The jianghu world in wuxia novels is a “martial” world. Martial arts is not only what heroes and lady xia rely on (for protection) as they roam the jianghu, the requirement for chivalrous deeds (acting as a xia), is the final standard for settling disputes and getting satisfaction through seeking vengeance. In fact, the “wu” in wuxia, referring to martial arts, supports the entire framework. Liang Yusheng once said, “‘Xia’ is the soul, ‘wu’ is the body; ‘xia’ is the goal, and ‘wu’ is the means.”¹ Even so, as for the characteristics of the wuxia genre, “wu” is the key therein.² It’s hard for us to imagine a major character in a wuxia novel with little or no martial arts ability, even though Jin Yong wrote a character in The Deer and the Cauldron, Wei Xiaobao, who relied entirely on his eloquence, quick wit, and ability to adapt to circumstances in order to freely navigate the imperial court and the jianghu, “creating a marvelous, unprecedented wuxia novel”.³ However, we’ll leave aside discussions of the desire to “subvert”,⁴ as that is not a conventional practice in wuxia fiction. And Jin Yong still could not escape conferring a modicum of martial arts on Wei Xiaobao, from the “Art of the Hundred Flights” and “Art of Escape” to his dagger and precious vest, all are aimed at keeping this distinguishing wuxia quality in mind. It could be said that Jin Yong is acknowledging martial arts.

Martial arts is all that wuxia characters can rely on to “settle down and live their lives”, unless the xia is weary of jianghu conflict, tired of the trials and tribulations of “tasting blood at the point of a knife blade” or “the dog-eat-dog world” and wants to “retire from the jianghu”. Otherwise, he must know martial arts. We can gain much insight on this point from wuxia fiction vocabulary and its term “martial world” (wulin).⁵ Ever since Jin Yong created the model of “Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, Southern Emperor, Northern Beggar, and Central Divinity”, and Zhuge Qingyun’s “Five Paragons of Heaven and Earth” from Soul-Snatching Banner (Eastern Monk, Western Daoist, Southern Scholar, Northern Sword, Soul-Snatching Banner), a convention was established in wuxia fiction for ranking martial artists within the jianghu world. Murong Mei’s Record of Generals, Ministers, and the Nobility uses the ancient noble ranks of “Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron” and “General, Minister, Chamberlain, and Commandant” to strictly and methodically rank superiority among martial artists in the martial world. And in Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword, Gu Long created “Bai Xiaosheng’s Book of Weapons” where everyone from Old Heavenly Mystery, Shangguan Jinhong, and Little Li’s Flying Dagger, to Guo Songyang, Lü Fengxian, Green Devil Hand, etc., could have their jianghu status known by their ranking, and this was very popular with readers.⁶

Martial arts in wuxia fiction can be portrayed realistically or fictionally and can be combined with literary or philosophical concepts, and one might very well tie it to the character’s understanding of life. Different authors might fabricate from whole cloth or grossly exaggerate, or they might create many wonderful, fanciful developments, each putting his or her own take on it that will take readers beyond move names like “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms”, “Melancholic Palms”, “Great Shift of Heaven and Earth”, “Wedding Robe Skill”, and “Art of Longevity”, joyously breaking through the confines of the reader’s imagination and giving them a new experience. But among the various martial arts in this martial jianghu world, which martial art, which character, is really able to lead the pack, who no one can contend against? In Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, Jin Yong created the dictum, “Most venerated in the martial world, the precious sabre Dragon Slayer; when it commands the world, no one dares disobey. If the Heaven-Reliant Sword does not appear, who can contend against it?”. This can be the starting point for our inquiry.

Most Venerated in the Marital World / Martial World Alliance Head

It’s difficult to pin down when the title “Most Venerated in the Martial World” began, but its appearance in 1961 in Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre is the most prominent example. Aside from this, around 1962 Banxia Louzhu titled one of his novels Most Venerated in the Martial World.⁷ Though it incorporates the phrase [Most Venerated] that symbolizes the highest position in society, “emperor”, in fiction it seems to denote “high status but no major authority” and mainly emphasizes the status of “venerated” and represents the peak of a heroic character’s achievement, or at least the dream of it. But its ability to “command the world, no one dares disobey” relies on its renown and prestige and not on any authority to mete out punishments and rewards. So the precious sabre can hold sway over the world, but when the Heaven-Reliant Sword appears, it can contend with the precious sabre. But this does not involve any related issues of rights or obligation, and cannot rely solely on “contention”. “Martial World Alliance Head”, however, is different and belongs to the one who possesses “high status and authority”. Its origin can generally be traced back to The Justice Peng Files and the character Huang Santai who commands the Greenwood with his gold dart. In 1960, Wolong Sheng followed this in Heavenly Whirlwind with his “Greenwood Alliance Head”. But Jin Yong had already used this form of address in 1959 with his Return of the Condor Heroes. The distinctive quality of “Martial World Alliance Head” is that it is established through the formation of an alliance, and that agreement possesses a binding force such that “whoever obtains it [the alliance head position] is the one who can command the martial world”.⁸

Having might and authority not only attracts countless heroes to fight to the death to obtain the position, at the same time it forms a very common plotline in wuxia fiction. Ye Hongsheng used Murong Mei’s Number-One in the Martial World (1962) to broadly illustrate wuxia fiction’s trope of ”competing to become alliance head”, and he contends that “before this (Number-One in the Martial World), even though ‘Martial World Convention’ and ‘Most Venerated in the Martial World’ existed in wuxia fiction, it was rare to see the term ‘Martial World Alliance Head’”.⁹ Though the meaning of the term was not yet explicit, it already revealed the beginning of the standardization of the “Martial World Alliance Head” model—vying for the alliance head throne is certainly a focal point that many wuxia novels do their utmost to depict and narrate in detail.

