Fantastic Novels

By Pan Xiaoqiao

‘He has left Jianghu behind， but his wuxia（martial arts） masterpieces will live forever，” said one reader on social media after hearing about the passing of Jin Yong on October 30 at the age of 94. “He has gone to another Jianghu，” said another reader， using concepts and sentences from his wuxia novels to express their condolence and sorrow.

Literally， Jianghu means rivers and lakes， while metaphorically， it refers to the world of martial artists， of thugs and heroes， beyond the reach of the imperial government.

Jin Yong is the pen name of Louis Cha Leung-yung， Chinas bestselling martial arts and chivalry novelist， who was born in Haining in east Chinas Zhejiang Province in 1924 and moved to Hong Kong in 1948.

Statistics from Chinas online shopping giant JD.com and online book retailer Dangdang.com show that orders began to shoot up on the evening of Chas death， while many online and offline retailers reportedly ran out of stock， as people rushed to buy his complete works.

More than meets the eye

Wuxia as a branch of Chinese literature has been around for centuries， but has been mostly sidelined and looked down upon by the mainstream literature world.

“The strong reaction to Chas passing makes the whole Chinese society aware of the extensive influence of his wuxia novels. Meanwhile， Chinas literature research circles have increasingly realized that they treat popular literature like wuxia unfairly，” said Long Qilin， a professor of literature at Guangzhou University.

In 1995， a Jin Yong wuxia research course was established at Peking University and since 2007， one of the novels， Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain， has been included in middle school Chinese language textbooks nationwide.

Jin Yong stories have gripped generations from all walks of life since 1955 when he published his first book in serialized form in Ming Pao， a leading newspaper in Hong Kong， which he co-founded.

“Martial artists， swordsmen and warriors in Jin Yong wuxia novels reflect the images of heroes in ordinary peoples hearts， what they admire and what they want to be. Readers can also find themselves in different characters in the books，”said Ning Jiayu， a professor of literature at Tianjinbased Nankai University. “For some， they read them for entertainment， but for quite a few readers， they find an ideal world in these fantasies that they cant find in the real world.”

“The fi rst time I read Jin Yong wuxia novels， I was caught up in the stories and plots， since they are so interesting. Now， the more I read， the more deeply I am impressed by the novels，”said Wei Hailun， a student and also a Jin Yong fan studying at Guangxi Normal University， south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. “Ive also read wuxia novels by other authors. What strikes me most is that in Jin Yong wuxia novels， its much more than martial arts.”To Wei， they are also part of Chinese history and culture like poems， verses and ancient Chinese philosophy， such as Buddhism， Taoism and Confucianism. “That said， what I value most in these novels are the positive attitudes toward life that always spur me forward， especially in the face of setbacks.”

Different readers have different reasons for being glued to these books. Cha once said， wuxia novels were a kind of entertainment， but he hoped to endow these books with some philosophy and personal ideas， and to express his views on society.

Legend of the Condor Heroes is set in the 13th century during Chinas Southern Song Dynasty （1127-1279）. The stories about the novels hero Guo Jing are not purely about struggles or conspiracies in Jianghu， but are also fi lled with efforts to defend the nation against attacks and invasions. Guos most famous assertion is that a real swordsman is one who fi ghts for his country and people， which is also the core of Jin Yongs wuxia novels.

In his lifetime， Cha sold more than 300 million copies of his works across the Chinesespeaking world， excluding electronic and digital versions. Multiple spin-off films， television series， comics and games have emerged from his original 15 novels written between 1955 and 1973.

In the 1980s， Chen Hong， Chairman of the Tianjin Federation of Literary and Art Circles， predicted that in 500 years， Jin Yong wuxia novels would gain the status that Heroes of the Marshes enjoys today as one of Chinas bestknown great classical novels from ancient times.“Although they are seen as pulp fi ction today， unacceptable by mainstream literature circles， Jin Yong wuxia novels will inevitably become classics thanks to their high literature level and extensive social infl uence，” said Chen.

Influence and inspiration

Where there are Chinese， there are Jin Yong novel readers. This is unexaggerated praise for Cha， one of the worlds most-read Chinese writers.

President Xi Jinping expressed condolences on November 2 over the passing of Cha， according to the Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Ong Ye Kung， Singapores Minister for Education， expressed his condolences on his Facebook page， commenting how his whole family enjoys reading Chas books and how he has gotten to know a lot about Chinese culture and history through them.

Nga Kor Ming， Deputy Speaker of Malaysias Parliament， also said on social media that he is a fan of Jin Yong novels， recounting how he would even forget to eat or sleep because he was too focused on reading the novels. He attributed his mastering the Chinese language to the novels.

Jack Ma， Chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba， expressed his sadness on Chas passing， saying that without Cha， he did not know if Alibaba could have come as far as it has. Ma， a fan-turned-friend， uses Jin Yong as a corporate ethos， choosing one character， Feng Qingyang， as his avatar. The companys value system， Six Vein Spirit Sword， is taken from one Jin Yong novel and represents customer first， teamwork， embracing change， integrity， passion and commitment.

In addition， many Chinese people living outside of China use Jin Yong novels to improve their Chinese language. Kung Fu fiction set in ancient times also helps to strengthen their knowledge of Chinese culture.

Kai-Fu Lee， former President of Google China and also former Vice President of Google and Microsoft， began studying in the United States at the age of 11， during which he read Jin Yong wuxia novels at least fi ve times. He said that it was due to reading these books that he did not forget Chinese after spending so many years abroad.

“Jin Yong is a champion of Chinas traditional culture. He presented a series of excellent Kung Fu fantasies that are rich in culture and encourage moral virtue and patriotism. His novels are becoming a symbol of Chinas national image and its culture，” said Long.

International reach

The influence of Jin Yong wuxia novels is not limited to the Chinese-speaking world， however， as the books slowly sneak into the Englishspeaking world.

A Hero Born， the fi rst volume of the English edition of Legends of the Condor Heroes， translated by Anna Holmwood， a professional translator and literary agent in the UK， was released in February. The volume has since been republished seven times to satisfy the unprecedented demand from English-language readers. To date， the rights to the books publication have been sold to seven countries including the United States， while British publisher MacLehose Press plans to publish the 12-volume trilogy of Legends of the Condor Heroes series.

One of the reasons it took more than half a century for the fi rst story to be translated into English is the complexity of the language in Jin Yong novels， which integrates prose and poetry and makes extensive use of four-character phrases and other Chinese idioms， making translation a very daunting task.

Holmwood conceded that “there are a lot of references and things in his writing essentially impossible to convey in their wholeness in English because we simply dont have the knowledge of Chinese literature and the ability to express all the history and tradition in a completely different language，” in an interview with Beijing Review last June.

The number of non-Chinese speakers being lured by the Chinese language and culture because of Jin Yong wuxia novels has surged recently. Indian actor Aamir Khan posted on Weibo， Chinas leading microblog platform， “I am very saddened to hear the sad news of Mr. Louis Cha passing away. His book The Dear and the Cauldron was a lot of fun. I wish I could have met him. I am a big fan.”

Holmwood said that her primary hope is that the excitement of Jin Yong wuxia novels will encourage more people to explore the Chinese language and culture.

Cha said in a speech published in 2005， “It does not matter to me whether I will become a historical fi gure. All I want is that after one or two hundred years， there will still be people reading my books.”