The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber

The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong, and the third installment in the Condor Trilogy. It was first serialised from 6 July 1961 to 2 September 1963 in the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao.^[1] Jin Yong revised the novel in 1979 with a number of amendments and additions. A second revision was published in early 2005, incorporating later thoughts and a lengthier conclusion. It also introduced many changes to the plot and cleared up some ambiguities in the second edition, such as the origin of the Nine Yang Manual. As is typical of some of his other novels, Jin Yong included elements of Chinese history in the story, including figures such as Zhu Yuanzhang, Chen Youliang, Chang Yuchun, Zhang Sanfeng, and organisations such as the Ming Cult. The political clash between the Han Chinese and Mongols is also prominently featured in the plot.

Plot

Set in the late Yuan Dynasty, the story revolves around a pair of priceless and extremely powerful weapons, known as the Heaven Reliant Sword (倚天劍) and Dragon Slaying Saber (屠龍刀), which many jianghu pugilists covet. Either or both of them are thought to allow their wielder to rule the wulin (martial artists' community), according to a widely circulating rumour in a repeated mantra, "Honoured by the wulin, the precious saber slays the dragon, it commands the world, who dares to disobey? If the Heaven Reliant does not appear, who can challenge it?" (武林至尊，寶刀屠龍，號令天下，莫敢不從！倚天不出，誰與爭鋒？). The reason for that is lost at the beginning of the story.

The protagonist Zhang Wuji is of mixed heritage: his father Zhang Cuishan hails from the reputable Wudang Sect under the master Zhang Sanfeng, while his mother Yin Susu is from the unorthodox Heavenly Eagle Cult. As a boy, he lives with them and his godfather Xie Xun on the isolated northern island where he was born. He returns to the Chinese mainland and loses his parents after they are cornered on Mount Wudang by several martial artists coveting the Dragon Slaying Saber. At the same time, he is wounded by the Xuanming Elders and survives after seeking medical treatment from Hu Qingniu, a master physician.

His adventures further lead him to discover the long lost Nine Yang Manual and he masters the inner energy skills described inside, becoming a formidable pugilist. He later resolves the conflict between the Ming Cult and the six major orthodox sects, who are intent on destroying the cult. He earns the respect of the cult's members and becomes its leader after mastering the skill Heaven and Earth Great Shift. He reforms the cult and helps to improve its relations with other sects. He becomes a key figure in leading rebel forces to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty.

Throughout his adventures, Zhang Wuji finds himself entangled in a complex web of love relationships with four maidens. The first, Yin Li, is a horribly disfigured girl who is actually his cousin. The second, Xiaozhao, is a Chinese Persian servant girl who understands him very well. The third, Zhou Zhiruo, is a childhood friend whom he develops a strong bond with. The fourth, Zhao Min, is a Mongol princess and his former arch-rival. Yin Li is apparently killed in the middle of the story while Xiaozhao returns to Persia after it is revealed that she is destined to lead the Persian Ming Cult.

Zhou Zhiruo soon falls in love with Zhang Wuji, but has to turn against him as she is bound by an oath she made in front of her teacher Abbess Miejue, who hates and distrusts Zhang Wuji and anyone related to the Ming Cult. Miejue devises a vicious scheme for Zhou Zhiruo to seize the two weapons by exploiting Zhang Wuji's love for Zhou. Zhou Zhiruo also turns vicious after Zhang Wuji reneges his promise to marry her and she swears vengeance on him. Zhao Min was initially Zhang Wuji's rival as they were on opposing sides. However, Zhao Min gradually falls in love with Zhang Wuji after their various encounters, and she even turns against her clan to help him.

At the end of the novel, Zhang Wuji decides to retire from the jianghu after he mistakenly believes that the Ming Cult's members are plotting to betray him. He decides that Zhao Min is his true love and they leave for a reclusive life far away from society (the ending to the second edition, however, is ambiguous about his relationship with Zhou Zhiruo). Zhang Wuji gave up an opportunity to become the emperor, as the Ming Cult eventually overthrew the Yuan Dynasty, and ideally Zhang would become the new sovereign, but instead Zhu Yuanzhang takes the throne and founds the Ming Dynasty.

