The following is an essay about the works of Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng, written by Liang Yusheng himself under the pen name Tong Shuozhi 佟碩之 and published January 1966 in《海光文藝》(Sealight Literature and Arts), a short-lived Hong Kong literary magazine. It was published in three installments but is presented below complete.
In the essay, Liang Yusheng compares the pros and cons of both Jin Yong’s and his own novels in various subjects such as characterization, morality, romance, etc. He actually criticizes his own writing at times as well as Jin Yong’s, and we get some insight into the inspiration for some of his creations, as well as his view on morality in wuxia fiction.
I was thinking of translating this, but it’s soooo long. Essays are fun to translate but boring to translate (for me). I curious how good AI was so I put a few paragraphs into Chat GPT-4o and was really impressed with the results. It was so good I thought why not just have it translate the whole thing and save me the trouble, that way everyone can read this interesting discussion, and I won’t have to take a week or more laboring over it (or most likely, not translating it at all for lack of energy). And honestly, I couldn’t translate it better, except for some of the book titles. I present ChatGPT’s translation of the essay below, completely unedited. This is the raw output it gave me. It’s pretty good, just some of the book titles are a bit off for Liang Yusheng’s works. I was impressed by some of the ways the AI actually corrected or interpreted the original text. I don’t know if I will ever use AI again, because I like translaing myself, but in this case it allowed me to share something with everyone that I otherwise likely would not have translated, do to its length.
Note: As this was written in 1966, the works discussed are the first editions serialized in newspapers and then published in book form. This was before Jin Yong began revising his work. When this essay was published, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils was still ongoing, so that’s the most recent work Liang Yusheng discusses. The original text I put through ChatGPT can be found here.
A Joint Discussion of Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng
by Tong Shuozhi
Jin Yong’s wuxia novels often use cinematic techniques, with many plot twists and unexpected developments that are wonderfully surprising; Liang Yusheng’s wuxia novels excel in depicting the inner world of characters, often using poetry and old chapter headings…
Before diving into the main text, let’s first discuss the topic.
In the past decade, wuxia novels have flourished in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. Liang Yusheng was the pioneer, and Jin Yong brought it to great heights. Their novels have innovative writing techniques and content, which are generally referred to as “new school wuxia novels” (including works influenced by them). Hong Kong newspapers often abbreviate this to “new school wuxia.” To this day, both Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng are widely recognized and respected as the two great masters of “new school wuxia.” Jin Yong once wrote in a newspaper that the “new school” is not necessarily better than the “old school,” indicating his modesty. I generally agree with his point of view. When it comes to “artistic level,” new school wuxia novels may not surpass the wuxia legends of the Tang dynasty, or even the works of Bai Yu and Huan Zhu in modern times. However, since their novels indeed have “new” aspects different from their predecessors and are accepted and recognized by the public, the title of “masters of new school wuxia” is not something that I am imposing on them.
“Artistic level” is one thing, and the ability to appeal to readers is another. There is a common saying in literary criticism: “Every era has its products.” The popularity of new school wuxia novels in Hong Kong and Taiwan is related to the local social trends, reader psychology (the desire for excitement), acceptance levels, and other complex factors, which are beyond the scope of this discussion. The wuxia legends of the Tang and Song dynasties may only be appreciated by a small number of modern readers. Bai Yu and Huan Zhu were extremely popular twenty or thirty years ago, but today, they may not compete with Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng for overseas readers. According to friends, a few years ago, some Hong Kong newspapers with ties to the mainland published wuxia novels by Bai Yu and Huan Zhu, but they were far less popular than those by Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng, proving the point. It shows that Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng’s wuxia novels are indeed “new school” novels that fit the times.
Next, let me briefly explain the issue of “ranking.” If we rank by the order of their debut, Liang should come before Jin, but “Liang and Jin” doesn’t sound as smooth as “Jin and Liang.” The combination of “Jin and Liang” coincidentally matches the name of a notable figure from the late Qing dynasty, Jinliang, the last successful candidate of the imperial examination system. Therefore, combining Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng as “Jin and Liang” is quite interesting, and I have written it that way for convenience. This is not meant to slight Liang Yusheng in any way, so fans of Liang should not misunderstand.
To borrow a phrase from wuxia novels, “Let’s get back to the main story after this digression.” Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng each have their own distinctive styles, so let’s discuss them point by point.
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