Seven Swords of Mount Heaven
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Seven Swords of Mount Heaven (aka Seven Swordsmen) is a Hong Kong series directed by Clarence Fok Yui Leung. The series is based on the work of famous wuxia novelist Liang Yusheng. Seven Swordsmen is produced by Tsui Hark as a TV series side story and share similarities to the Seven Swords movie.
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| Genre | Wuxia, Drama |
| Running time | 42 mins (per episode) |
| Creator(s) | Liang Yusheng (novel) |
| Producer(s) | Tsui Hark, Cheung Sing Yim, Wang Yong |
| Starring | See Cast below |
| Country of origin | China |
| No. of episodes | 39 (As of Sep. 2006) |
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Zhao Wen Zhuo as Chu Zhao Nan
- Wang Xue Bing as Yang Yun Cong
- Qiao Zhen Yu as Mu Lang
- Ling Mo Feng...
- Sang Wei Lin as Wu Yuan Ying
- Zhang Fu Chu as Han Zhi Bang
- Ray Lui as Dokado
- Sun Jian Kui as Niu Gu Lu
- Xu Xiang Dong as Qi Zhen Jun
- Ju Chun Hua as Xin Long Zi
- Ma Jing Wu as Reverend Hui Ming
- Askar as Ai Er Jiang
- Patrick Tam as Emperor Shun Zhi
- Lian Kai as Wind-Fire
- Ada Choi as Flying Red Scarlet
- Li Xiao Ran as Nalan Ming Hui
- Wang Li Kun as Liu You Fang
- Edell Ai Dai as Green Pearl (Lu Zhu)
- Sun Fei Fei as Dong Xiao Wan
- Na Di La as Man Lin Na
[edit] Plot
In this kung fu saga set in 17th century China, the Manchurians have taken over the country from the Ming dynasty rulers. As the new Ching government begins a crackdown on martial arts practitioners, seven kung fu masters, each of whom carry a sword that represents one of the seven states of being, must struggle to keep their art and themselves alive. It's an epic story of love, betrayal, friendship, heroism, and masterful swordplay.
1664 AD, the Manchurians defeated the Ming Empire and successfully captured Central Plains. To exert its influence and ensure trouble-free reign, the Manchu government went all out to arrest practitioners of martial arts. To save Central Plains, a recluse at Mt Tian, Dhyana Master Reverend Hui Ming (Master Shadow Glow), ordered his four students to descend Mt Tian along with two villagers and a former executioner to save a group of villagers for the crime of practicing martial arts. The seven men titled themselves as the "Seven Swords"
However, after leaving Mt Tian and taking the villagers refuge in a nearby cave the circumstances and conditions was met with suspicion of a traitor within their group. The refugees had a traitor under the command of Dokado and began setting things to force the group into the opening. Their source of water was poisoned and one of the swordsmen was suspected as the traitor. With such complications developing the "Seven Swords" decided to temporarily part ways to meet each other by Qiantang River one year later.
Between that year Yang Yuncong and Chu Zhaonan reunited in a desert campaign against Dokado's forces expanding to the desert where they met Flying Red Scarlet. During a battle, Yang Yuncong was seriously wounded. He was saved by an enemy general's daughter Nalan Ming Hui. The two fell in love and secretly gave birth to a daughter. However, Nalan Ming Hui was compelled by her father to marry Prince Dokado. Yang Yuncong asked Nalan Ming Hui to leave with him, but, as the safety of her family was at stake, she declined. Fu Qingzhu, Wu Yuanying, Xin Longzi made an attempt to infiltrate the royal palace to execute the young Emperor, only to save the Emperor in the middle of a coup. Han Zhibang, Mu Lang, and Han Zhibang developed a complex love triangle while trying to free Red Society members in the process. Han Zhibang through it all got promoted to Head Leader of Red Society.
When the "Seven Swords" reunited again Yang Yuncong didn't know about his daughter until later. Chu Zhaonan would return to infiltrate Dokado's forces as a spy with disastrous results leading serious trusting issues upon Red Society. Yang Yuncong would later learn about his daughter and reunited with her from Red Scarlet. With Chu Zhaonan's trust in question Chu Zhaonan himself grew tired of explaining himself and announced a final confrontation to Dokado. The "Seven Swords" would face strong martial artists that rival their skills. Yang Yuncong's had fallen in combat and before his death, Yang Yuncong entrusted Mu Lang with the care of her daughter, and told him bring her to Mt Tian to study martial arts...the sequel of this series will set in 18 yrs in the future where Yang Yuncong's daugther is fully grown and ready to be part of the new generation of "Seven Swords."
