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58-688: The Brave Archer , also known as Kungfu Warlord , is a 1977 Hong Kong film adapted from Louis Cha 's novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes . The film was produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio and directed by Chang Cheh , starring Alexander Fu Sheng and Tien Niu in the lead roles. The film is the first part of a trilogy and was followed by The Brave Archer 2 (1978) and The Brave Archer 3 (1981). The trilogy has two unofficial sequels, The Brave Archer and His Mate (1982) and Little Dragon Maiden (1983). Guo Jing and Yang Kang are

116-413: A Jurchen prince inadvertently. When he reaches adulthood, Guo Jing travels to a local town, where he meets and befriends a beggar named Huang Rong , who is actually the daughter of Huang Yaoshi , master of Peach Blossom Island . He also meets Yang Kang, without knowing Yang's true identity, during a contest to win the hand-in-marriage of Mu Nianci , the adopted daughter of Yang's father. Yang's father

174-460: A Waynflete Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford . When receiving his honorary doctorate at the University of Cambridge in 2004, Cha expressed his wish to be a full-time student at Cambridge for four years to attain a non-honorary doctorate. In July 2010, Cha earned his Doctor of Philosophy in oriental studies (Chinese history) at St John's College, Cambridge with a thesis on imperial succession in

232-462: A critique of all of Cha's works and concluded that Cha concluded his work with The Deer and the Cauldron as a satire to his earlier work and to restore a balanced perspective in readers. The study of Cha's works has spun off a specific area of study and discussion: Jinology . For years, readers and critics have written works discussing, debating and analysing his fictional world of martial arts; among

290-616: A doctorate in Asian Studies, which he obtained in 2010. In 2009, Cha applied for another doctorate in Chinese literature at Peking University , which he earned in 2013. Cha was a journalist. To help support his studies, he began work in 1947 as a journalist and translator for the Ta Kung Pao newspaper in Shanghai. He moved to Hong Kong in 1948 to work for the paper's office in the city. When Cha

348-778: A fierce admiration for positive traits of non-Han Chinese people personally, such as the Mongols and Manchus. In The Legend of the Condor Heroes , for example, he casts Genghis Khan and his sons as capable and intelligent military leaders against the corrupt and ineffective bureaucrats of the Han Chinese-led Song dynasty . Cha's references range from traditional Chinese medicine , acupuncture , martial arts , music , calligraphy , weiqi , tea culture , philosophical schools of thought such as Confucianism , Buddhism and Taoism and imperial Chinese history. Historical figures often intermingle with fictional ones, making it difficult for

406-657: A historical character from The Deer and the Cauldron , is mentioned in the third edition of A Deadly Secret as the martial arts master of Mei Niansheng. Numerous characters from The Book and the Sword appear in The Young Flying Fox , including Chen Jialuo. Hu Yidao, Miao Renfeng, Tian Guinong and the Feng family in The Young Flying Fox are the fictional descendants of the four bodyguards of Li Zicheng , who appears in

464-410: A marriage between his nephew and Huang Rong. Just then, Hong Qigong also arrives and he strongly supports Guo Jing to marry Huang Rong. Eventually, Huang Yaoshi arranges for a contest between Guo Jing and Ouyang Ke to determine who is worthy of his daughter's hand-in-marriage. The last part of the contest involves both of them having to read a manual and recite it from memory later. As Guo had already read

522-674: A quarrel with his girlfriend while studying at Columbia University . On 30 October 2018, Cha died after a long illness at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital in Happy Valley, Hong Kong , aged 94. His funeral service was held privately at Hong Kong Funeral Home in Quarry Bay on 13 November 2018 with his family and friends, with well known figures including writers Ni Kuang , Chua Lam , Chip Tsao , Benny Lee , producer Zhang Jizhong , actor Huang Xiaoming , former President of

