From its early beginnings in short stories on righteousness during the Tang dynasty, wuxia novels have evolved to also include fantasy.

Straits Times , 19 Jan 2003

by Fragrant Swallow

The wuxia novel has its roots dipped in both high-brow and popular culture. One of its origins is in refined Tang dynasty short stories. Dubbed chuanqi (legends), these written novels focused on principles of righteousness. A well-know example is Fei Xing's works about a character named Nie Yingniang. A highly-skilled female assassin, she killed corrupt officials to help the common people.

The wuxia novel also rose from popular tales told on Song dynasty street corners and in bath-houses. In contrast to the beautiful language of the Tang chuanqi, these stories, called huaben (spoken scripts), use simpler language but also feature livelier action to hold listeners' attention. One of the four great classical vernacular novels, Water Margin, is a wuxia yarn. The tale is about 108 outlawed heroes living in the Marshland during the Northern Song dynasty.

During China's Republican period, various writers revived the genre which had lain largely neglected since the Song dynasty. A writer from Northern China, Zhao Huanting (1877-1951) is well-versed in the Chinese classics. He wrote wuxia tales woven with the values of repentance and patriotism. Manchurian writer Wang Dulu (1909-1977) wrote five serial novels which detail the relationships, separation and redemption of four pairs of sword-fighting lovers. His novel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon formed the basis of Lee Ang's 2000 film of the same name.

In the 1960s and 1970s, a new wave of writers like Hongkong's Louis Cha (Jin Yong) and Taiwan's Gu Long emerged. Their works fill the spiritual void of populations disillusioned by modern market economy and high unemployment.

These days, novelist like Hong Kong's Huang Yi and master-comic artist Ma Wing Shing are still popular with readers. Contemporary works feature twists such as time-travelling cops who return to the Qin dynasty (A Step into the Past/ Search for Qin).

Mr Mikey Wong, 32, managing director of Enoveltic Productions, which distributes Ma's wuxia comics here, says comics like Feng Yun (Stormriders) are popular among Singapore university students because "they emphasise justice, and heroes triumphing over all odds."

A comic adaptation by Ma of Zhang Yimou's Hero has sold out a first shipment of 8,000 copies in three weeks, since its release last month. However, the number of long-running comic series sold has dropped, say, three years ago. Previously, about 12,000 copies of each issue of Ma's fortnightly series Feng Yun were sold here. Now, each issue shifts about 8,000 copies. Mr Wong puts it down to the weak economic climate and rising prices - each copy costs S$4, up from S$2 in the past - leading people to borrow their friends' copies.

Alla Ho, 26, a wuxia novel fan, says he likes them because they are pure fantasy and escapism. "It's like The Lord of the Rings for Chinese people," he suggests. "And Louis Cha is the Tolkien of Chinese society."

Must-read Novels

by Precious Cloud

Legend of the Condor Heroes (Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan) by Louis Cha (Jin Yong)

More accurately translated as Eagle-shooting Heroes, this 1958 four-volume page-tuner blends kung fu, history, intrigue, romance and amazing food descriptions masterfully. Here, Guo Jing is a good but low-IQ guy who grows up with Genghis Khan, goes for kungfu lessons with seven eccentric individuals and a beggar-gourmet, and falls for Huang Rong, an over-achiever who is a brilliant cook to boot. The third work of China-born, Hong Kong based novelist Jin Yong showed he was no flash in the pan and sealed his fate as the most read, most-loved novelist in the Chinese-speaking world.

Alternatives: Besides a comics edition, there are at least three small-screen adaptations, including a 1982 Hongkong one starring Felix Wong and Babara Yung, and a new mainland Chinese one starring Li Yapeng and Zhou Xun. There have been two big-screen prequels: a Wong Kar Wai-produced parody, The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993), and a Wong-directed magnum opus, Ashes of Time (1994).

Swordsmen of the Sichuan Mountains (Shushan Jianxia Zhuan) by Huanzhu Louzhu

In this 1948 50-volume fantasy, mortals, immortals and monsters fight with magic weapons. It was the first to meld martial arts with fantasy, and foreshadowed the fantastic mid-air fights in later swordplay fiction. It is, to this day, incomparable in its breadth of imagination. Clearly, the likes of Louis Cha are indebted to Sichuanese novelist Huanzhu Louzhuo.

Alternatives: Two Tsui Hark movies. One is a 1983 hit starring Adam Cheng and Lin Ching-hsia called Zu: The Warriors from Magic Mountain. The other is a 2001 dud starring Ekin Cheng called The Legend of Zu. There are at least two TV sreies: 1990's The Gods and Demons of the Zu Mountains starring Eddie Kwan, and 1991's The Zu Mountain Saga, starring Ekin Cheng and Nnadia Chan.

Chu Liuxiang by Gu Long

With this series of eight mysteries that were printed between 1968 and 1978, Taiwanese novelist Gu Long stepped out of the shadow of his Hong Kong peers, Louis Cha and Liang Yusheng, and established his school of fiction. You don't read a Gu Long book for kungfu descriptions or history. Rather, you read it for his individualistic heroes, his charming lack of regard for continuity, and his compulsive prose.

Alternatives: Three small -screen adaptations in 1979, 1984 and 2001, where Adam Cheng, Miu Kiu Wai and Richie Ren took turns to play Chu Liuxiang, the swordsman-sleuth and lady-killer of the title.

The Bride with White Hair (Baifa Monu Zhuan) by Liang Yusheng

More accurately translated as The White-haired Demoness. This two-volume romantic tragedy came out in 1958, the year Louis Cha overtook Liang Yusheng as the leading swordplay novelist. But Liang's spunky swordswoman, Lian Nishang, whose hair turns white overnight after her spineless boyfriend Zhuo Yihang breaks her heart, lives on as one of the most remarkable feminist heroines.

Alternatives: A 1993 movie remake, starring Lin Ching-hsia and Lesie Cheung. Oscar-winnning cinematographer Peter Pau lensed it in his pre-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon days,.

The Duke of Mount Deer (Lu Ding Di) by Louis Cha (Jin Yong)

More accurately translated as The Deer and The Cauldron, this five-volume social satire subverts the swordplay genre and doubles as a laugh-out handbook to office politics. This 1972 work is Jin Yong's 14th and last novel. Its unorthodox protagonist is a prostitute's son called Wei Xiaobao, who finds it too much work to be a gongfu expert, and tells lies most of the time but it is still endearing.

Alternatives: John Minford's three-volume English translation, The Deer and The Cauldron, preserves some of the original flavour. There are also one comic, one movie and three TV adaptations, including a series starring Dicky Cheung.

[ Main ]