[edit] Characters
[edit] Chu Zhaonan
He's the elder brother of the seven and considered the strongest. In this series they show him as a man with strong morals and values in conflict with his own desires. He was given The Dragon by his master to reflect his skills and strength, but later realized his brother who carries The Transience was made to stop or slow him down should the time is needed. He's bloodline is of royalty and aristocrats, but that life was gone and now he's a poor swordsman. His master warned him about the temptations of life, but in the end he allowed the temptations such as Green Pearl, Lu Zhu, get to him. He met Green Pearl in an entertainment pub, but later met her again as she was being auctioned. During that time he was trying to find some antidote for some poisoned members of the fleeing Mo-Dong. The Mo-Dong group and his six other brothers waited for him in a cave while he searches for a cure. In the process he saved Green Pearl and took her to safety. Later on Green Pearl would be captured again by local warlord under Prince Dokado. While saving the Mo-Dong children from landmines, he was caught in the explosion and was captured. While in captivity he met Green Pearl where she was held. Chu Zhaonan wanted her free and allowed himself to be subjected to torture to free Green Pearl. While Chu Zhaonan believed in ideals of trust, love, justice, and honor, Green Pearl didn't, and Chu Zhaonan told her that he would convince her somehow. However, Green Pearl later made a deal with Dokado for her freedom and gold in exchange for Chu Zhaonan's life and sword. She pretended to free him and escape, but later, Chu Zhaonan discovered her pouch containing poison and became suspicious. Later, she offered him a drink that seemed to have the poison in it, and he drank and asked her if she really wanted the sword that much. Then the soldiers arrived and the warlord commended her on a job well done. However, she revealed that she actually didn't poison the water. She told Chu Zhaonan that even he himself doesn't believe the ideals he is trying to convince her of, and that while she wanted to be without affection, she couldn't help herself. Then she took Chu Zhaonan's Dragon and cut her own throat. Chu Zhaonan was distraught with anguish and killed all the soldiers. He would wander on the desert outskirts of near the middle east where he burned Green Pearl in the desert as a final resting place. There he would meet up with Yang Yunchong and Flying Scarlet to help them defeat Dokado in his desert outpost. Dakado however always wanted Chu Zhaonan to join him. Dakado always played on Chu Zhaonan's intelligence against him and gradually convinced people that fought along with him that he defected or playing double agent. His trust was first broken when he accidentally mistaken one of Flying Red Scarlet's men as Dokado's soldiers. That convinced everyone in the desert resistance group that he's a real traitor. Battered and exhausted Yang Yuncong pleaded mercy for Chu Zhaonan's life as they barely made it out with their lives out of Dokado's desert fortress compound. With the trust of everyone failing only Yang Yuncong and Liu Yufang believed in him. He was sent as a spy and "tricked" Dokado that he's switched sides. Dokado was smarter and knew his recent change of loyalty is fake. However he enjoyed making Chu Zhaonan do horrible atrocities against members of the Red Society. Chu Zhaonan explained himself many times and even though they society members said they believed him (with the vouches of other swordsmen), they always doubted him. With every horrible act against their society members the more the members believed he's truly defected. The final blow was when Dokatdo accidentally killed Liu Yufang's father in the middle of raiding the imperial palace. Dokado flicked some sort of projectile weapon at Liu Yufang's father's leg, causing him to stumble and fall right onto Chu Zhaonan's sword and it finally convinced even his closest friends that he's a traitor. Lui Yufang's hatred for Chu Zhaonan "murdering" her father only made it more difficult. Prince Dokado enjoyed psychologically tormenting Chu Zhaonan's mind. In the end he was saddened to know that even his most trust martial brother Yang Yuncong no longer trusts him. He was branded a fugitive and traitor from both sides. By the time Chu Zhaonan realized Dokado played him the entire time it was too late. Dokado even took the time to analyze the strength and weaknesses of "The Dragon" and he discovered the sound waves produced by the pearl inside the sword guard chamber can help predict the following movements of his sword. He was unable to kill Dakado and he set his own mission to kill him. Chu Zhaonan then went on a mission to prove his allegiance by killing Dokado. He announced his intentions to six swordsmen and they joined him in battle While facing Dokado, he realized Dokado stolen the Transience to face him. Unfortunately Dokado was a weaker fighter and lost to Chu Zhaonan. He fell to his death and Chu Zhaonan brought Transience back to Yang Yucong. However Yang Yucong had already died of his wounds and Chu Zhaonan left wandering in a mentally unstable state laughing in bitterness and disillusionment. He no longer believed in the ideals he had previously, and blamed his master, Fu Qingzhu, and the Red Society for all their troubles and vowed revenge. In the end of the story Chu Zhaonan vanished and Fu Qingzhu vowed to search and reunite the Seven Swords(men) once more.
