The Legend of Condor Heroes (traditional Chinese: 射鵰英雄傳; simplified Chinese: 射雕英雄传; pinyin: shè diāo yīng xióng zhuàn; Jyutping: se6 diu1 jing1 hung4 zyun6) is one of the most acclaimed Wuxia novels by Louis Cha, who is better known as Jin Yong. It was first published in 1957 in Hong Kong Commercial Daily. This is the first part of the Condor Trilogy. The title in Chinese literally translates as The Legend of the Eagle Shooting Heroes. Jin Yong revised all of his novels including this one in the 1970s and again in the 2000s.
Plot summary
The story was set in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and at the beginning of the Jurchens' invasion of northern China. The first part of the novel revolved around the friendship of two young men, Yang Tiexin (楊鐵心) and Guo Xiaotian (郭嘯天), who became heroes in their own right as they fought the invading Jin soldiers. The bond between the duo was so strong that they swore to each other their unborn children would become either sworn brothers (if both were of the same gender) or be married (if they were of opposite genders).
The story focuses on the trials and tribulations of their sons following Guo Xiaotian's death and Yang Tiexin's disappearance. Guo Jing (郭靖), Guo Xiaotian's son, grew up in Mongolia, under the care of Genghis Khan. Yang Kang (楊康), on the other hand, grew up in the Jin Empire as the foster son of Prince Wanyan Honglie (完顏洪烈). Guo was mentored by the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan (江南七怪) in martial arts but he was a slow learner and only managed to master part of the skills he was taught. Yang was mentored by Qiu Chuji (丘處機) of the Quanzhen Sect (全真教).
The boys' personalities were completely opposite of each other due to the different ways they were raised. Guo Jing was honest, loyal and righteous but he lacked intelligence. On the contrary, Yang Kang was deceiving, scheming and treacherous. The duo eventually met each other and the loves of their lives; Huang Rong (黃蓉) and Mu Nianci (穆念慈) respectively. The main plot develops with Guo Jing's adventures together with Huang Rong and their encounters with the Five Greats (五絕). Meanwhile, Yang Kang was plotting with Wanyan Honglie to destroy his native kingdom of Song. He had refused to acknowledge his ethnicity and was strongly tempted by wealth, fame and glory. His treachery was slowly unveiled throughout the novel and the encounters he had with Guo Jing and Huang Rong.
Eventually, the Jin Empire was destroyed by Mongolia and Mongolia turned its attention towards the Song Empire. Guo Jing was unwilling to assist Mongolia in conquering his native kingdom of Song so he decided to leave Mongolia for good and return to Song and help his fellow countrymen counter the subsequent Mongolian invasion of Song in the sequel. Yang Kang met his retributive end, but he left behind his lover Mu Nianci and their unborn son Yang Guo (楊過), who would become the protagonist of the sequel novel.
Characters
Protagonists
- Guo Jing (郭靖) – the son of Guo Xiaotian and Li Ping. He was born in Mongolia under the care and protection of Genghis Khan. He learnt martial arts from many teachers, namely The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, Ma Yu of the Quanzhen Sect, Hong Qigong and Zhou Botong. Although being dim witted, he possessed a strong sense of morality and patriotism towards his country and race. Towards the end of the novel, his adventures and many encounters transformed him into one of the greatest martial artists and heroes of his time, worthy of comparison with the ‘Five Greats’.
- Huang Rong (黄蓉) – the daughter of the Huang Yaoshi and Feng Heng. She met Guo Jing by chance and they went on their adventures together. During that period of time, they gradually fell in love and were eventually married towards the end of the novel. She was formally accepted as a disciple of Hong Qigong and later succeeded Hong as chief of the Beggars' Sect. She was intelligent and tactful, specializing in several other fields besides martial arts just like her father. Although her martial arts abilities were not as powerful as Guo Jing, she did become an accomplished martial artist as well at the end of the novel.
