| The Smiling, Proud Wanderer | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Jin Yong |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Chinese |
| Genre(s) | Wuxia |
| Publisher | Ming Pao |
| Publication date | 1967 |
| Media type | |
| The Smiling, Proud Wanderer | |||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 笑傲江湖 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 笑傲江湖 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Laughing Proudly in the Jianghu | ||||||||||
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The Smiling, Proud Wanderer is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong. It was first serialised in Hong Kong in the newspaper Ming Pao from 20 April 1967 to 12 October 1969.[1] The Chinese title of the novel, Xiao Ao Jiang Hu, literally means to live a carefree life in a mundane world of strife. Alternate English translations of the title include State of Divinity and Laughing in the Wind.
Contents |
The story's initial development revolves around a coveted martial arts manual known as the Bixie Swordplay Manual. The manual has been passed down as a heirloom in the Lin family, who runs the Fuwei Escort Agency based in Fuzhou. Yu Canghai, leader of the Qingcheng Sect, leads his followers to massacre the Lins and seize the manual for himself but does not find it. Lin Pingzhi, the sole survivor of the Lin family, is rescued by Yue Buqun, head of the Mount Hua Sect, one of the members of the Five Mountains Sword Sects Alliance. Yue Buqun accepts Lin Pingzhi as a student and trains him in swordplay.
The novel's protagonist is Yue Buqun's eldest disciple Linghu Chong, an orphaned, happy-go-lucky but honourable swordsman who has a penchant for liquor. He befriends the notorious bandit Tian Boguang and saves a nun called Yilin from the (North) Mount Heng Sect from Tian's sexual advances. In the meantime Liu Zhengfeng of the (South) Mount Heng Sect announces his decision to leave the wulin (martial artists' community) and invites fellow pugilists to witness his retirement ceremony. The event turns into a bloodbath when Zuo Lengchan (chief of the Mount Song Sect) and other orthodox sects accuse Liu Zhengfeng of being unfaithful to their code for befriending Qu Yang of the heretical Sun Moon Holy Cult. Liu and Qu are cornered by Zuo and his men and eventually commit suicide. Before dying Liu and Qu pass the score of Xiaoao Jianghu (a piece of music they composed together) to Linghu Chong.
Lin Pingzhi's entrance into the Mount Hua Sect causes Linghu Chong to break up with his romantic interest Yue Lingshan (Yue Buqun's daughter) as she starts falling in love with Lin. Linghu Chong's carefree attitude brings him into trouble; his teacher decides to punish him by making him stay alone for a year in a secluded area on Mount Hua to reflect on his actions. He discovers carvings of swordplay techniques in a cave and practises them, unknowingly familiarising himself with not only the skills of the other four sword sects, but the counter moves as well. He also meets the reclusive Feng Qingyang, an elder of the Mount Hua Sect, who teaches him the formidable skill "Nine Swords of Dugu".
The self-proclaimed orthodox Five Mountains Sword Sects Alliance, though seemingly united, is constantly troubled by politicking among its members. Linghu Chong gets embroiled in the internal conflict and becomes seriously injured while saving several students using his newly mastered swordplay, which Yue Buqun deems unorthodox.
Linghu Chong meets the "Six Immortals of the Peach Valley", who attempt to cure his wounds in their weird fashion, but fail and aggravate his injuries instead. He follows his teacher to Luoyang and encounters a guqin-playing "old woman", who turns out to be a young maiden named Ren Yingying in disguise. By then Yue Buqun has already grown tired of Linghu Chong's frequent associations with jianghu lowlifes and strangers, and he abandons the latter. At Shaolin Monastery, Linghu Chong helps Ren Yingying recuperate from an injury after she is assaulted by some orthodox pugilists, while he learns to use the Yijin Jing to cure himself. He also hears from the Shaolin abbot that Yue Buqun has publicly announced that he has expelled Linghu Chong from the Mount Hua Sect.
Linghu Chong sinks into despair as he is now an outcast of the wulin. After leaving Shaolin he meets a stranger Xiang Wentian, whom he saves from dozens of enemies. Xiang becomes sworn brothers with Linghu and brings him to a manor in Hangzhou, where Linghu meets Ren Woxing (Ren Yingying's father), the former leader of the Sun Moon Holy Cult who was ousted from power by his deputy Dongfang Bubai and imprisoned there. Ren Woxing breaks out of captivity by using Linghu Chong to replace himself, and in return he lets Linghu learn his "Star Sucking Great Skill" and thereafter rescues Linghu from the dungeon. Ren Woxing offers his daughter's hand in marriage to Linghu Chong and tries to persuade Linghu to join his cult but the latter declines. Linghu later helps Ren Woxing defeat Dongfang Bubai and regain control of his cult.
Owing to the fact that he once helped the late leaders of the (North) Mount Heng Sect, who were mysteriously murdered, Linghu Chong is appointed head of that sect, whose members are all nuns. He leaves with Ren Yingying later to attend a special assembly of the Five Mountains Sword Sects Alliance, called for by its chief Zuo Lengchan. Zuo Lengchan attempts to intimidate the other four sects to completely submit to him, but Yue Buqun uses the Bixie Swordplay to defeat and blind Zuo and become the new leader of the alliance, much to the surprise of everyone present.
After leaving the assembly, Linghu Chong and Ren Yingying see Lin Pingzhi brutally slaying members of the Qingcheng Sect to avenge his family, and overhear a conversation between him and his wife Yue Lingshan, in which Lin reveals that he and Yue Buqun have both mastered the Bixie Swordplay. Through this, Linghu learns that his respected teacher is actually a hypocrite who plotted an elaborate scheme against Lin Pingzhi to seize the Bixie Swordplay Manual, and Lin and Yue have both castrated themselves to learn the skill.