Wuxia novels often go to great lengths to stress the authority of the martial world alliance head. This passage from Wolong Sheng’s Inseparable Chivalrous Lovers (1963) is a typical example: “…the position of martial world alliance head is not the alliance head of one school or sect; his flag of command signifies that all of us in the martial world must receive his assignments and follow his commands”.¹⁰ It’s normal in the martial world for schools and sects in the jianghu to be independendtly established, and there is no inherent need to form an alliance, but “seeing that the martial world factions are in disorder and often prone to conflict with each other, and since we are accustomed to thinking and acting on our own, we are reluctant to intervene in thorny disputes unless necessary. Consequently, since we lack a mediator, every little incident leads to a huge crisis, and grudges grow deeper and deeper, and a few troublemakers are able to incite confusion and stir up trouble to the point where justice is eradicated from the martial world and there is not a day of peace”.¹¹ Therefore, “uniting every sect and school of the martial world to save the jianghu from disaster, eliminate evil, and uphold justice” seems suitably necessary.¹² Clearly there is some idealism in forming an alliance, and so the leader of it, the alliance head, is usually relegated to “only handling matters on everyone’s behalf; by no means can the alliance head run roughshod over others and lord it over everyone”.¹³ However, on the one hand he has to wield authority, but on other hand he must strive to refrain from abusing that authority. There is naturally some room for discretion, and it seems paradoxical and contradictory.

If we view the martial world as a nation, then the alliance head is the monarch and can easily fall into the convention that Huang Zongxi, in his An Obscured Paragon of Virtue Awaiting a Royal Visit: Original Monarch, called “illuminating one’s duty”. Shining a light on one’s duty no doubt can be the actions of a martial alliance head who truly upholds justice, but possessing great power and authority, even if he can “illuminate” it, he will not necessarily be willing to give up the superior position of “thinking that the power to rule the world for good or ill comes from me, and it’s all right that the benefits belong to me, but calamities can be pushed onto the people”. Therefore, our novelists often intentionally create a frank, honest protagonist who is uninterested in fame and wealth or striving for supremacy, in order to serve as a foil to the martial world alliance head. For example, in Jin Yong’s Return of the Condor Heroes, the band of Song heroes propose establishing a martial world alliance head to lead them in order to consolidate their forces so they can resist the Mongols. Ultimately, it’s Guo Jing, who has absolutely no desire for power and authority and thinks that “it’s all the same to me whoever serves as alliance head”, who undertakes the responsibility, and thus serves as a foil to the Golden Wheel Monk’s preposterous, senseless scheming for the position. Or the inscrutable alliance head whose mind is clouded by a lust for power is used to directly denounce the terrible desire for power and authority, like Geng Cunliang in Dongfang Yu’s Martial World Seal (1969), who uses his alliance head position to fulfill his selfish desire to dominate the martial world. And in Jin Yong’s Smiling Proud Wanderer (1967), Priest Chongxu warns of the endless trouble that might result from Zuo Lengchan’s intention to grab the position of “Five Mountain Sword Sect Alliance Head”:

And when that happens, maybe he will want to become emperor, and once he becomes emperor he will want to be immortal and live forever! This is called “a man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant”. It’s been this way since ancient times. There are exceedingly few heroes who are able to escape the temptation of “power and authority”. (pg. 1224)

Generally speaking, these kinds of direct or indirect rebukes of and sneers at the martial world alliance head position all imply a strong appeal to morality. One can say it’s the microcosm of the Confucian “benevolent government, rule by vritue”. “Only the virtuous can rule” becomes just an ideal, when in reality it is completely impossible. What’s the reason for this? It lies in the fact that the alliance head is chosen completely on the basis of superior martial arts ability. See Priest Chongxu on warding off Zuo Lengchan: “If the five-school alliance comes to fruition, the seat of sect head will be decided by martial arts. Young Xia, if you use all your strength and if your swordplay can defeat Zuo Lengchan, then the position of sect head will be in your hands.” (pg. 1237) Here, Priest Chongxu paradoxically equates the martial world alliance head with power and authority, as well as with martial arts. The precious sabre no doubt can slay a dragon, but if the Heaven-Reliant Sword is drawn from its scabbard, the “Most Venerated in the Martial World” (the alliance head) can change hands. The sword, as an efficient weapon, often leads to ruin. This is clearly a case of “replacing one tyanny for another”, but it makes it crystal clear that in the jianghu, only “might” matters, and martial arts is the rule.¹⁴

Proficiency in civil and military matters and completing meritorus service to establish one’s reputation was a realistic prospect in ancient China, and a martial world alliance head possessing outstanding martial arts ability is just an aspiration within a fictional jianghu world. Zhang Dachun had a story where a young hero could grow up to “ultimately become alliance head of the martial world or eliminate the martial world alliance head”, which can be regarded as a metaphor, or “a microcosm, modifying the value of all society”.¹⁵ Reaching the highest peak, whether an “alliance head” in the martial world or outside of the martial world, is one of life’s ultimate ideals. However, how can people of the jianghu, especially young heroes just starting out, achieve this dream?

The martial world, just as its name implies, is a place where only a talent with outstanding martial arts can burst into the limelight. Still, what significance and function does “martial arts” have in the genre of wuxia fiction?

Martial Arts and Wuxia Fiction Tropes

Ding Yongqiang listed wuxia fiction’s fifteen “core scenes” to illustrate the plot tropes of wuxia fiction—1. Killing 2. Exile 3. Finding a martial arts master 4. Martial arts training 5. Re-entering the jianghu 6. Encountering a beauty 7. Experiencing defeat 8. Finding another martial arts master 9. Falling out with a lover 10. Getting injured 11. Getting healed 12. Acquiring a treasure 13. Major battle 14. Settling scores 15. Retiring from the jianghu.¹⁶ These fifteen basic scenes not only substantially influence the content of wuxia fiction, they also derive from the form of wuxia fiction. Wuxia is known for martial arts, and martial arts is its broadest structural framework. No matter what trope is used, no matter how ingenious the author is, he cannot get away from the influence of martial arts. Even though there is room to debate or adjust Ding’s list, we might as well add a bit of explanation to each of them:

1. Killing: Martial arts fight, the good is defeated by the evil.
2. Exile: Because of inferior martial arts, the hero is left to survive on his own.
3. Finding a Master: An extraordinary person comes to the rescue, teaches the hero martial arts.
4. Martial Arts Training: After arduous and diligent training, the hero’s martial arts develops
5. Re-entering the Jianghu: Initial martial arts training just completed, the hero roams the jianghu.
6. Encountering a Beauty: Admiring the hero’s outstaning martial arts, a lady xia falls in love.
7. Experiencing Defeat: Martial arts not yet perfected, the hero tastes defeat.
8. Finding Another Master: After more martial arts training, the hero’s skill reaches the next level.
9. Falling Out with a Lover: Waves form on the sea of love; the hero’s heart is wounded.
10. Getting Injured: The hero encounters a strong enemy, gets knocked down a peg.
11. Getting Healed: Through a fortunate encounter, the hero’s wounds are healed or martial arts ability restored.
12. Acquiring a Treasure: Through a stroke of luck/fate, the hero acquires or gets a look at a martial arts manual.
13. Major Battle: Large-scale martial arts fight; secondary enemies are eliminated.
14. Settling Scores: A battle for supremacy is waged; the score is settled.
15. Retiring from the Jianghu: Disillusioned with the world, the hero ceases fighting and retires to the countryside.

