Posted on by Lone Crane

Martial Arts Manuals — A Discussion of Wuxia Fiction Tropes

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.

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Posted on by Lone Crane

How Much Money Did Wuxia Writers Make?

A Discussion of Taiwanese Wuxia Author Pay

by Gu Xueyi

During the 60s and 70s over 400 wuxia authors emerged in Taiwan. To a large degree this was because the barrier to entry to become a wuxia author was very low, and one could receive abundant remuneration in return. In other words, many authors chose to write wuxia novels not because of some lofty ideal but because they could live a good life. As Zhuge Qingyun once said of himself, “Even though there’s no literary inquisition in this generation… writing books is still just a way to make a living.”

But how much money could a wuxia author make? This is a big topic. For example, Jin Yong, who ascended to the ranks of “billionaires” partly because of his wuxia novels, still the most important reason was because of the market value of his newspaper, Ming Pao. Or Gu Long, the money he earned from film and TV adaptations far exceeded the money he made from his novels. But that’s not the focus of this discussion. What I’m more interested in is manuscript submission payment because that is what the vast majority of wuxia authors relied on to make their living. After all, Jin Yong is just one person, and so is Gu Long. Their success is very difficult to duplicate; few authors were lucky enough to see their work adapted to film or TV, much less be like Jin Yong and use a newspaper empire to earn a nearly astronomical income.

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The Jade Tiger — Chapter 1 Part 1

The Jade Tiger

So I’ve been toying with the idea of translating a Gu Long novel for a while now. Started on one in the past but never did much to it. I even began translating this novel at one point but only finished 1/3 of a section. I don’t know if I will take this one all the way to completion this time either. But on a whim I decided to translate some of it.

This is The Jade Tiger 白玉老虎 (lit. White Jade Tiger), by Gu Long. Published in 1976, this novel belongs to Gu Long’s later period. I’ve never read this one, nor have I seen the 1977 Shaw Bros. film of the same name, which was directed by Chor Yuen and co-written by Gu Long himself. It stars Ti Lung.

All I know is it’s a revenge story featuring clashes between three factions. Supposed to be a really good novel, so I wanted to see for myself. And Gu Long is so fun to translate. He really has a unique voice, lots of good dialogue, and he always creates such interesting, bizarre characters.

It’s nine chapters long, but each chapter has several different parts, which themselves are broken into numbered sections. So here is the first part of Chapter 1. I will add more whenever I have the fancy to translate more. So follow this or not at your own risk. I don’t know if I will translate the whole thing or not.

Posted on by Lone Crane

On “Innovation” and “Diversity” — Gu Long

One day I was on a TV production set in Taiwan watching a rehearsal. Most of the people rehearsing were friends of mine, most of them excellent actors.

One of them was not only an excellent actor, he was also an outstanding screenwriter and director who had directed an incredible, unconventional and moving film that had won accolades at many film festivals.

Someone like that is without a doubt an intelligent person, a literary master. He suddenly said to me, “I’ve never read a wuxia novel. You should lend me one you think is the best so I can see what wuxia novels, after all, are all about.”

I laughed.

All I could do was laugh, because I knew what he meant.

He thought that wuxia novels were not worth reading, and that he only wanted to read one now because he was my friend and was a bit curious.

He thought people who read wuxia novels were not on the same level as people like him, definitely not high-level intellectuals with an eye on the new and original.

Thouigh he said he wanted to read one, his mind was already made up that wuxia novels were not worth anything.

Yet he had never read a wuxia novel, and didn’t even know what wuxia novels wrote about.

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