[edit] Yang Yuncong
He's the second elder brother of the seven and considered second or equal to Chu Zhaonan in sword skills. The Transience was given to him as a means to contain The Dragon should Chu Zhaonan stray from his path. The sword is the Dragon's opposite and would react violently towards The Dragon. He joined his brothers in training to help protect the villagers of Mo-Dong who were also Red Society members. During his time looking after the Mo-Dong group while hiding in a cave he was framed and labeled a traitor by the Red Society members after he was seen holding a fallen member. He left protecting the fleeing group to not raise tensions and entered the desert where he met Flying Scarlet. He spent time there looking for Chu Zhaonan as well as helping out Flying Scarlet's resistance group to the Manchurian suppression army led by Prince Dokado. Dokado had a general that happened to have his daughter in the desert outpost with him. While running away from enemies, Yang Yuncong was injured and saw the general's daughter drowning. He saved her life and in return she saved his within the Manchurian outpost undetected. While Flying Scarlet fell in love with Yang Yuncong, he and the general's daughter began a relationship as lovers. It would be almost a year that he finds out she help him give birth to a daughter. Yang Yuncong died in battle while facing formidable odds and had his sword stolen by Dokado. After the final show down with Dokado ended, Yang Yuncong died from heavy injuries and is survived by his daughter. His daughter was sent to Tian Shan to be raised by their master.
[edit] Fu Qingzhu
He was a former executioner of the former dynasty. After many years of combat and killing his sword was defeated by Master Shadow-Glow and he would not reunite with his weapon until he met with Master Shadow-Glow again to save Mo-Dong Village. In his own path of redemption he became the unofficial leader of the Seven Swords. Being the most experienced in war tactics and combat, he was the logical choice to lead them. During most of the series his character presented himself as a wise and calm tactician. He helped trained the six to new battle formations to ensure victory. In most of his battles he never drew out his sword. He doesn't want his revived sword to spill blood, but towards the end to face Dokato he used it to face one of the martial art masters under Dokato. Though this character was part of the whole series, the depth of his history and character never went deep as other characters. The only major role that Fu Qingzhu played in the whole series was when he decided to execute the emperor. The Manchurian emperor's death would bring justice to their cause, but Fu Qingzhu realized the emperor has become a powerless ruler. At first Fu Qingzhu wanted to execute the young emperor, but he witnessed the coup to dethrone the emperor. Ironically instead of killing the emperor he decided to save him and to hide him under his protection. With the emperor "kidnapped" then no one can become the next emperor without the emperor's consent to step down or if he dies. They escaped through a secret tunnel and ran to safety. The royal court decreed that their emperor has fallen and replaced the emperor with his baby brother. With an inexperienced child ruling China, the adults under him pulls the young emperor's strings. Towards the end of the series Fu Qingzhu sets out to help reunite the Seven Swords(men).
[edit] Wu Yuanying
He's the last of the Seven Swords(men) and wields Heaven's Fall. It was he and Han Zhibang that helped Fu Qingzhu reach to Tian Shan to convince Master Shadow-Glow to assist them in saving Mo-Dong village. After convincing Master Shadow-Glow to dispatch his four students, Han Zhibang and himself was granted swords himself. Throughout the series he always had complication in mastering the sword as he constantly had near misses of his sword changing direction and almost slaying him. Though he's part of the Seven Swords(men), his role was mainly supportive in the back story. As Han Zhibang's best friend, they trusted each other greatly and they trained to master each other's weapons. Because he's the only team member that doesn't have some sort of emotional or psychological issue, he maintained constantly balanced and looked after Xin Longzi's mental condition with Cherry Blossoms. Towards the end of the series, he aided in the attack with his martial brothers to take down Dokado. He's one of the surviving Seven Swords(men) and goes off with Fu Qingzhu to search for the other members.