Of these fifteen basic scenes, aside from “falling out with a lover”, which doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with martial arts, the rest of them are all linked with martial arts. Not only that, within this trope it’s clear that the progression of martial arts goes from low to high, and at every turn of the plot there is usually an increase in the protagonist’s martial arts ability. If we take martial arts as a clue, we can clearly see that pointers from a great master and acquiring a martial arts manual are the two major factors in improving one’s martial arts.

Instruction from a great master is clearly beneficial to one’s martial arts improvement, but one must look closely at the master’s own martial arts attainment, what is known as “aim high or you may fall below the average; aim for the average and you will sink even lower”. So Guo Jing initially recognized the “Seven Freaks of the South” as his masters, but their skill was average, so he had to acquire Hong Qigong’s “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms” to begin to become impressive. Linghu Chong started out as a disciple of Mount Hua’s Yue Buqun, but his skill never approached that of his master’s. But when he met Feng Qingyang and learned the “Dugu Nine Swords” his skill increased, and he was then seen in a new light. Hong Qigong and Feng Qingyang were certainly grandmasters of the age, so once they learned their skills, Guo Jing and Linghu Chong were able to thoroughly remold themselves at once and stand alone as outstanding talents. Even so, how many great masters like Hong Qigong and Feng Qingyang are there at any given time? If the protagonist of a wuxia novel is not as lucky as Guo Jing or Linghu Chong in the course of his martial arts training, then some other opportunity must come along to aid in his development, otherwise he will never be able to reach the apex of martial arts and become worthy of the title “Great Xia”. Just like Yang Guo. Guo Jing didn’t teach him, and Huang Rong refused to teach him, so he was sent to the Quanzhen Sect and had to rely on his background to become the disciple of Zhao Zhijing, whose martial arts was ordinary. A knowledgeable reader will of course be eagerly anticipating and welcoming his first encounter with Xiaolongnü, then his acquisition of Dugu Qiubai’s “tricks of the trade”. The twists and turns during the process of learning martial arts is wuxia fiction’s most eye-catching focal point, so of the fifteen scenes mentioned above, finding a master, martial arts training, finding another master, and acquiring a treasure make up four of those scenes.

Whether one is lucky enough to encounter a great master or be born into a martial arts family, passing on martial arts skills requires a long period of training to build one’s ability. It can’t be accomplished quickly, and it really can’t be done in one attempt. Linghu Chong already had a foundation in martial arts, and both the “sword branch” and the “qi branch” of the Mount Hua School complemented each other well, so he was able to improve considerably in just a few days. But a more dull-witted person like Guo Jing, even though he went through a lot of arduous training and forced himself to learn fifteen moves in over a month, it would have been impossible without the help of the strength he gained from the precious snake blood.¹⁷ Here we touch upon a conceit between author and reader—internal skill.

In traditional Chinese martial arts there is a distinction between “external styles” and “internal styles”, and no doubt, the internal style, which stresses regulating one’s breathing and using calmness to control movement, gradually overtook the external style, which stresses physical strength training and using strength to overcome one’s opponent, even influencing the external style to move toward a more internal style route.¹⁸ The internal style emphasizes internal skill, and the key to victory usually lies in whether one’s internal skill is proficient or not. There are many schools of thought on methods to cultivating internal skill, but time is always the most important factor.

Wuxia authors occasionally make a point to show a grey-haired general type of jianghu character, weathered by age, like Gu Long does in Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword with Old Heavenly Mystery. Though ranked first in Bao Xiaosheng’s Book of Weapons, he is old and lacking in energy, his age showing, and he ultimately must lose to Shangguan Jinhong, who is ranked second and in the prime of his life. But most wuxia novels clearly use age to weigh whether or not the depth of one’s skill has reached the peak of perfection. Elders and renowned persons in wuxia novels tend to have thirty to sixty years of accumulated training, far superior to the younger generation. Age is the biggest key. “Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, Southern Emperor, Northern Beggar, Central Divinity”, Zhang Sanfeng, Feng Qingyang, Ren Woxing, and One-Armed Divine Nun, are all celebrated elders in Jin Yong’s novels, and all are advanced martial artists, and advanced agae means advanced martial arts. They are clear representatives of this concept. With regard to wuxia fiction, this concept is a conceit. Despite not conforming to principles of medicine, it does not need to be challenged.¹⁹ The older one is, the more advanced one’s skill, extending to the highest level. Like in many of Qiu Menghen’s novels, the elders who appear are anywhere from sixty years old to several hundred years old. “No matter how tall a mountain is, there is always a taller one”. Time is condensed down to the space of one scene, fanciful, mystical, impossible to distinguish—yet this too is is a conceit with the reader!²⁰

Since time is the major prerequisite for proficiency in skill, even if one finds a great master, one’s skill can only marginally increase in a short amount of time. If one’s skill suddenly advances by leaps and bounds, that would break the rules. Still, in many wuxia novels the young male or female lead character’s long period of training is too slow to meet a pressing need—anxious to succeed and make a name for oneself in the jianghu, how can a strong, rising hero, under the covetous eye of a an elder master, come to the fore? Here, wuxia authors construct a convenient “even if the elder possesses it, it can still be passed on to the younger generation” method, using an “anointing method” wherein the master’s decades of accumulated skill is transfered into the disciple. In Wolong Sheng’s Jade Hairpin Oath (1960), though Xu Yuanping is imparted with the secret teachings of the Muscle Tendon Changing Classic from Master Empty Wisdom, he still needs Master Empty Wisdom to transfer decades of his perfected energy into Xu Yuanping’s own body for it to be effective. This is an example of that method.²¹ However, this method, though ingenious, can’t be used too often, lest everyone start doing it and become overpowered. It would break the suspension of disbelief, and the plot would be unable to develop and the novel’s quality would drop substantially.

Therefore, wuxia novels are “forced” to use a trope that has had broad influence—the martial arts manual.