580-622: A reclusive Mount Hua School swordsman. Some characters and schools from The Smiling, Proud Wanderer are mentioned in Sword Stained with Royal Blood . In a very brief inner monologue in The Deer and the Cauldron , Chengguan, a knowledgeable but naïve Shaolin monk, ponders two great swordsmen in the past who performed swordplay without following any defined stances: Dugu Qiubai and Linghu Chong. A few major characters from Sword Stained with Royal Blood also appear as minor characters. Wu Liuqi ,

638-460: A reputation as one of the greatest and most popular wuxia authors ever. By the time of his death, he was the best-selling Chinese author, and over 100 million copies of his works have been sold worldwide (not including an unknown number of pirated copies). According to The Oxford Guide to Contemporary World Literature , Cha's novels are considered to be of very high quality and are able to appeal to both highbrow and lowbrow tastes. His works have

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696-645: A result of the numerous adaptations of his works into films, television series, comics and video games. Born on 10 March 1924, in Haining , Zhejiang in Republican China , Cha was named Zha Liangyong and is the second of seven children. He hailed from the scholarly Zha clan of Haining ( 海寧查氏 ), whose members included notable literati of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties such as Zha Jizuo (1601–1676), Zha Shenxing (1650–1727) and Zha Siting ( 查嗣庭 ; died 1727). His grandfather, Zha Wenqing ( 查文清 ), obtained

754-572: A scenarist-director and scriptwriter at Great Wall Movie Enterprises Ltd and Phoenix Film Company. In 1959, Cha co-founded the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao with his high school classmate Shen Baoxin ( 沈寶新 ). Cha served as its editor-in-chief for years, writing both serialised novels and editorials, amounting to some 10,000 Chinese characters per day. His novels also earned him a large readership. Cha completed his last wuxia novel in 1972, after which he officially retired from writing novels, and spent

812-476: A source of intellectual enjoyment. In spite of their wide-reaching differences, Virginia Woolf describes the highbrow as intimately reliant on the lowbrow. For instance, she considers Prince Hamlet to be a highbrow lacking orientation in the world once he had lost the lowbrow Ophelia with her grip on earthly realities: this, she thought, explained why in general highbrows "honour so wholeheartedly and depend so completely upon those who are called lowbrows". It

870-449: Is actually still alive. Yang Kang is tempted by the wealth and fame of being a noble, and he refuses to acknowledge and betrays his father, while his mother commits suicide. Huang Rong reveals to Guo Jing later that she is actually a woman and they go on adventure together. Guo Jing learns the "Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms" from the "Nine-fingered Beggar" Hong Qigong , while Huang Rong is groomed by Hong to become his successor as chief of

928-421: Is an alarmingly wide chasm, I might almost say a vacuum, between the high-brow, who considers reading either as a trade or as a form of intellectual wrestling, and the low-brow, who is merely seeking for gross thrills. It is to be hoped that culture will soon be democratized through some less conventional system of education, giving rise to a new type that might be called the middle-brow, who will consider books as

986-451: Is considered by some (with corresponding labels as 'middlebrow' 'lowbrow') as discerning or selective; and highbrow is currently distanced from the writer by quotation marks: "We thus focus on the consumption of two generally recognised 'highbrow' genres—opera and classical". The first usage in print of highbrow was recorded in 1884. The term was popularized in 1902 by Will Irvin, a reporter for The Sun of New York City, who adhered to

1044-695: Is re-issued as "Langsheng, Old Edition" ( 朗聲舊版 ) in simplified Chinese characters. Chinese nationalism or patriotism is a strong theme in Cha's works. In most of his works, Cha places emphasis on the idea of self-determination and identity, and many of his novels are set in time periods when China was occupied or under the threat of occupation by non- Han Chinese peoples such as the Khitans , Jurchens , Mongols and Manchus . However, Cha gradually evolved his Chinese nationalism into an inclusionist concept which encompasses all present-day non-Han Chinese minorities. Cha expresses

1102-574: The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre . He was also part of the Preparatory Committee set up in 1996 by the Chinese government to monitor the 1997 transfer of sovereignty . In 1993, Cha prepared for retirement from editorial work and sold all his shares in Ming Pao . The asteroid 10930 Jinyong (1998 CR 2 ) has been named after him. Cha's parents were Zha Shuqing ( 查樞卿 ) and Xu Lu ( 徐祿 ). He had four brothers and two sisters, and

