Wuxia (aka martial art or kungfu) novels by Louis Cha

Louis Cha (金庸) completed his 15 novels in the 1970s and is an icon of contemporary Chinese culture. I have read all his books in my teens but as my memories always fail me I am re-reading them for the N-th time. This time I am reading soft copies on my pda. You can find his works on-line in simplified/traditional Chinese here - http://www.eshunet.com/list0/04wx4.htm

Does anyone out there share the same passion?

stopped reading them after junior high. they dont really inspire me anymore as i grew older.

The Louis Cha novel did open a new world to me when I was at the high school, sometimes even at the university, but yes it's true, I still like the novel but I got less and less inspirations from them, and I found it a very narrow-minded Han-ism (xiayi de Da Han Zhuyi)sometimes.

Reviving an old thread...

Is there any good way for a beginner at Chinese to get started on his novels? Comic-book adaptations? Reading the electronic versions of the novels in something like Wenlin?

I know there are English translations of a few of his works, but that's not quite what I'm looking for.

Skylee:

Louis Cha? I never knew his English name, only his Chinese name. Thanks.

I haven't read all of his books, but they are all great! however, I can't read them in Chinese as my Chinese is not good enough.

Strange that I can't edit my post #1. The link in #1 is broken. Here is a working link where you can read Louis Cha's novels -> http://www.shuku.net:8080/novels/jinyong/jinyong.html

Here is another link that came to me in a promotion email, and oh the pictures are so beautiful -> http://www.ylib.com/hotsale/jin_picture/foreword.asp

I just think that I must have this book ... Take a look at the pictures. Readers of Louis Cha's books would recognise instantly what the story is in each picture (I sound like a harry porter fan ... )

I only ever read one of his books (in English translation) but those pictures are indeed beautiful.

Yeah, i read all his books when i was teen. They has given me stories and vocab to share with Chinese around the globe. It would be quite strange to me if a chinese grown-up didn't know anything about 小龙女, 韦小宝, 国姓爷, 陈近南, 张无忌, 东方不败, 岳不群 and many phrases like "他奶奶的", "辣块妈妈" or fictional kungfu like "六脉神剑", "凌波微步", "葵花宝典".

If you can speak very good Chinese (to attract people to speak REAL chinese to you), you possibly hear phrases like that:

"某男和某女简直就是天造地设, 小龙女配杨过."

"你去少林练神功护体么? 欲练神功, 必先自宫啊, 呵呵呵".

"他算是甚么君子, 不就是个岳不群."

"你去大理玩啊? 练六脉神歛么? "

"他老是在外边搞女人, 难道他也要娶七个老婆才够吗? " ( the story about 韦小宝)

"这个嘛...牛家村书记的儿子, 去泰国做了手术....怎说好呢, 就是做了东方不败啊. "

I wish it was easier to find reliable, traditional character versions of wuxia novels online. It would really help in learning to read to be able to pull them up in Wenlin, create vocabulary lists, etc.

'The second picture: does that banner say "比武掐親"?

The banner says "比武招親". The young woman's name is Mu Nianci 穆念慈, the young man's name is Wanyan Kang 完顏康 (at the time of the fighting he doesn't know that his real name is Yang Kang 楊康). Mu, a commoner, is good at fighting, and her father invites men who are interested in marrying her to fight with her and the one who can beat her will become her husband. This is what "比武招親" means. Wanyan is an aristocrat of the Jin Dynasty (look at his servants standing behind whose uniform is different from the other onlookers) finds the whole thing amusing and thinks that it will not hurt to play with the pretty girl. So he fights with her, and he wins. And then he leaves rejecting the marriage offer.

Those pictures are great. I especially like the third one of 郭靖 and 黄蓉 on the boat. I was at the bookstore just a few days ago and saw that there are new editions of 金庸's novels with these as cover art.

I'll probably buy 倚天屠龙记 or 天龙八部 to read on my next vacation.

I'd love to read some Jin Yong. Are his books all incredibly long? A combination of rubbish Chinese and long working hours unfortunately puts a limit on what I can get through. I'm reading three chapters a week of 红楼梦 at the moment and when I finally finish that I anticipate considerable difficulty in motivating myself to read something else over a thousand pages long.

I seem to remember someone saying that he did write some shorter stuff, but it is not as good. Is this true? Can someone recommend any good 金庸 books that are a bit shorter?

Skylee

Those are spectacular drawings. Are Jin Yong's books all illustrated like that? I am in the US and thinking of asking a friend in Harbin to help me buy the (hard copy) book.

Try 碧血劍 and 書劍恩仇錄, each with 20 chapters only. All his books can be found via the link at #7. (But do note that he has recently re-re-written his own works. But the most common versions are the second versions.)

Meng Lelan:

All his books are with illustrations (at least the ones that I read were with pictures), but not by the artist at #7 (Dong Peixin).

當時給金庸小說繪插畫的，主要是姜雲行先生和王司馬先生。姜雲行先生用「雲君」的筆名，他的畫風細膩而生動，表現武俠小說中的動作和打鬥很見功力。王司馬先生的畫風富於人情味，很能表現人物的情感，讀者們往往為他的繪畫所吸引，凝視畫中的人物，神馳高山大漠，投入人物的歡樂和哀傷。

If you can read traditional Chinese, you can order the books directly from yesasia. I've bought things (books / DVDs) from them and I find them reliable. Do note that those marked with "新修版" are the latest versions (re-re-written version) while others are the second versions.

I prefer to read his works in simplified Chinese - are simplified Chinese versions available as hard copy books?

Good thread.

I've recently started reading 射雕英雄传, and to my great surprise, I can manage to get through it at the modest pace of a few pages per day (I read a bit before going to sleep).

I've heard only good things about his books, and I love reading literature in the original language.

Is there any good way for a beginner at Chinese to get started on his novels? Comic-book adaptations? Reading the electronic versions of the novels in something like Wenlin?

Probably late for this poster, but it might interest someone that a TV-series based on one of his most famous novels, 天龍八部, is scheduled as a part of our Grand First Episode Project. The images from the series look really stunning, and many people have recommended the series.

That would be a good way to get into his work without reading the books themselves. I've heard that the novels themselves are at about high-school level, so it's a level achievable by a dedicated learner, but the series is always easier.