| Ni Kuang | |
|---|---|
Ni Kuang at Hong Kong Shue Yan University, November 2007 |
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| Born | May 30, 1935 Ningbo, Zhejiang, China |
| Occupation | Novelist, screenwriter |
| Genres | Wuxia, science fiction |
Ni Kuang (Chinese: 倪匡; born May 30, 1935 in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China), also known as Ngai Hong, I Kuang or Yi Kuang, is a Hong Kong-based Chinese novelist and screenwriter, with more than 300 published wuxia and science fiction novels and more than 400 film scripts. He is the brother of another romance novelist, Yi Shu.
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Born Ni Chong (Chinese: 倪聰), he grew up in Shanghai. He worked as a public security official in the 1950s in Inner Mongolia before moving to Hong Kong in 1957. Ni's reason for coming to Hong Kong was that of political persecution, when he is working for the CCP, he was tasked with writing death sentences. One time, he questioned his local party chef what crime did a man sentenced to death had committed, as the only crime stated on the paper is the man being a landlord. His local party chef rebuked him and threatened him with death sentence if he continue to question his choice. According to Ni, he compiled in fear of his own life but citing this is not the worst death sentence he had written as there were many death sentences that the CCP ordered out that was categorized as "others". It is from these experiences that he made up his mind that he must escaped from People's Republic of China.
Ni's science fiction stories, which have been enjoyed by generations of juvenile readers in Hong Kong, usually take the form of mysteries- often featuring extraterrestrial life as a deus ex machina to explain the impossible and implasusible. The most famous of his science fiction heroes are Wai See-lei (or Wisely 衛斯理) and Yuen Tsang-hop (or Dr. Yuen 原振俠), both have appeared in television and film adaptions. In these stories criticism of communism is common.
Ni wrote many scripts for the Shaw Brothers Studio, and often co-wrote scripts with Chang Cheh, including films such as One-Armed Swordsman, The Assassin and Crippled Avengers. In 1972, Ni was the screenwriter for Fist of Fury, and received credit for creating the film's main character, Chen Zhen (played by Bruce Lee). Chen Zhen became a popular Chinese culture hero and has been the subject of numerous remakes and adaptations of Fist of Fury. Other actors such as Jet Li and Donnie Yen have played the role of Chen Zhen after Bruce Lee.
Ni is a friend and fan of wuxia writer Louis Cha. It is known that Ni had written at least an extended episode in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils when Cha was out on holiday in Europe, although much of it was excised in Cha's first revision. Ni, while helping Cha write nearly 40 days of serialization while he was abroad, made A'zi, a character from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, blind in the story.[1] Cha has since re-edited his wuxia works.
Ni later migrated to the United States in the 1992 (in fear of Hong Kong's 1997 Handover) and has continued his writing career there. He had cited that unless the Communists in China were vanquished, he would not return. In 2006, Ni and his wife moved back to Hong Kong after he sold his home in the United States. His reason for return is that his wife could not adjust to their lifestyle there.
Ni's son, Joe Nieh, works in the Hong Kong entertainment industry and after a twenty year long relationship is now the husband of Vivian Chow.
Ni is a known anti-communist, and in one interview, when asked about his feelings about the injustices occurring in People's Republic of China, he stated that as long as the Chinese Communist Party is in existence, those suffering would continue to occur. Ni cited that the most important value about the world is individual freedom, including the respects of others' freedom as well.