1160-527: The Beggars' Sect . Guo and Huang travel to Peach Blossom Island later to meet Huang's father. Huang Yaoshi does not approve of his daughter's marriage to Guo Jing. While exploring the island, Guo Jing meets a strange man called Zhou Botong who teaches him special martial arts techniques and forces him to read a manual, which is later revealed to be written by Huang Rong's late mother. Ouyang Feng visits Peach Blossom Island with his nephew Ouyang Ke, and he proposes

1218-685: The Condor Trilogy (considered by many to be Cha's magnum opus ) and should be read in that order. Dugu Qiubai 's Heavy Iron Sword is used by Yang Guo and broken down to create the Heaven-Reliant Sword and the Dragon-Slaying Saber. Guo Xiang inherits the Heaven-Reliant Sword and passes it to her successors in the Emei School . Linghu Chong from The Smiling, Proud Wanderer learns Dugu Qiubai 's Nine Swords of Dugu from Feng Qingyang,

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1276-721: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Poon Chung-kwong , image designer Tina Liu , politicians Tung Chee-hwa and Edward Leong , and founder of Alibaba Group Jack Ma among them in attendance. At noon, his coffin was moved to Po Lin Monastery at Ngong Ping , Lantau Island, where he was cremated and his ashes was interred at the Hoi Wui Tower's columbarium . In addition to his wuxia novels, Cha also wrote many non-fiction works on Chinese history. For his achievements, he received many honours. Cha

1334-535: The Sword Stained with Royal Blood and The Deer and the Cauldron . The Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain is the sequel to The Young Flying Fox . After Cha completed all his works, it was discovered that the first characters of the first 14 titles can be joined to form a couplet ( duilian ) with 7 characters on each line: 飛雪連天射白鹿 笑書神俠倚碧鴛 飞雪连天射白鹿 笑书神侠倚碧鸳 Shooting a white deer, snow flutters around

1392-553: The University of British Columbia , and Sichuan University . Cha was an honorary doctor at National Chengchi University , Hong Kong University (Department of Social Science), Hong Kong Polytechnic University , the Open University of Hong Kong , the University of British Columbia, Soka University and the University of Cambridge . He was also an honorary fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford and Robinson College, Cambridge , and

1450-627: The Wulin ( 武林 ) magazine in Guangzhou was the first to officially publish Cha's works, starting from 1980. Cha's complete collection in Simplified Chinese was published by Beijing's SDX Joint Publishing in 1994. Meanwhile, Mingheshe Singapore-Malaysia ( 明河社星馬分公司 ) published his collection, in Simplified Chinese for Southeast Asian readers in 1995. From 1999 to 2006, Cha revised his novels for

1508-466: The "Blood Red Bird" ( 小紅鳥 ) and "Qin Nanqin" ( 秦南琴 ), the mother of Yang Guo in the first edition. In Taiwan, the situation is more complicated, as Cha's books were initially banned. As a result, there were multiple editions published underground, some of which were revised beyond recognition. Only in 1979 was Cha's complete collection published by Taiwan's Yuenching Publishing House ( 遠景出版社 ). In China,

1566-679: The 1970s as they were thought to be satires of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution ; others were banned in Taiwan as they were thought to be in support of the Chinese Communist Party . None of these bans are currently in force, and Cha's complete collection has been published multiple times in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Many politicians on both sides of the Straits are known to be readers of his works; Deng Xiaoping , for example,

1624-478: The Condor Heroes was his first novel serialised in Ming Pao , launched on 20 May 1959. Between 1970 and 1980, Cha revised all of his works. The revised works of his stories are known as the "New Edition" ( 新版 ), also known as "Revised Edition" ( 修訂版 ), in contrast with the "Old Edition" ( 舊版 ), which refers to the original, serialised versions. Some characters and events were written out completely, most notably mystical elements and 'unnecessary' characters, such as