The Characteristics of Martial Arts Manuals

Martial arts manuals appear again and again in a lot of wuxia novels. Most authors have several novels that feature martial arts manuals. Though some are written and planned out better than others, all have received much attention, not only becoming a pretext for disparaging wuxia works, but as far as influence goes, it has also entered the modern lexicon as a common idiom. Called “secret books”, they naturally are rare books that their creators have put all their blood and sweat into to record unique secrets that will then await someone of a later generation fortunate enough to discover them. The “Appended Judgments” section of the Book of Changes states, “The Yellow River Diagram appeared, the Luo River Scroll appeared, and the sages made use of them”, which can be said to be the origin of manuals, and their hidden instructions and directions are revealed in wuxia novels in full.

In wuxia novels, the design of martial arts manuals basically adhere to a few specific properties: (1) Excellence; (2) Secretiveness; (3) Mysteriousness; (4) Miraculousness; (5) Orthodoxy; (6) Virtuousness. These specific properties have a profound and far-reaching influence on wuxia novel plots and character models, as well as their overall structure, and all are derived from traditional Chinese culture and tie in closely to the characteristics of wuxia fiction. At this point, we might as well give a brief outline and analysis of each one.

The “excellence” of martial arts manuals refers to the martial arts contained therein, which must be more advanced than martial arts of the top martial arts masters of the age. This point is very clear. If the martial arts contained inside are not advanced, then it will not attract attention, and studying its arts will be of no benefit at all. The Nine Yin Manual, Nine Yang Manual, and Sunflower Manual in Jin Yong’s novels, to use words from the novels themselves, are “fantastic and profound, exceedingly mysterious”.²² None are not “secret books containing the highest level of martial arts”.²³ Therefore, Linghu Chong’s “Dugu Nine Swords”, despite being incredible, is still not equal to Dongfang Bubai’s incomplete mastery of the Sunflower Manual’s martial arts, even with the combined strength of Ren Woxing’s “Cosmic Absorbing Power” and Demon Cult masters Xiang Wentian and Shangguan Yun. Therefore, people of the jianghu incessantly scheme and use tricks to snatch these books, all hoping to obtain them as soon as possible. The traditional Chinese notion of “love for the ancients” has influenced these kinds of secret manuals to be imbued with a lot of history, being works left behind by elder masters decades ago, or even hundreds of years in the past. The Sunflower Manual came from an anonymous palace eunuch from a “previous dynasty”. The Nine Yin Manual originated from a compendium called the Daoist Canon of Longevity compiled by Huang Shang.²⁴ The Nine Yang Manual was written by a master Shaolin monk, then after Jueyuan understood it, it was passed to three people. Though the names of these people are sometimes not reliable, and they are not necessarily famous personages of the jianghu, their martial arts attainment is outstanding, and their backgrounds extremely explicit.

Martial arts manuals often possess “secretiveness” and are acquired by chance, suddenly lost, all based on luck, coincidence, or good fortune, and the site where they are lost is either in a remote corner of a library at a monastery, the inner grounds deep inside a palace complex, a big gorge deep in the mountains, or inside a mysterious cave on some precipitous cliff. The latter is an especially popular setting in wuxia novels. The “Return to the Origin Manual* in Wolong Sheng’s The Swallow Starles the Dragon (1958) was hidden deep in the Kuocang Mountains, and the Shaolin Teachings was buried at the bottom of Quicksand Valley in Shangguan Ding’s Quicksand Valley (1961). Manuals are also located in ancient tombs, in the middle of lakes, buried underground, in the desert, on islands, and other remote, hard to reach places.

Aside from being concealed in hiddend places, martial arts manuals are also often guarded by mythological beasts (monsters) or booby traps, functioning as a kind of filter. In Gao Yong’s Heavenly Dragon Scroll (1966), “in most cases, locations harboring concealed treasure or mystical weapons must have a rare beast or bird guarding them”.²⁵ This is true for many martial arts manuals as well. The appearance of rare, mystical beasts originated in Huanzhu Louzhu’s Swordsmen of the Shu Mountains series where many were depicted. Strange, mystical, beyond description, this is a unique trait of old school wuxia fiction. New school wuxia novels imitated this heavily in during the early stage. Usually not associated with martial arts manuals, most focused on fantastic spectacles, like the “blood bird” in Jin Yong’s Legend of the Condor Heroes (1957) and the “jade-faced fire monkey” in Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (1961). When connected to martial arts manuals, mystical beasts are used to “guard the scripture”, like the divine eagle in Return of the Condor Heroes (1959). Monsters, on the other hand, are used to hinder or increase one’s skill, like the python dragon in Mo Yusheng’s Sea of Jade, Leaping Flood Dragon (1959) or the heavenly centipede and black snake in Xiang Mengkui’s Purple Dragon Pendant (~1960).

Although there was already a tradition of fantastical creatures in China, they were not necessarily accepted by more scientifically-minded contemporary readers. Therefore, the later stage of new school wuxia fiction began to replace them with booby traps and maze formations to make it more believable. Consequently, when Jin Yong revised his novels he largely removed the mystical beast sections, and early imitators of Huanzhu Louzhu like Mo Yusheng and Xiang Mengkui, though their novels appeared over and over in the early stage, they had become scarce by the later stage. Wolong Sheng’s Jade Hairpin Oath made use of many surprisingly intricate contraptions and booby traps when he wrote about Old Solitary’s ancient tomb.

Aside from the metaphysics surrounding the unearthing of a martial arts manual, it is also often accompanied by the uncovering of a mystical weapon or miracle drug. Mystical weapons are not left behind by the ancients but are reincarnations of deities into a precious sword, and later becomes what the protagonist mainly relies on as he upholds justice and eliminates ferocious adversaries. Miracle drugs are usually strange plants such as purple fungus, cinnabar fruit, orchid seed, knotweed, and many others. Sometimes the inner core or blood essence of a mystical beast is used to rapidly increase the protagonist’s deficient skills. This too basically originated with Huanzhu Louzhu, but was taken further, becoming miraculous to an inconceivable degree, and gradually became an important trope in wuxia fiction.

The martial arts in martial arts manuals are usually “orthodox” martial arts, absolutely not heterodox or cruel and ruthless skills,²⁶ depsite its creator sometimes being regarded as a heretic (in Liang Yusheng’s Sea of Clouds, Jade Bow (1961-1963), the martial arts manual Jin Shiyi obtains was created by Qiao Beimin), though in the end they will be regarded as an orthodox person after undergoing some trial to prove their “virtuousness”. For example, Liang Yusheng had Jin Shiyi and Yang Hua (Pastures, Shooting Stars (1972-1975)) “kowtow” to each other to show their respect.