Yue Buqun tries to kill Lin Pingzhi, who knows his secret and is quietly plotting revenge on him. The finale climaxes with members of the Five Mountains Sword Sects Alliance being trapped in the cave with the carvings, owing to Yue Buqun's treachery, where they slaughter each other out of paranoia and distrust. Both Yue Buqun's wife and daughter die for their respective husbands, while Yue Buqun is stabbed to death by the young nun Yilin. Ren Woxing, now intoxicated by power, masters an attack to overcome the scattered and fragmented orthodox sects, and then coerces Linghu Chong to join his cult, but dies at a crucial moment from a stroke triggered by his own megalomania.[2]
Ren Yingying is nominated as the new leader of the Sun Moon Holy Cult and she seeks a truce between the righteous and unorthodox sides of the martial artists' community. Three years later she passes the leadership to Xiang Wentian and marries Linghu Chong. Disillusioned by all the strife caused by power struggles, Linghu Chong and Ren Yingying retire from the jianghu, living happily after a wedding where the orthodox and unorthodox sects come to a temporary truce.
In his afterword, Jin Yong mentions that The Smiling, Proud Wanderer can be read as a political allegory disguised as a wuxia novel.[3] As an allegory, it can happen in "any dynasty or organisation".[4]
Although Jin Yong did not leave any unequivocal evidence, many people believe that characters and factions in the book are representations of people and great powers of the late 1960s, the time when the novel was written.[5] One popular interpretation believes that the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance represents the Soviet Union, with its chief Zuo Lengchan as a personification of Joseph Stalin, while the Sun Moon Holy Cult emblematises China with Dongfang Bubai symbolising Mao Zedong. The other sects, including Shaolin, Wudang, and Emei, represent NATO and countries aligned with the United States. This idea relates very well to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, where the world is split into three superpowers: Oceania, Eurasia, and East Asia.
This heavily politics related book is written from an interesting perspective. Instead of looking at the situation from the point of view of a politician who is either seeking to start a rebellion or struggling to keep the world peaceful, the main character Linghu Chong is a lonely individual who does not seek supremacy in a power-driven world.
The cult is based on Black Woods Cliff (黑木崖). Its origin is unclear and jianghu pugilists often refer to it as the Demonic Cult (魔教). Considered to be eccentric and heretical, the cult is a common enemy of the orthodox sects. Its members are known for engaging in various types of cult-like activities and committing heinous crimes. It was led by Ren Woxing until Dongfang Bubai ousts the former from power in a scheme. Dongfang treats his followers cruelly, forcing them to consume poison pills and giving them antidotes to temporarily ease their agony only if they obey him. Ren Woxing practises the "Star Sucking Great Skill" (吸星大法), which allows him to drain and absorb an opponent's inner energy, while Dongfang Bubai is said to be invincible after he mastered the skills in the Sunflower Manual (葵花寶典).
| Year | Production | Cast | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Shaw Brothers Studio (Hong Kong) | Wong Yue, Shih Szu, Michael Chan, Ling Yun | See The Proud Youth |
| 1991 | Film Workshop (Hong Kong) |
Sam Hui, Sharla Cheung, Cecilia Yip, Jacky Cheung, Fennie Yuen, Lau Siu-ming | See The Swordsman |
| 1992 | Jet Li, Rosamund Kwan, Michelle Reis, Brigitte Lin, Fennie Yuen | See Swordsman II | |
| 1993 | Brigitte Lin, Joey Wong, Yu Rongguang | See The East is Red (1993 film) |
| Year | Production | Cast | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | TVB (Hong Kong) | Chow Yun-fat, Rebecca Chan, Jaime Chik, Kenneth Tsang, Tung Wai, Isabella Wong | See The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (1984 TV series) |
| 1985 | TTV (Taiwan) | Bryan Leung, Leanne Liu | |
| 1996 | TVB (Hong Kong) | Jacky Lui, Fiona Leung, Cherie Chan, Timmy Ho, He Meitian, Wong Wai | See State of Divinity (1996 TV series) |
| 2000 | CTV (Taiwan) | Richie Ren, Anita Yuen, Vivian Chen, Song Ta-ming, Yue Yueli, Tsai Tsan-te | See State of Divinity (2000 TV series) |
| MediaCorp (Singapore) | Steve Ma, Fann Wong, Ivy Lee, Chew Chor Meng, Jacelyn Tay, Zheng Geping, Priscelia Chan | See The Legendary Swordsman | |
| 2001 | CCTV (Mainland China) | Li Yapeng, Xu Qing, Wei Zi, Miao Yiyi, Li Jie, Cheng Lifeng, Yu Chenghui | See Laughing in the Wind |
State of Divinity is a manhua series by Lee Chi Ching. A total of 26 volumes were published by Ming Ho in Hong Kong and M&C (Gramedia Group) in Indonesia.
In 2006 the Hong Kong Dance Company adapted the novel into a stage play, starring Rosanne Wong, Race Wong, Liu Yinghong, Su Shu, Chen Lei and Mi Tao, as a jubilee presentation to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary.
In 2010 the Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America presented the premiere of Laughing in the Wind: A Cautionary Tale in Martial Arts in New York City. The play was adapted and directed by Joanna Chan and featured 18 actors playing 26 roles.
Swordman Online is a MMORPG developed by Perfect World. The game also features additional sects that do not appear in the novel.
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