1682-529: The Jiaxing Middle School had to move hundreds of miles south to Lishui city in order to survive. Cha, as one of the students, only carried a quilt and a change of clothes, and the students had to trek on foot for 60 to 70 miles a day. Cha was later expelled in 1941 after he wrote an article called "Alice's Adventures" which satirized the training director sent by the Kuomintang for being vicious towards

1740-638: The Moth and Other Essays (1942). According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the word middlebrow first appeared in print in 1925, in Punch : "The BBC claims to have discovered a new type—'the middlebrow'. It consists of people who are hoping that some day they will get used to the stuff that they ought to like". The term had previously appeared in hyphenated form in The Nation , on 25 January 1912: [T]here

1798-578: The Northern Beggar of the Five Greats, Hong Qigong succeeds Qiao Feng as the new chief of the Beggars' Gang in The Legend of the Condor Heroes and Duan Yu is the ancestor of the historical character Duan Zhixing who later becomes Reverend Yideng, another member of the Five Greats. The Legend of the Condor Heroes , The Return of the Condor Heroes and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber make up

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1856-462: The desirable traditional values and no knowledge of any form of martial arts, and dependent upon a protective vest made of alloy to absorb full-frontal attack when in trouble and a dagger that can cut through anything. Wei is a street urchin and womanizer and seems to have no positive qualities based on a superficial assessment; but he actually embodies the same essential qualities of the heroes from Cha's earlier novels. The fiction writer Ni Kuang wrote

1914-711: The early Tang dynasty . Cha wrote a total of 16 fictional works, of which only one is a non- wuxia autobiographical short story (Yue Yun). His wuxia works are made up of a novella ( Blade-dance of the Two Lovers ), 2 standalone novels ( White Horse Neighs in the Western Wind and Ode to Gallantry ), 11 interconnected novels of varying lengths, and a novelette ("Sword of the Yue Maiden"). Most of his novels were first published in daily instalments in newspapers, then later in 3 authorised book editions each with various changes to

1972-533: The heroes have attained the zenith in martial arts and most would be the epitome or embodiment of the traditional Chinese values in words or deeds, i.e. virtuous, honourable, respectable, gentlemanly, responsible, patriotic, and so forth. In The Deer and the Cauldron , Cha departed from his usual writing style, creating in its main protagonist Wei Xiaobao an antihero who is greedy, lazy, and utterly disdainful of traditional rules of propriety. Cha intentionally created an anticlimax and an antihero possessing none of

2030-421: The historical accuracy of his works. In the newer revision, certain characters' personae were changed, such as Wang Yuyan, and many martial art skills and places have their names changed. This edition faced a number of criticisms from Cha's fans, some of whom prefer the older storyline and names. The older 1970–80 "New Edition" ( 新版 ) is no longer issued by Cha's publisher Mingheshe ( 明河社 ). In mainland China, it

2088-428: The layperson to distinguish which are real. His works show a great amount of respect and approval for traditional Chinese values, especially Confucian ideals such as the proper relationship between ruler and subject, parent and child, elder sibling and younger sibling, and (particularly strongly, due to the wuxia nature of his novels), between master and apprentice, and among fellow apprentices. However, he also questions

2146-720: The manual earlier, he recites it easily and wins the contest. Huang Yaoshi agrees to his daughter's marriage to Guo Jing. However, Ouyang Feng realizes that the manual is actually the fabled Nine Yin Manual and he wants it for himself. This article related to a Hong Kong film of the 1970s is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Jin Yong Louis Cha Leung-yung GBM OBE ( Chinese : 查良鏞 ; 6 February 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong ( Chinese : 金庸 ),

2204-479: The most famous are those by Cha's close friend and science fiction novelist, Ni Kuang . Ni is a fan of Cha, and has written a series of criticisms analysing the various personalities and aspects of his books called I Read Jin Yong's Novels ( 我看金庸小說 ). Despite Cha's popularity, some of his novels were banned outside of Hong Kong due to political reasons. A number of them were outlawed in the People's Republic of China in