Although not every one of these six specific properties are essental to every martial arts manual, at least three or four of them will be used for sure; this can be easily verified. As mentioned before, martial arts manuals are an extremely common element in wuxia fiction, and they are almost “forced” to appear, but why is that? Mainly it’s because they are an inevitable element of wuxia fiction’s plot design.

The main function of martial arts manuals is to allow the protagonist to improve his martial arts in a condensed period of time. Therefore, unless the author eliminates the martial arts training process from the beginning, and has the protagonist come onto the scene already possessing incredible martial arts ability, then a martial arts manual must appear at the appropriate time to resolve the coming-of-age hero’s various predicaments. This point can be greatly illuminated by looking at Gu Long’s later novels, which seldom use the coming-of-age trope.

Gu Long’s later novels contain three well-known male protagonists: Li Xunhuan, Lu Xiaofeng, and Chu Liuxiang. These three main characters have distinct appearances and personalities, and Gu Long designed different plots and personalities to go with them, but they all have two traits in common. One is their age, as all are in their thirties. The brooding, emotionally suppressed Li Xunhuan, in seeking to revive a decade-old dream, is aware that he is “no longer young”.²⁷ The unrestrained, cleverly charming Lu Xiaofeng and Zhu Ting have “been friends for twenty-three years”.²⁸ The passionate, dissolute Chu Liuxiang’s age is never specified, but seven years ago in Iron Lion Alley in Beijing²⁹ he saved Pockmarked Qian, so he’s no spring chicken, and the language he uses is full of middle-aged charm. They’ve already been through a lot of trials and tribulations in the jianghu, and they are renowned throughout the world. Traces of their chivalrous and heroic deeds are everywhere.

The second thing that they all have in common is they have all mastered their martial arts. Li Xunhuan is ranked third in the Book of Weapons, Lu Xiaofeng’s “Lingxi Finger” is famed among the jianghu, and Chu Liuxaing has long enjoyed a good reputation as the “Bandit Chief”. Though not necessarily the best in the world, when faced with an enemy, their vigilance, recourcefulness, and intelligence frequently enable them to lend key assistance and rout strong enemies at the critical moment. What’s important is that for the entire book they do not need any martial arts training; what they possess is sufficient to deal with whatever jianghu troubles arise. Hence, these three characters conform to very few of Ding Yongqiang’s fifteen “core scenes”, so we can see that martial arts manuals were clearly used to fit certain special plot requirements and are inevitable. To sum up, it’s to make the book’s protagonist possess the criteria needed to be able to uphold justice and roam the jianghu with abandon—advanced martial arts.

Thinking about it the other way, what would the world of the jianghu in wuxia fiction be like if there was no martial arts manual—especially a “young man’s” jianghu? Given that martial arts manuals shoulder an excessive burden and draw too much criticism and ridicule, it would be difficult for an author just starting out to not think about ways to escape this cliché. Taiwan author Gao Yong is an example of one who was evidently anxious to make a breakthrough—making a breakthrough not in the sense of going down a similar path that Gu Long did and abandon the use of martial arts manuals, but reforming the original martial arts manual framework. In Heavenly Dragon Scroll, Gao Yong used satirical overtones in surprisingly making public the Seven Heaven-Bracing Forms manual that the group of jianghu heroes in his book are fighting over. Ye Hongsheng expressed his admiration, stating:

The author held fast to his creativity and broke the pattern of competing for martial arts manuals that had been the forte of Hong Kong and Taiwan wuxia fiction since the 1950s—by printing and freely distributing the “Seven Heaven-Bracing Forms” sword manual that men of the jianghu had long sought after, regarding it as a treasure, so that it spread all over and became known to everyone! This insight, this creativity, this reimagination of something which no one had ever done before, can truly be called “overthrowing a generation of heroes”! One cannot but applaud and slap the table and say bravo!³⁰

Certainly, Gao Yong’s reimagination and breakthrough can be said to be an original creation among wuxia fiction. And after making the manual public, everyone in the jianghu could easily study this ultimate martial arts, and it ought to no longer give rise to any more of the dog-eat-dog treachery which would then lead to brutal, bloody jianghu violence. However, once everyone has acquired this secret martial arts that they had all been scheming over, it would become commonplace, and every ordinary Tom, Dick, and Harry would be proficient in it. With everyone equal, everyone with the same martial arts skill level, with no way to decide who’s superior, could that kind of jianghu still be the jianghu? The protagonist of the novel, Jiang Tao, was originally just a weak scholar, so how would he establish his achievements and prestige within the jianghu? Actually, what’s praiseworthy about Gao Yong with this novel is not just that he pioneered the plotline of making public a martial arts manual, but more so that he he used it to reveal significance. After the manual was made public, no one in the jianghu was willing to believe that Jiang Tao was really so broad-minded. They studied the manual, but they suspected that Jiang Tao could have hidden part of it for himself. As a result, the dispute became even more entangled with no sign of ending. Here, turmoil in the jianghu took the form of an allegory pointing out man’s shortcomings in being beguiling and distrustful. It’s direct relation to the martial arts manual trope is that it pointed out the problem of not having a martial arts manual.

And so, at the end, when Gao Yong had relegated the Seven Heaven-Bracing Forms manual to being ordinary martial arts, he had to take it to the next level, so he designed a six-in-one (fist, palm, sword, lightness skill, internal skill)³¹ Heavenly Dragon Scroll manual to occupy a commanding height and thereby re-enact the martial arts manual program. This is what’s known as “inevitable”. Of course, the Heavenly Dragon Scroll was not publicly published and propagated thoughout the world this time, or else how could Jiang Tao mop up the band of evil-doers and settle his scores?

Martial Arts Manuals and Plot

Because the use of martial arts manuals has become a common technique for wuxia authors, and many key points appear in nearly the same exact patterns, the six specific properties mentioned above have led to numerous criticisms, leading to a lot of grievances [for wuxia authors/readers]. Just like Ye Hongsheng discussed, martial arts manuals have fairly large limitations,³² but these limitations are the result of wuxia fiction’s genre conventions. If it’s not this, it’s that. There’s no room for leeway. It’s just like writing classical poetry. Old style or regulated verse, you are free to choose, but if you want to write regulated verse, then you have to follow the rules, otherwise it can’t be called regulated verse. Wuxia novels don’t have to write about martial arts manuals, but once that decision has been made, one must abide by all that entails. This is also inevitable, otherwise the “wu” (martial arts) in wuxia will not able to be presented clearly. Of course, having said that, look at how an author ingeniously handles a worn-out topic. Master Jin Yong has martial arts manuals as a central thread running through all of his novels, and readers take delight in talking about them. They never become formulaic. It’s what is known as “there’s nothing new under the sun, but everyone has their own uique twist on it”. This precisely sums up the principle. Therefore, the key to the problem resides not in what tropes one uses, but how one utilizes and adds to it.