[edit] Han Zhibang
Originally just a member of Mo-Dong village, after he and Han Zhibang helped Fu Qingzhu to Tian Shan to seek Master Shadow-Glow to help save Mo-Dong Village. Master Shadow-Glow bestowed him with Deity and he became a member of the Seven Swordsmen. Even though both he and Han Zhibang have learned martial arts, their swords skills were considered amateur and had his martial brothers give them pointers and Fun Qingzhu's wisdom to guide them. His feelings for Liu YuFang has always been obvious around people and Liu YuFang's father wanted him to marry her, but her feelings for him is that of a brother. He's aware that Mu-Lang has feelings for her and sometimes encourages him to tend to Liu YuFang. He wants her to be happy and that's why no matter how uncomfortable he feelings about other interested men, he tries his best to be mature over the matter. His role in the story was rather minimal up until the final chapters of the series. Faction leaders of Red Society has gathered along with other members in the capital city to destroy Dokado and the Manchurian forces. Between the time to assault the royal palace, they had many Red Society members arrested and tortured in prisons. Their own leader was one of the captives. He and members of Red Society had been secretly tunneling for months in a home near the prison. Inside the house, they dug a large underground tunnel in the kitchen. The exit and entrance is the stove, which the hole was just big enough to squeeze through a human one at a time and conceal their tunnel. Han Zhibang spent most of that time digging with Mu-Lang and Liu YuFang as they wait for their other martial brothers to return. To identify their members, they had their members listed to reduce the chances of spies among their ranks. When the tunnel was completed, they used it only for infiltration and intelligence over the whereabouts of their members. During the night and close to their time to execute a rescue plan, Liu YuFang's father felt uneasy about the whole matter and dispatched Han Zhibang and Mu-Lang as advance infiltration rescue scouts. A leader of one of the society's factions loudly voiced his disapproval over their methods and wanted to rescue their leader immediately. The reality is that this particular member is power hungry and made himself a popular member of Red Society to reach the title of Head Leader of Red Society. For him and other members, it was a win-win situation that Head Leader gets rescued and then he steps down to nominate him, but that wouldn't be so. They were to gather intelligence and attempt to locate the whereabouts of their leader and other members. During the mission to rescue the jailed Head Leader of Red Society, they found him in a secret location within the prison and escaped with him. While the two tried to rescue both the leader and members, they realized that Dokado had long anticipated their jail break attempt and arranged a large amount of soldiers to engage them. With them under heavy assault, the prison members insisted that their Head Leader leave them behind and reach for freedom. In between their escape attempt the leadership of the Red Society was handed down onto Han Zhibang. The Head Leader gave his clothes with some words written in his blood and gave his sash to Han Zhiban before he was recaptured. He was never heard or seen ever again. This led to a few conflicts since he became leader and didn't produce one rescued member. Red Society group already had an idea of who would be next in line, but for Han Zhibang (a nobody) become the next Head Leader of Red Society was a huge surprise and was met with skepticism until Han Zhibang revealed his sash to signify the former leaders decision to pass the torch to Han Zhibang. When Chu Zhaonan returned, Han approved Chu Zhaonan's decision to work as a spy for Red Society. However with Dokado constantly forcing Chu Zhaonan to kill or hurt members and operations of Red Society, everyone eventually lost their faith in Chu Zhaonan. Everyone within the Seven Swords(men) still had trust, but even their trust was starting to slip. After Han witnessed Chu Zhaonan hurt Liu YuFang (after she tried to kill him for revenge), he was totally convinced that their eldest martial brother is truly a traitor. Chu Zhaonan got tired of proving himself and so he announced his final assault to Dokado and invite the rest of his martial brothers to join him to show he's no traitor. After Dokado was defeated, Han returned to Tian Shan.
[edit] Liu YuFang
Daughter of the head of Mo-Dong village, she was the love interest of both Han Zhibang (whom she loved only as a brother) and Mu Lang. However, she was deeply attracted to Chu Zhaonan but her feelings were not returned. Just like the movie, she fell in love with Chu Zhaonan when he held her in his arms as she was falling. She also was in charge of the children of the village. She tended to their school lessons and also looked after them when their village was under attack. After the villagers found temporary refuge inside a cave she suffered poisoning from the water she drank. Chu Zhaonan went to find a cure as her condition reached critical. Even though he returned with the antidote and cured her, the poisoned already runs deep within her system. She realized that even though most of the poison has been cured, there was some still remaining inside of her as she coughs out blood from time to time. She doesn't want to worry the people around her, which only made things worse for her. Mu-Lang also knew of her condition, but promised her not to tell anyone. Mu-Lang himself didn't know how to read and wanted to know more about Chinese calligraphy through Liu YuFang. Mu-Lang in trade would train her in martial art sword techniques with his swords. After being separated from her group because of Dokado's assault on the mountain, she fled with Mu Lang and the children. She later found Chu Zhaonan holding the dead body of Green Pearl as they accidentally bumped into him, but he was grieving Green Pearl and left her group as he wanted to be alone with Green Pearl. She herself wasn't sure what to think of it and only can dream of Chu Zhaonan. During their infiltration operation to free Red Society members, Chu Zhaonan returned and finally reunited with the group to start a large campaign to destroy Dokato. Liu YuFang became part of a fake wedding group as Nalan Minghui's replacement. However this plan was long discovered by Dokado as he had Nalan Minghui personally relocated in another place to be wedded and even arranged a trap of them once they entered. During an attempt on Dokado's life, her father was hit in the leg with a stone projectile from Dokado and he tripped and perished by falling into Chu Zhaonan's sword which looked like he murdered her father. Chu Zhaonan became an object of hate and she's thoroughly convinced that he's a traitor and murderer of her father. She tried to kill Chu Zhaonan outside the Buddhist temple, but her skills was no match for him. Towards the end, after Mu-Lang foolishly allowed a undocumented Red Society spy enter secret grounds where all the members and kids were killed (except for one). She could only feel despair and anger as she found out Mu-Lang cost these people's lives. Towards the end, she quietly faded out of the story and no one seems to have any unique facts to the fate of this character.