2262-599: The phrenological notion of more intelligent people having high foreheads. Lowbrow is the opposite of highbrow , and between those brows is the middlebrow , which term describes the mediocre culture that has neither high expectations nor low expectations as culture. Usage of the term middlebrow is derogatory, as in Virginia Woolf 's unsent letter to the New Statesman , written in the 1930s and published in The Death of

2320-407: The plots and the characters. There are 4 editions of his novels: The works are: All of Jin Yong's novels, except White Horse Neighs in the Western Wind and Ode to Gallantry are connected, albeit weakly. Aqing, the protagonist of the novelette " Sword of the Yue Maiden ", is the ancestor of Han Xiaoying from The Legend of the Condor Heroes . Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is a prequel ;

2378-590: The position of a tong jinshi chushen (third class graduate) in the imperial examination during the Qing dynasty. His father, Zha Shuqing ( 查樞卿 ), was arrested and executed by the Communist government for allegedly being a counterrevolutionary during the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries in the early 1950s. Zha Shuqing was later posthumously declared innocent in the 1980s. Zha Shuqing used to read him excerpts from

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2436-462: The public that they can be alluded to with ease between all three regions. In the late 1970s, Cha was involved in Hong Kong politics. After Deng Xiaoping , a Jin Yong fan, came to power and initiated the reform and opening-up process, Cha became the first non-Communist Hong Konger to meet with Deng. He was a member of the Hong Kong Basic Law drafting committee but resigned in protest after

2494-670: The remaining years of that decade editing and revising his literary works instead. The first complete definitive edition of his works appeared in 1979. In 1980, Cha wrote a postscript to Wu Gongzao 's tai chi classic Wujia Taijiquan , where he described influences from as far back as Laozi and Zhuang Zhou on contemporary Chinese martial arts. By then, Cha's wuxia novels had gained great popularity in Chinese-speaking areas. All of his novels have since been adapted into films, TV shows and radio dramas in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. The important characters in his novels are so well known to

2552-518: The same time, Singapore's Ministry of Education announced a similar move for Chinese-learning students at secondary and junior college levels. Official English translations currently available include: Highbrow "Highbrow" can be applied to music , implying most of the classical music tradition; to literature—i.e., literary fiction and poetry ; to films in the arthouse line; and to comedy that requires significant understanding of analogies or references to appreciate. The term highbrow

2610-465: The second and last time. Each of his works was carefully revised, re-edited and re-issued in the order in which he wrote them. This revision was completed in spring 2006, with the publication of the last novel, The Deer and the Cauldron . The newer revised edition, known variably as the "New Century Edition" ( 世紀新修版 ), "New Revised Edition" ( 新修版 ) and "New New Edition" ( 新新版 ), is noted for its annotations where Cha answers previous criticisms directed at

2668-400: The skies; Smiling, [one] writes about the divine chivalrous one, leaning against bluish lovebirds (or lover) Cha stated that he had never intended to create the couplet. The couplet serves primarily as a handy mnemonic to remember all of Cha's works for his fans. Most of Cha's works were initially published in installments in Hong Kong newspapers, most often in Ming Pao . The Return of

2726-399: The sons of two rebels. The rebels are killed by imperial soldiers, and then, the boys are rescued by six skilled pugilists. The pugilists agree to separate the two boys, tutor them separately in martial arts, and let them meet again when they have grown up, to determine whose abilities are better. Guo becomes the student of the "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan" while Yang Kang becomes the foster son of

2784-408: The students. Cha later reflected on this period as one of the most significant crises in his life. The expulsion not only deprived him of the opportunity to pursue his studies but he suddenly faced the issue of finding food and accommodation. Fortunately, with assistance from the principal, Zhang Yintong, Cha resumed his high school education at Quzhou No. 1 Secondary School and graduated in 1943. Cha

2842-431: The unusual ability to transcend geographical and ideological barriers separating Chinese communities of the world, achieving a greater success than any other contemporary Hong Kong author. His works have been translated into many languages including English, French, Indonesian, Catalan, Spanish, Finnish, Korean, Japanese, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, and Malay. He has many fans outside of Chinese-speaking areas, as