First of all, there are many different ways a martial arts manual can be devised and modified. It can be buried in a gully deep in the mountains, waiting for the destined person (the protagonist) to wander along and unexpectedly discover it. It can be represented by a reclusive xia tucked away in a secluded valley or a victim yearing for vengeance, a wise old instructor passing along his skills and teachings, even transferring internal skill. Although Master Empty Wisdom from Wolong Sheng’s Jade Hairpin Oath, Evil God of the Flaming Clouds from Liu Canyang’s Heavenly Buddha Palm (1962), and Feng Qingyang from Smiling Proud Wanderer are not manuals, they function the same as a manual. This kind of modification is seen again and again in Wolong Sheng’s novels, such as Unknown Flute (1961), Gold Sword, Eagle Feather (1964), Heavenly Sword, Paragon Sabre (1965), and Spring and Autumn Brush (1975). Yet within these modifications there are parts that remain unchanged, such as the trope used by most authors of “recovering from a seemingly impossible predicament”—readers familiar with wuxia novels, when they see a character fall off a cliff, will understand and smile because below the thousand-foot drop lies unlimited chances for survival that at any moment will allow the protagonist to become reborn and gain a new lease on life.³³

Secondly, martial arts manuals often appear in the form of a treasure map. The author plays coy and uses the map to indicate the location of the treasure, which will require an arduous journey, and with the map to consult, there will be nonstop thrills. And the map might even contain some other mystery within it. There might be hidden martials arts skills concealed inside, like in Wolong Sheng’s Armed Escort Banner (1969), in which the “Shepherd Drawing” makes up the central thread of the entire book, not only marking clues to the hidden treasure, but also utilizing the postures of the flock of sheep in the drawing to conceal thirteen skillfully crafted, ultimate martial arts moves. This is the most obvious example.

Most importantly, martial arts manuals in wuxia fiction, in the final analysis, play a pivotal role in driving the plot forward. Since martial arts manuals contain martial arts more advanced than any other master possesses, once it appears, everyone contends for it, everyone wants to obtain it, which will inevitably lead to pandemonium within the jianghu. The development of plot in wuxia fiction goes from rest to action and back to rest, “rest” representing a balanced, stable state. If there’s no trouble in the jianghu, then all the sects and schools keep to themselves, and the mass of heroes abide by their own rank and position, like the “Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, Southern Emperor, Northern Beggar, and Central Divinity” from Legend of the Condor Heroes, the “One palace, Two valleys, Three strongholds” from Jade Hairpin Oath, the “Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron” from Record of Generals, Ministers, and the Nobility, all in their stable orders. However, wuxia fiction can never use a stable framework as subject matter; the balance must be disrupted, the jianghu must be grandiose in order to have vitality. Otherwise, with a horse growing fat in the stable and a precious sword coated in dust, how can a heroic xia shake heaven and earth? Disrupting the balance requires conflict, and martial arts manuals are undoubtedly one of the most influential major conflicts in wuxia fiction.

Therefore, the most effective function of martial arts manuals in wuxia plots is to throw a “variable” into the original balance (normalcy); it’s the source of conflict in wuxia fiction. In Legend of the Condor Heroes, Jin Yong used Zhou Botong to point out the waves that the Nine Yin Manual had caused in the jianghu:

Zhou Botong said, “The reason for writing the Nine Yin Manual is in the preface of Huang Shang’s book, that’s how my senior brother knew. Huang Shang hid the book in a very secret location, and it wasn’t discovered for decades. Then one year, I dunno how, it suddenly resurfaced. Of course every martial artist in the world wanted it. Everyone was trying to snatch it from each other, it was a big mess. My senior brother said over a hundred masters died trying to get it. Whoever got it tried to learn the martial arts inside by following the instructions, but in less than a year and a half they were discovered by someone who chased them down trying to seize it. This happened over and over till I don’t know how many were dead. Whoever got hold of the book tried all they could do to hide, but there were so many pursuers that they could never get away. All that scheming and dirty trickery, who knows how many got involved because of that book.”

Masters swarming from all over to steal a manual is a common occurrence in wuxia fiction, and is also the easiest part in which to show off one’s ideas on the study of martial arts. As masters take turns fighting, one by one their martial arts are put on display, naturally increasing the aesthetic power of wuxia. The Return to the Origin Manual in The Swallow Startles the Dragon and the Seven Heaven-Bearing Forms in Heavenly Dragon Scroll both serve this function. And in the course of all this contention, the truth and lies, the gains and losses, the grudges sown and terrible conflicts waged, it can all be energetically brought into play and bring about extraordinary, ingenous, fascinating, twisting and turning plots.

Taken by force for either “fame” or “status”, the appearance of a martial arts manual calls for a revision of jianghu hegemony, and therefore authors depict to their heart’s content the dark path taken by tyrants relying on their power to seize the manual by force, treacherous petty villains scheming and using deception, and hypocrites pretending to resist but actually not, till their intentions are revealed in the end. The true xia can bemoan the state of things and try all he can to turn the tide. For a wuxia author with strong self-awareness, “human nature” is the most important, worthy substance.³⁴ Characters are given different personalities, and they have different mentalities with regard to martial arts manuals, and the perception of martial arts manuals lay bare all the good and evil of human nature, which one could say is the touchstone of wuxia fiction’s portrayal of human nature. This point is depicted most vividly in Jin Yong’s Smiling Proud Wanderer with the Evil Quelling Sword Manual, which not only causes raging conflict and draws in characters of every shade and description into the fray, but also illuminates every facet of how humanity confronts the pursuit of power. Cutthroat Ren Woxing, petty Zuo Lengchan, hypocrite Yue Buqun, true xia Linghu Chong, each has his distinctive qualities, each puts forth a majestic air. It is said that the brave heroes of Mount Liang in Water Margin all have distinct features, but most of them are similar to each other, still keeping to the path of bandits. But in Smiling Proud Wanderer, all the characters not only have different, interesting personalities, they are vividly rendered and very human, punctuated by the Evil Quelling Sword Manual.