[edit] Green Pearl
She was presented as a slave girl who was sold and used as sexual entertainment for several years. While serving as an exotic dancer in a show room Chu Zhaonan took notice of her beauty and fell in love with her. She too was attracted to Chu Zhaonan, but was captured by Manchurian forces and was the slave to a local warlord that served under Prince Dokado. Dokado wanted Green Pearl to make Chu Zhaonan fall in love with her to help control him. Their love became real, but in the end Green Pearl committed suicide. Her body was carried around by Chu Zhaonon for a while in a coffin and soldiers were killed when they were in Chu Zhaonan's way. Her body was eventually burned in the desert, but memories of her are always in Chu Zhaonan's mind.
[edit] Mu Lang
The fourth and presumably youngest disciple of Master Shadow-Glow, he descended Mount Heaven along with his brothers in an attempt to save Mo-Dong Village. His biggest weakness is his illiteracy, but he agreed to hone Liu YuFang's swordplay after she became his teacher. Eventually, he developed feelings for her, but she was only attracted to Chu Zhaonan. He's close to Lui YuFang in terms of keeping secrets and her thoughts at times. He promised Lui YuFang's poisoned condition to secrecy and has administered his own blood and later medication at times to keep her condition stable. Another "flaw" of his is his kindheartedness. Master Shadow-Glow knew of his kindness and illiteracy problem. He gave him a reading book to study and warned him to always look at things with more than one point of view to have clear judgement. However he didn't realize the depth of the consequences until he unintentionally released a spy. All Red Society members who were rescued were intentionally documented and checked on the list to insure internal security. Mu Lang encountered a man that claimed to be part of Red Society and wasn't part of the list. At first Mu Lang left him, but only to find him later wandering in the streets and following him. The man pleaded and begged Mu Lang that he's no spy and said he would die for Red Society. Mu Lang's kindness was his undoing when he allowed him into Red Society headquarters, whom ultimately came back and massacred most of the members of the Red Society. None were spared, even the children Liu YuFang protected and looked after so hard were shot by arrows. Only one of the children survived and Liu YuFang survived long enough for Mu Lang and Han Zhibang to rescue them from Dokado's soldiers. When he identified the man who helped slaughter nearly all of Red Society, he realized it was the same man he helped earlier. When he told the reason why their group was compromised, Liu YuFang slapped Mu Lang with rage. Faced with guilt, he contemplated suicide but came across his dying martial brother, Yang Yuncong and his infant daughter. After Dokado's defeat, he returned to Mount Heaven with Yang Yuncong's infant daughter and told his master everything that has happened. Filled with sadness to the fate of his students, Master Shadow-Glow took in Yang Yuncong's daughter to be raised as possibly a new generation swordsman.
[edit] Xin Longzi
He's a man tortured by his past. Though never fully explained of his own origins he suffers emotional problems because of his past. The Star Chasers was given to him as a way to help control his emotions, but it did little good when reacting to his memories. In the series he had a wife and son, through unexplained circumstances his son was raised by a man he ended up killing. His son never met him and considered the slain man as only his father. It may have been the shock of his son not accepting him or other contributing factors, but Xin Longzi is known to lose his sanity at very inconvenient times when reminded of his past or exposed to cherry blossoms (emotional trigger). Throughout the story he provided martial arts wisdom to Han Zhibang and Wu Yuanying. Xin at one point lost his mind during a stealth mission and went missing for days. Fu Qingzhu eventually retrieved him and only said that alcohol helps deals with his issues. So the final aspects of the story he was better drunk than sober. During the final confrontation with Dokado, he lost his sanity and was lost again. Fu Qingzhu decided to find Chu Zhaonan and Xin Longzi in hopes to reform the Seven Swords(men) once again. However with the death of Yang Yuncong and Xin Longzi missing, new members may replace the three. Xin Longzi is presumed aimlessly wandering China in confused rage.