- Mu Nianci (穆念慈) – the foster daughter of Yang Tiexin, who was known as Mu Yi after his apparent death. She met Yang Kang during the contest for a spouse and fell in love with him. However, she left him after witnessing his acts of villainy and treachery and never saw him again. She was pregnant with his child then and eventually gave birth to Yang Guo, who was named by Guo Jing in memory of Yang Kang.
Antagonists
- Yang Kang (杨康) – the son of Yang Tiexin and Bao Xiruo. He was raised in Jin as the son of the Sixth Prince Wanyan Honglie and was also known as ‘Wanyan Kang’ (完顏康). He was a disciple of Qiu Chuji but also acknowledged Mei Chaofeng as his teacher as well. He was treacherous and manipulative, lusting for power and wealth such that he even refused to acknowledge his biological father Yang Tiexin. As such, he was labelled as a traitor to his own race for acknowledging Wanyan Honglie, who was responsible for the deaths of his parents, as his father. He met his retributive end eventually after being poisoned in the Temple of the Iron Spear and it was said that after his death, his corpse was devoured by crows.
- Wanyan Honglie (完顏洪烈) – the Sixth Prince of Jin. He was in love with Bao Xiruo since she saved his life and he longed to possess her. As such, he collaborated with Duan Tiande to start a massacre in Niu Family Village, while then he would appear as a hero and ‘rescue’ Bao Xiruo. Besides this, he had also committed many other acts of atrocities, such as killing innocent civilians. After the fall of the Khwarezm Empire, he was captured by Mongolian troops and met his end.
- Ouyang Feng (欧阳鋒) – nicknamed the ‘Western Venom’ (西毒), a.k.a ‘Old Venomous Creature’ (老毒物). He was the lord of White Camel Mountain in the western regions. He was a villainous character who was extremely narrow-hearted and would not permit others to be better than him. Besides being an accomplished martial artist, he was also an expert in the use of poisons and venoms, thus earning him his nickname. He was extremely obsessed with the Nine Yin Manual, but was tricked into practicing the martial arts within in a reverse manner, which caused him to become insane eventually, but ironically his prowess in martial arts also improved tremendously.
- Ouyang Ke (歐陽克) – the young master of White Camel Mountain (白駝山) in the western regions and the nephew of Ouyang Feng. He was in fact Ouyang Feng’s illegitimate son. He was a lecherous fiend who enjoyed preying on young and beautiful maidens, but eventually met his end at the hands of Yang Kang for trying to molest Mu Nianci.
Adaptations
Films
| Year |
Production |
Guo Jing |
Huang Rong |
More information |
| 1958 |
Omei Film Studios (Hong Kong) |
Cho Tat Wah |
Yung Siu Yi |
Cantonese language. 2 episodes. |
| 1977 |
Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) |
Alexander Fu Sheng |
Tanny Tien |
See The Brave Archer |
| 1978 |
Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) |
Alexander Fu Sheng |
Niu Niu |
See The Brave Archer II |
| 1981 |
Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) |
Alexander Fu Sheng |
Niu Niu |
See The Brave Archer III |
| 1993 |
學者電影公司 (Hong Kong) |
|
|
See The Eagle Shooting Heroes. A parody loosely based on the novel. Directed by Jeffrey Lau, starring Jacky Cheung, Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Carina Lau and Kenny Bee. |
| 1994 |
學者電影公司 (Hong Kong) |
|
|
See Ashes of Time. Loosely based on the novel. Directed by Wong Kar-Wai, starring Leslie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Jacky Cheung and Carina Lau. |
TV Series
Comics
- In 1998, Hong Kong's Ming Ho (明河社) (Charm Max) published a 38 volume comic series illustrated by Li Zhi Qing. This was published in Indonesia by MNC Comics in 2000.
Video Games
- Many of Jin Yong's Wuxia novels have been adapted into video games. The Legend of Condor Heroes have been adapted into numerous role-playing games for computers and one (named Shachou Eiyuuden: The Eagle Shooting Heroes, developed by SCEI) for Playstation.
References
See also
External links
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