
★ The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎記) (in three volumes) - published by Oxford University Press, translated by John Minford
★ The Legend of the Condor Heroes (射鵰英雄傳) - forthcoming from John Minford and Oxford University Press (This project was abandoned a few years ago.)
★ Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain (雪山飛狐) - published by the China University Press, translated by Olivia Mok
Other works available in English include:
★ Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (倚天屠龍記) - in comic book form by Wing Shing Ma, published by ComicsOne
★ The Legendary Couple (神鵰俠侶) - in comic book form by Tony Wong, published by ComicsOne
★ Laughing in the Wind (笑傲江湖) - 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'' (金庸群俠傳), which was based on the major characters in Jin Yong's novels.
See also
★ Gu Long
External Links
★ Jin yong Teahouse (金庸茶館) - fansite of Jin Yong's novels in Cinese
★ Fei Hong Xue Ni - Jin Yong forums in Chinese
References
1. http://www.iht.com/articles/2000/06/20/melvin.t.php?page=2
2. 金庸与武侠影视 CCTV. 24 June 2004. Retrieved 4 August 2006.
3. Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (10001)-(15000) IAU: Minor Planet Center 13 July 2006. Retrieved 4 August 2006.
4. http://www.cwin.com/world/jinyong/jylife2.htm
5. Wu Family T'ai Chi Ch'uan (吳家太極拳), , Kung-tsao, Wu, Chien-ch’uan T’ai-chi Ch’uan Association, ,
6. Novelist, newspaper founder and sage Asiaweek. 24 September 1999. Retrieved 4 August 2006.
7. Louis Cha Awarded French Honor of Arts Xinhua News Agency. 14 October 2004. Retrieved 4 August 2006.
8. Octogenarian novelist wants to be student Shenzhen Daily. 23 June 2004. Retrieved 4 August 2006.
9. 金庸小说也走进本地教材 Lianhe Zaobao. 4 March 2005. Retrieved 4 August 2006.
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