[edit] Prince Dokado
Compared to the movie, Prince Dokado takes a major role in the TV series as an ambitious general who wishes to control the Imperial Palace and Chu Zhaonan. Dokado is a highly educated man with long time war experience. In the series he's the main villain and focus of the seven swordsmen. He's hardly a man of honor and doesn't believe in the Han people's virtues. Dokado was impressed with Chu Zhaonan's swordsmanship and wanted to have him serve his side and wield the Dragon sword. He also wanted to show Chu Zhaonan's morals and honor is idealistic and not real by arranging certain events that would cause Chu Zhaonan's own brothers and people against him. He arranged a coup that would force his brother to step down as emperor and arrange new leader ship to his baby brother. By having a child control the country, Dokado would run the country behind the scenes unopposed. His biggest threat has always been the seven swordsmen and the Red Society anti-Manchurian resistance. He hired some of the most cunning and skillful operatives to destroy his opposition (including his own martial arts master). He knew at one point Chu Zhaonan joined his side as a means to assassinate him. Playing on Chu Zhaonan's own intellect, he was able to make Chu Zhaonan do a lot of things he didn't want to do to prove his loyalty. By doing so Red Society begun to seriously doubt Chu Zhaonan's loyalties and Dokado hopes this would force him to stay at his side. During Chu Zhaonan's supposed defection to Dokado, he and his martial master discovered the weakness of Chu Zhaonan's sword. Everyone knew The Dragon's guard handle emits sounds, but the direction of the whistling sounds made by the sword also exposes the method of attack. By listening on the sounds by the word, Dokado was able to defend himself from all of Chu Zhaonan's attacks. However it seems Dokado can't effectively exploit is weakness in the last confrontation. During the failed raid to the royal palace, Dokado witnessed a fantastic fight between Chu Zhaonan and Yang Yuncong and noticed Yang Yuncong's sword. He realized The Transience was the only sword that can defeat The Dragon and he obtained Transience during a fight in which Yang Yuncong retreated after severe injuries. Yang Yuncong dropped Transience when he was injured and Flying Red Scarlet took him to safety, but left his sword behind. In a final showdown Dokado used The Transience sword to face Chu Zhaonan, but lost the fight and fell to his death at the sea cliffs.
[edit] Master Shadow-Glow
He's a skilled sword-master and martial artist. He spends most of his time inside Tian Shan (Heaven or Sky Mountain) making exceptional swords of unique properties while training his four students. He fought Fu Qingzhu a long time ago and during that battle he broke Fu Qingzhu's sword. He had it reforged for Fu Qingzhu when they met again to save Mo-Dong ("martial" in Cantonese) Village. After consideration he agreed to help Fu Qingzhu and dispatched his students with four swords. After giving the swords to his students he gave each and one of them a warning based on their personalities. Each student was highly skilled, but each had a severe flaw in them that he knew might be problematic as time goes. After that he also given two additional swords to the two villagers of Mo-Dong to aid them in their quest and was unofficially accepted as part of the Tian Shan group. Because the story is stretched over other wuxia novels, Master Shadow-Glows story of his personal life can be linked with Bride with White Hair. In the series it's revealed that Master Shadow-Glow always thinks about the white haired woman. His involvement in this story overall was minimal and only appear in flashbacks of him educating his students about their own mental/emotional weaknesses. After hearing the fate of his students he was sadden that all occurred, but also taken in Yang Yunchong's daughter to his care.