2900-607: The validity of these values in the face of a modern society, such as ostracism experienced by his two main characters – Yang Guo 's romantic relationship with his teacher Xiaolongnü in The Return of the Condor Heroes . Cha also places a great amount of emphasis on traditional values such as face and honour. In all but his 14th work, The Deer and the Cauldron , the protagonists or heroes are explored meticulously through their relationships with their teachers, their immediate kin and relatives, and with their suitors or spouses. In each,

2958-537: The wuxia Huangjiang Nüxia (荒江女侠; "Woman Warrior of the Wild River") by Gu Mingdao (顧明道) every day, which aroused Cha's strong interest in the genre. Later, Cha took the initiative to read other works like Water Margin and The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants , which laid the foundation of his future as a wuxia novelist. In 1937, Cha studied at Jiaxing No. 1 Middle School. In 1938, the Japanese army invaded Zhejiang, and

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3016-544: Was Du Zhifen ( 杜治芬 ), whom he married in 1948 but divorced later. In 1953, he married his second wife, Zhu Mei ( 朱玫 ), a newspaper journalist. They had two sons and two daughters: Zha Chuanxia ( 查傳俠 ), Zha Chuanti ( 查傳倜 ), Zha Chuanshi ( 查傳詩 ) and Zha Chuanne ( 查傳訥 ). Cha divorced Zhu in 1976 and married his third wife, Lin Leyi ( 林樂怡 ; b. 1953), who was 29 years his junior and 16 years old when they first met. In 1976, his son Zha Chuanxia, then 19 years old, committed suicide after

3074-505: Was a Hong Kong wuxia novelist. He was Hong Kong's most famous author and the newspaper Ming Pao 's co-founder and first editor-in-chief. Cha has been named along with Gu Long and Liang Yusheng as the "Three Legs of the Tripod of Wuxia". He has also been known as one of the "Four Great Talents of Hong Kong". Cha's novels have a widespread following in Chinese communities worldwide. His 15 works written between 1955 and 1972 earned him

3132-453: Was a well-known reader himself. In late 2004, the People's Education Publishing House ( 人民教育出版社 ) of the People's Republic of China sparked controversy by including an excerpt from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils in a new senior high school Chinese textbook. While some praised the inclusion of popular literature, others feared that the violence and unrealistic martial arts described in Cha's works were unsuitable for high school students. At about

3190-624: Was admitted to the Department of Foreign Languages at the Central University of Political Affairs in Chongqing . Cha later dropped out of the school. He took the entrance exam and gained admission to the Faculty of Law at Soochow University , where he majored in international law with the intention of pursuing a career in the foreign service. In 2005, Cha applied at the University of Cambridge for

3248-688: Was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the British government in 1981. He was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (1992) and a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2004) by the French government. Cha was also an honorary professor at Peking University , Zhejiang University , Nankai University , Soochow University , Huaqiao University , National Tsing Hua University , Hong Kong University (Department of Chinese Studies),

3306-422: Was the second oldest among the seven of them. His brothers were Zha Liangjian ( 查良鏗 ; 1916–1988), Zha Lianghao ( 查良浩 ; b. 1934), Zha Liangdong ( 查良棟 ; fl. 1930s) and Zha Liangyu ( 查良鈺 ; b. 1936). His sisters were Zha Liangxiu ( 查良琇 ; b. 1926) and Zha Liangxuan ( 查良璇 ; 1928–2002). His cousin was educator and philanthropist Cha Liang-chao ( 查良釗 : 1897 – 1982). Cha married three times. His first wife

3364-449: Was transferred to New Evening Post (of British Hong Kong ) as Deputy Editor, he met Chen Wentong, who wrote his first wuxia novel under the pseudonym " Liang Yusheng " in 1953. Chen and Cha became good friends and it was under the former's influence that Cha began work on his first serialised martial arts novel, The Book and the Sword , in 1955. In 1957, while still working on wuxia serialisations, he quit his previous job and worked as

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