Moreover, the martial arts manual in this book becomes a metaphor for power: “If you want to learn this skill, you must castrate yourself” is a metaphor for the horrible way in which one can become absorbed with the pursuit of power to the point one will not hesitate to sacrifice much of one’s cherished humanity, and it confirms that power can terribly corrupt a person! Laozi said, “Don’t show someone things that will incite desire and his mind will not be confused”. Martial arts manuals are clearly “something that will incite desire”, and how does it throw humanity into disorder? Wuxia authors look at it from different perspectives to concretely and vividly portray for us many forms and appearances.

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1. Tong Yanzhi (Liang Yusheng), “A Joint Discussion of Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng”, included in Liang Yusheng and His Wuxia Novels (Taipei: Yuanjing, 1977), pg. 132.
2. The definition of wuxia fiction up to now has never been explored from a serious angle, so when classifying genres there is often disagreement about what kinds of novels should be included in the scope of the wuxia genre. The majority of scholars lean toward tying it to “xia”. Liang Yusheng said it most clearly, but I don’t endorse this point of view. Fiction that has taken xia as a subject has been common since ancient times, and the differences between the “sword xia” of the Tang dynasty, the “righteous xia” of the Qing dynasty, and the “wuxia” of the modern era are quite vast. The characteristic that truly allows the wuxia genre to develop is “martial arts” (wu) and not “xia”! For a relevant discussion of this, please consult my “The Consolidation of Popular Fiction Genres—On the ‘False’ and the ‘Real’ in Jin Yong’s Novels” (National Central Library, Chinese Studies Volume 17, Issue 1, 1999).
3. See Ni Kuang, My Reading of Jin Yong’s Fiction (Taipei: Yuanjing, 1980, pg. 75.
4. ”Subversion” in Jin Yong’s novels is especially apparent in The Deer and the Cauldron. I’ve talked about this in class with my students, and one of them, Qian Tianshan, has written a paper titled “Subversive Wuxia—Jin Yong Cripples Wei Xiaobao’s Martial Arts” which explores this issue from both the original and revised text of the novel. It hasn’t been formally published yet, but I didn’t want to take credit for someone else’s work, so I am citing it here.
5. The term “wulin” is already in common usage, but as for when it was created, Ye Hongsheng said Bai Yu was “the first to use the term wulin” (Ye Hongsheng’s Discourse on Swords: An Historical Analysis of Wuxia Fiction, pg. 62; Taipei, Lianjing, 1994), but I strongly doubt it came as late as Bai Yu, because Ye’s paper mentions the late Qing novel The Eighteen Heroes, though it is not recorded who wrote it or when. Hu Hongbo’s “A General Narration of Thirty-Two Kinds of Drum Words Dated in the Late Ching and Early Republic Years” notes a woodblock edition from the first year of the Republican era, so it is likely a late Qing work. Unfortunately, I have not seen this edition, so I can’t say. I do have a 1998 edition from Beiyue Literary Publishing by Liu Linxian and Huang Guoxiang, a revised edition in which “wulin” is used twice. I suspect this is an influence from later wuxia fiction, but I can’t verify if the original book used this term or not. More research is needed.
6. Regarding jianghu ranking, wuxia fiction is not the first to do it; rankings had already appeared numerous times in classical fiction, such as Romance of the Sui and the Tang and Legends of the Tang Dynasty, novels about heroes between the Sui and Tang periods and their heroic deeds which enthusiastically promote the “ranking of top warriors” including Li Yuanba, Yuwen Chengdu, Pei Yuanqing, Xiong Kuohai, and Wu Yunzhao in the top five. They are ranked based on their martial arts ability, so Yuwen Chengdu’s golden trident is certainly formidable, and whoever sees Li Yuanba is “scared out of his wits”. Li Yuanba’s supernatural strength is unstoppable, and one can only be resigned to his fate and wait for Li Yuanba to do himself in by raging at the lightning. Gu Long’s “Bai Xiaosheng’s Book of Weapons” was something he was very proud of. After Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword (1969), other novels mentioned it, such as Eagles Soar in the Ninth Month (1973) and Horizon, Bright Moon, Sabre (1974). It didn’t list any women, so it is not comprehensive, but the main portion of the ranking that has been revealed goes like this:
   1. Ruyi Staff, Old Heavenly Mystery

   2. Dragon & Phoenix Rings, Shangguan Jinhong (there are seventeen members of the Gold Currency Union on this list)

   3. Little Li’s Flying Dagger, Li Xunhuan

   4. Songyang Iron Sword, Guo Songyang (killed by Shangguan Jinhong)

   5. Silver Marquis Halberd, Lü Fengxian (later switched to Iron Finger)

   6. omitted

   7. Divine Whip, Ximen Rou

   8. Sweep Away a Thousand Soldiers Zhuge Gang (Diamond Iron Crutch)

   9. Green Devil Hand, Yin Ku (kiled by Ah Fei; succeeded by his disciple, Red Devil Hand, killed by Ye Kai—Eagles Soar in the Ninth Month)

   10. Priest Jade Flute of the Eastern Sea (Eagles Soar in the Ninth Month)

   19. Wind & Rain Meteor Hammer, Xiang Song (in Horizon, Bright Moon, Sabre it is called Twin Wind & Rain Meteor Hammer and is ranked 34th)