[edit] Flying Red Scarlet
Played by Ada Choi, she's the hot head leader of her own resistance movement to stop Dokato. She first appeared to capture her former lover, Askar. Her ex-lover was guilty amongst his peers in his desert community and was to be executed. He was a good singer and his songs were able to move people as he sang. Yang Yuncong became friends with him over night and when he saw Flying Red Scarlet taking him he attempted to reason and rescue his friend. Flying Red Scarlet in the end had to prosecute him and he was stoned to death and he sang until he could no longer stand. Flying Red Scarlet's master was a woman of white hair (related to another novel) and she warned her student to never trust a man that belongs to Tian Shan. Yang Yuncong during this time helped her several times when the Manchurians came and even started to warm up to him, but soon as she found out that he's a member of Tian Shan she had a serious attitude problem with him. Yang Yuncong still continued to show up whenever he felt he had to because the Manchurians was still after Flying Red Scarlet's group and himself. Eventually Flying Red Scarlet would fall in love with Yang Yuncong, but always hold her tough exterior. She refuse to confess her love for him and only displayed hints of kindness and love. Flying Red Scarlet eventually mounted a massive assault to destroy the Manchurian desert fort outpost where Dokatdo was residing. During this time Chu Zhaonan also appeared to team up with Yang Yuncong. Chu Zhaonan was suspected of being a traitor because Dokatdo released him during battle because of his interest in him. Tensions worsened when Chu Zhaonan accidentally killed one of Flying Red Scarlet's men while in combat and it further convinced her he was a traitor. In aftermath of the assault Flying Red Scarlet's men were mostly killed and she herself barely survived out of the compound. She wanted to kill Chu Zhaonan while he was weakened, but Yang Yuncong defended him and she reluctantly allowed him to live. After that battle Dokatdo left the desert and Flying Scarlet left the safety of the desert to pursue him in the empires' capital city. There she would meet Yang Yuncong again, but during that time she found out Yang Yuncong fallen in love with the general's daughter of Dokatdo's forces. She even gave birth to a daughter. When the general found out about her daughter had a baby he killed the nanny and had mixed feelings about his grand daughter. Flying Red Scarlet took her away from him and raised her for a while until Yang Yuncong returns. Flying Red Scarlet was a skilled stealth infiltrator and she used that skill to track down Yang Yuncong and his woman. She found and rescued Yang Yuncong's woman, just to be caught by Dokatdo. She later returned Yang Yuncong's baby daughter and Yang Yuncong apologized to her because he felt he owed her a great debt. In the final battle against Dokatdo she helped Yang Yuncong (without Transience) fight Dokatdo's martial arts master and in the end she used her whip to ward him off, but Dokatdo's master in turn used the whip to choke her as he was falling off to the side of the mountain. Before she slipped to her death she was holding Yang Yuncong's baby at the time and returned the child to Yang Yuncong before she fell to her death with Dokatdo's master.
[edit] Nalan Minghui
The daughter of General Nalan, a high ranking general of Prince Dokado. She was a very naive girl who believed in the superficial image of her government. She doesn't understand the depth of corruption and hypocrisy that exists within. Despite being politically dense, she was also extremely righteous about ethics. She studied medicine and used her skills to helped the soldiers get properly treated for wounds and receive mail from family. She was considered a savior amongst the soldiers for her sincerity and kindess. When Prince Dokado first met her, he was surprised at her righteous nature and even yelled at Dokado (second ranked to the emperor of china). Dokado admired her bravery and was attracted to her, eventually falling in love with her, but she did not reciprocate. Instead, she fell in love with Yang Yuncong when she nursed him back from an injury and they had plans of returning to Mount Heaven together. However, Prince Dokado insisted for her hand in marriage. Even though she was in love with Yang Yuncong, she accepted because she thought she could prevent more people from dying by making Dokado promise he will never kill again. She gave birth in secret to a daughter fathered by Yang Yuncong, but the baby was taken away by her father, which was then stolen by Flying Red Scarlet. Eventually, the pain of losing her daughter drove her out of her mind and she became a shell of her former self.
[edit] Swords
[edit] The Heaven's Fall
Wu Yuanying's sword, this sword is an elemental sword of water. When using the sword, the handle has holes like a wind-pipe instrument that responds to the control of the handle. This gives Wu Yuanying the ability to change the direction of the sword from one end to the next on battle. Because this sword responds to water, this sword is most deadly when wet. Energy can be focused into the sword and then use the water droplets as weapons and even projectiles. It's full potential wasn't fully realized until near the end of the episode.
[edit] The Dragon
It's considered the strongest weapon amongst the seven. Its construction is unique because it has a special steel ball inside that reacts while in combat. While moving the sword the ball inside the hilt chamber makes vibrations and sounds that can confuse the enemy's ears and strike fear in other warriors hearing its distinct whistle. Dokatdo figured the sword's weakness and used it against Chu Zhaonan. The sword's vibrations can be noticed by human ears and if carefully listening onto the sounds you can figure out the movements of the sword and predict Chu Zhaonan's attack. The sword itself reacts violently against the Transience and repels the energy that emits from Transience. Should the swords successfully strike at each other, both swords will be magnetically locked down to each other as a way to neutralize each others power.