Jin Yong published the 3rd edition of the novel in 2005 with slightly different ending. In this edition, Zhang Wuji became disillusioned when he could not save the life of a general and address the death of Han Lin'er and with that he left the leadership of the Ming Cult in the hands of Yang Xiao, Fan Yao and left the Central Plains with Zhao Min.^[2]

The two weapons

The origins

The two titular weapons, the Heaven Reliant Sword (倚天劍) and the Dragon Slaying Saber (屠龍刀), were forged from a single sword, the Heavy Iron Sword (玄鐵重劍), which Yang Guo wielded in The Return of the Condor Heroes.

The Heavy Iron Sword belonged to Dugu Qiubai, a great swordsman whose skills were unmatched in his time. Yang Guo chanced upon the Heavy Iron Sword while he was recovering from the Love Flower's poison and the loss of his right arm. When Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü depart from Xiangyang, they left the sword with the couple Guo Jing and Huang Rong. The sword was melted and special steel material was added and it was forged into the two weapons.

In the third revised edition of the novel, the Heaven Sword was reforged from Yang Guo's Gentleman Sword (君子劍) and Xiaolongnü's Lady Sword (淑女劍) while the Dragon Saber's origin remained unchanged.

The secret

Hidden in the blade of the Dragon Saber is a military treatise titled Book of Wumu (武穆遺書), authored by Yue Fei. Similarly, concealed in the blade of the Heaven Sword are two scrolls detailing the Nine Yin Manual and Guo Jing's "Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms".

The Dragon Saber was given to Guo Jing and Huang Rong's son Guo Polu, while their younger daughter Guo Xiang inherited the Heaven Sword.

The content of the hidden book and scrolls, in addition to the fact that the weapons can only be damaged and broken when used against each other, was the source of the claim that whoever possesses the Dragon Saber will rule the world and yet only the one who possesses the Heaven Sword can stand against the wielder of the Saber.

The secret of the weapons was passed down only from the leader of each generation of the Emei Sect to her successor. Miejue is succeeded by Zhou Zhiruo and the secret is passed on to the latter. In the novel, Zhou Zhiruo gains possession of both weapons through her cunning and deception and she breaks them to obtain their contents.

In the latest revision, two halves of an iron-plated map are hidden in the weapons instead of manuals. Once pieced together, the map points out to locations on Peach Blossom Island, where the manuals are hidden. Jin Yong reasoned that the change was due to a possibility that the dissection of the weapons will cause the manuals to be burnt, hence two pieces of an iron-plated map would be better substitutes.

Analogy

In Chinese culture, the Dragon is a symbol of the emperor or sovereign ruler. The full translated name of the Dragon Saber is "Dragon Slaying Saber" (屠龍刀), which implies that it is used to "slay the emperor". The "emperor" refers to the Mongol Emperor Huizong of Yuan|Emperor Huizong in this case.

Throughout Chinese history, several monarchs have become tyrants just like in legend when the Dragon goes out of control and becomes a menace. The Heaven Sword's full translated name is "Heaven Reliant Sword" (倚天劍) as it embodies Heaven. In Chinese culture, the emperor is respectfully called the "Son of Heaven", which implies that Heaven is the ultimate authority in determining who will be ruler of China.

It can thus be interpreted as such: The secret in the Dragon Slaying Saber can be used to "kill" (dethrone) the (Mongol) emperor and replace him with another (Han Chinese) ruler. Ideally, a brilliant military leader can utilise the textbook to its full potential by staging a rebellion to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty and restore Han Chinese rule. However, if the new emperor turns out to be an incompetent monarch or tyrant, a martial artist can master the skills from the manuals in the Heaven Reliant Sword and assassinate the emperor and replace him with a wise and benevolent ruler.

Characters

Adaptations

Films

Television

Comics

The story was adapted into a manhua series, illustrated by Ma Wing-shing and Jin Yong credited as the writer. In 2002 ComicsOne published an English translation of the manhua. While the plot details remain intact, some of the story's events were not presented in the same order as in the novel.

Video games

In 2000 Softworld released a RPG based on the novel. The game ends after the battle at Bright Peak.

In 2004 Softworld released another RPG. Instead of the traditional turn-based RPG, this version has a real-time battle system (similar to Diablo), and follows the entire story.

References

External links

• (Chinese) The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber on Baidu Baike
• English translation of the novel at Wuxiapedia