   37. Gao Xingkong (killed by Guo Songyang)

   46. Yan Shuangfei (killed by Guo Songyang)

7. From what I can remember, Taiwan author Leng Feng has a series of short stories with “Most Venerated in the Martial World Zhao Shifang” as the protagonist. The series imitates [Gu Long’s] Chu Liuxiang series; I’ve searched everywhere but can’t find this book, it’s really regrettable.
8. See Qin Hong’s A Lion Roars in the Frigid Nine Provinces (1971), chapter 2. This novel is all about struggling for the position of martial world alliance head and demonstrates well the concept of the “martial world alliance head” in most wuxia fiction.
9. See Ye Hongsheng’s Discourse on Swords: An Historical Analysis of Wuxia Fiction, pg. 435-436. This is a brief summary, mainly emphasizing the significance of this aspect of Number One in the Martial World but is not a comprehensive analysis.
10. See chapter 14.
11. See Murong Mei, Number One in the Martial World chapter 3.
12. See Dongfang Yu, Uncharted Island (1969) chapter 20.
13. Ibid.
14. In all fairness, there is no solution to this dictum in Jin Yong’s Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, because even once the Heaven-Reliant Sword appears, it doesn’t clash with Dragon Slayer but is instead used to “threaten” the sovereign’s polical affairs. So even though it could be said to surpass the standard trope of “vying for the alliance head position”, it is still not altogether satisfactory.
15. See Zhang Dachun, “Fanciful and Relaxed” included in Trifling Fiction 2 (Taipei, Unitas, 1998), pg. 189.
16. See “Narrative Models of New School Wuxia Fiction”, Art Panorama, 1989 Issue 6.
17. Learning fifteen moves in just over a month is still pretty fast. In Legend of the Condor Heroes, Guo Jing is said to “have a foundation in internal force” (chapter 12), so even though Hong Qigong was not pleased with his progress, in the end it’s still a “great achievement, if only a moderate success”. In fact, his internal force foundation at this time was underdeveloped; he shouldn’t have been able to learn it so fast. That’s why in the revised edition Jin Yong removed the “precious snake blood” section. In chapter 20 of the original version, “Iron Spear, Old Clothes”, it’s stated that “after circulating [the snake blood] using your internal skill, your skill will get over ten years’ worth of skill increase”, and after beating Wanyan Kang it “happened to work well with traditional methods” and his skill really did greatly increase. In the revised edition, the gist of this was excised from the text, thereby creating a slight inconsistency.
18. Opinion has always been divided about “internal arts” and “external arts”. By and large, “internal arts” is said to have originated at the end of the Ming dynasty and gained more momentum after Huang Zongxi and his son’s explication of it, and the dividing line between Wudang and Shaolin has been firmly established. According to Cheng Dali, Wang Zhengnan’s line of “internal boxing” has now been lost, but later “almost none of the many schools of Chinese martial arts did not stress the importance of internal skll cultivation” (see Chinese Martial Art—History and Culture, Sichuan University Press, 1995, pg. 69). The reason is likely to be because “internal arts” had already had a deep impact on people. In wuxia fiction, whether Shaolin or Wudang, all are proficient in both external and internal arts, and “internal skill” in particular is the fundamental skill of every martial art.
19. Many scholars who have charged wuxia fiction with being “regressive” use this as a pretext for their criticism while in fact completely overlooking the “fictional” nature of fiction and is thus not worth debating.
20. Qiu Menghen is considered an author among Taiwan wuxia authors who was “prolific but not extraordinary” and offers a good glimpse into the norm of wuxia fiction. For a related discussion, I refer you to my paper “A Trace of Dreams of Former Years—Qiu Menghen and His Wuxia Novels”.
21. This “anointing” comes from a Buddhist practice of “Being Filled with Wisdom” which refers to a teacher conferring wisdom to his disciple, but in wuxia fiction has been altered to mean conferring skill to a disciple. In Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils there is the “Divine Art of the Northern Sea”, and Smiling Proud Wanderer has the “Cosmic Absorbing Power”. Though they don’t use this term, they are both this kind of skill, which is used extensively in wuxia fiction.
22. See Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Nine Yin Manual.
23. See Smiling Proud Wanderer: Secret Meeting.
24. In the original edition of Legend of the Condor Heroes (chapter 34), this book is said to have been created by “Patriarch Bodhidharma” after mediting before a wall for nine years and achieving enlightenment. See Ye Hongsheng, “The Right and Wrong of ‘Perpetrating Massive Fraud’—A Comparative Analysis of the Original and Revised Editions of Jin Yong’s Legend of the Condor Heroes”, Ye Hongsheng’s Discourse on Swords, pg. 343.
25. See Heavenly Dragon Scroll chapter 61 “The Sword Hidden in the Deep Pond”.
26. Of course, there are exceptions: Jin Yong’s Sunflower Manual is an example.
27. Ages in Gu Long’s novels are usually not specified. In Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword, ten years ago Li Xunhuan gave up his love and roamed the jianghu, but in the novel Long Xiaoyun (Lin Shiyin and Long Xiaoyun’s son) is said to be “over ten years old”. There’s a bit of a contradition here, but we can estimate that Li Xunhuan should be around thirty.
28. See The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng pg. 32.
29. See The Legend of Chu Liuxiang pg. 33.
30. See “World Within a World—On the Significance of Satiring the World in Gao Yong’s Heavenly Dragon Scroll”, Ye Hongsheng’s Discourse on Swords, pg. 468.
31. See Heavenly Dragon Scroll chapter 43 “Image of a Happy Couple”. Note: The original text only states there were five skills.
32. See “Heroic Spirit and the Devotion of the Virtuous Wife—On the Tragic Structure of Wolong Sheng’s Heavenly Whirlwind, Ye Hongsheng’s Discourse on Swords, pg. 414.”
33. The reader isn’t worried that Xiaolongnü will die when she jumps off the cliff in Jin Yong’s Return of the Condor Heroes because in fact, surviving a fall from a cliff is the normal outcome of this “suspenseful” scene in wuxia fiction. Doesn’t this happen to Zhang Wuji in Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre as well?
34. Both Jin Yong and Gu Long deeply identify with this. Jin Yong said “I write wuxia novels in order to write about human nature, same as most novels. Through these characters, this novel attempts to portray the many facets of 3,000 years of Chinese political life. Allegorical novels don’t have much significance because the political situation will change quickly. Only portraying human nature has long-lasting value. Stopping at nothing to seize power has been a basic element of political life both at home and abroad since ancient times up till now. It was like that thousands of years ago, and it will likely be that way thousands of years from now.” (Smiling Proud Wanderer: Afterword) Gu Long affirmed “human nature” on the basis of “striving for new developments”: “If you want to change you must strive for something new, you must go beyond outmoded, fixed forms and try to assimilate. War and Peace is about the conflict between good and evil during a huge period of upheaval; Of Mice and Men is about human pride and degradation; Airport is about a man rediscovering himself in the midst of extreme danger; Little Women is about youth and happiness; and The Old Man and the Sea is about the cost of courage and the value of life”. He stresses the good and evil aspects of human nature: “Humanity is more than just anger, hate, grief, and fear. There’s also love and friendship, generosity and chivalry, humor and sympathy. Why must we focus so much on the ugly side?” (Happy Heroes (1971) preface, “How I Write Wuxia”)