[edit] The Deity
This sword was one of the first swords created by Master Shadow-Glow. The sword itself is thick and heavy for strength and power. The sword never saw combat, only used to help mine the cave of Tian-Shan. Master Shadow-Glow saw through the personality of Han Zhibang and granted him "The Deity". Through Han Zhibang "The Deity" has went through a lot of battle. The raw energy that the sword emits chi waves that can destroy light objects at a distance. When properly wielded by Han Zhibang, the sword can emit devastating energy that can destroy waves of soldiers. The Deity is often paired up with The Celestial Beam in combat.
[edit] The Unlearnt
The sword itself doesn't have any real special abilities; however, it's also the weapon that has the least blood on it. Fu Qingzhu once used this sword to kill many people. After it was reborn in Tian Shan, Fu Qingzhu refused to use any murderous force with this sword so he kept it inside its scabbard the entire time. Fu Qingzhu often uses his chi to channel energy into the sword like the rest of the warriors, but with the sword still locked inside so that he would only neutralize his opponents. In the final battle to kill Dokatdo, Fu Qingzhu finally unleashed his sword and used it to kill a powerful warrior that served under Dokatdo. In the aftermath the sword and Fu Qingzhu left to find the whereabouts to reunited the seven swords again. In the movie version Unlearnt already drew blood as Fu Qingzhu used it to cut off the arm of Fire-Wind's henchmen as a message.
[edit] The Star-Chasers
The Star-Chasers are the smallest pair of blades, but with interesting properties. There are differences between the movie version and the TV series. In the TV series the bottom contains a metal ball that can strangely bond when the wielder becomes enraged. When that happens the swords bottom tip will bond and a rope will extend forth from the pair swords. This feature allows Xin Longzi to attack at greater distances and allow him to force his attacks to back off at a safer distance. When bonded Xin Longzi must be in calm state of control or the weapon can strike back. In the movie there was no bonding with the weapon because it was done to make it more realistic. The movie version showed the sword can be extended by flinging hard on the weapon. The hilt and handle will remain with the wielder, while the blade part can extend to strike at more than five feet. When facing the pair within their radius of attack the pair can cut down anyone with swift speed.
[edit] The Transience
The sword was created out of a meteorite and because of that has unique properties. It's roughly made compared to the other fine smooth surfaces of the other six swords, but its lack of beauty doesn't negate its powers. The sword's composition gives it an unusual ability of magnetism and light emission. When Yang Yuncong uses his sword, powerful magnetic energy is emitted as well as light to blind and confuse the attackers. Dokatdo took notice of the sword while witnessing a battle between Yang Yuncong and Chu Zhaonan. Yang Yuncong's master believed Chu Zhaonan may stray from the righteous path and this sword is the dragon's opposite and both swords have greater violent reactions in combat or training. Yang Yuncong in the final events against Dokatdo lost the sword while suffering from severe injuries and Dokatdo took Transience to fight against Chu Zhaonan. In the end Chu Zhaonan retrieved the sword and returned it to Yang Yuncong, but it was already too late cause Yang Yuncong died from extensive injuries against Dokatdo's master. In the movie the sword's magnetic abilities were proven so strong that it can tear out thin sheets of metal while in combat.
[edit] The Celestial Beam
The sword is actually a pair of swords that's taken the form of one. When properly used, Celestial Beam's true powers shine in battle. The movie version is made to be more realistic, so the movie version of the sword was larger and longer without special effects. Both versions can split the blades into two swords, but the movie version simply detaches into a second blade. The TV version requires higher wielding skills to bring out it's "invisible" counterpart. The TV version's Celestial Beam is smaller and is about the size of a long sword, while the other sword is about the size of a Tai Chi sword. When the smaller version release itself into battle, the sword can fly around almost as if flying like boomerang with the other sword guiding it's direction. Because the other sword can be treated as a projectile, the smaller counterpart can be used almost like a flying kunai. Though not considered to be the strongest sword, it's main advantage is range and power when combining with Deity.
[edit] Notes
- As of August 2006, only 39 episodes have been filmed. Supposedly, the story will continue and pick up 18 years after the events of the final episode.
- Han Zhibang and Wu Yuanying are portrayed as fellow village brothers, but in the movie they are portrayed as ex-lovers. The theatrical version made Wu Yuanying a woman (played by Charlie Yeung). Portrayed as a woman in the movie, she wanted to be with Yang Yuncong and learned to master "Heaven's Fall" through him as well.
