The Book and Sword Chronicle (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Jin Yong
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2004-09-01
Features: The Book and the Sword is a novel I wrote. From 1955 to now, it has been twenty years. I am from Haining, Zhejiang. The legend of Emperor Qianlong has been told to me since childhood in my hometown. When I was a boy scout, I once camped by the stone embankment built by Emperor Qianlong in Haining. In the middle of the night, I watched the surging tide rushing fiercely. Therefore, The Book and the Sword is a novel that depicts stories that left a deep impression on me, and it is very natural. But Chen Jialuo is my own creation. The Fragrant Princess is not the historical figure known as the Fragrant Princess. The Fragrant Princess is much more beautiful than the Fragrant Princess. The illustration of the Fragrant Princess included in this book is just to show readers that Emperor Qianlong had such a concubine. Haining was a small coastal county under the jurisdiction of Hangzhou Prefecture during the Qing Dynasty, famous only for its tidal bore. Modern famous figures include Wang Guowei, Jiang Zilin, and Xu Zhimo, all of whom have a touch of melancholy and tragedy in their personalities, as well as a touch of impractical stubbornness. Chen Jialuo may also bear some resemblance to these people. But Haining did not produce martial artists; even the military strategist Jiang Zilin, who only knew martial arts, was not very skilled in combat. Historian Meng Sen conducted research and concluded that the legend of Emperor Qianlong being a descendant of the Chen family of Haining is unreliable, and the rumor that the Fragrant Princess was killed by the Empress Dowager is also false. Historians naturally dislike legends, but writers like them. Emperor Qianlong devoted himself to building the Haining embankment until the work was completed, which benefited the people greatly. In the book, I portray him in a very unflattering light, and sometimes I feel a bit sorry about it. His poetry is not very good, which is not really relevant, but I grew up in Haining and Hangzhou, where I saw his imperial poems carved everywhere, and I really couldn’t stand it. Even now, when I look at copies of famous paintings, I still see his inscriptions everywhere, and I can’t help but mock him. Besides writing red squares in primary school, I have never practiced calligraphy, and the title and signature on the cover are not worth a calligrapher’s laugh. I also know nothing about poetry and lyrics until recently, when I revised this book, I finally read Wang Lixing’s The Theory of Chinese Poetic Rhythm and learned about the tonal patterns of shi poetry. It’s okay to imitate Emperor Qianlong’s poetry, but imitating Chen Jialuo and Yu Yutong’s poetry is very childish. In the original draft, Chen Jialuo was a top scholar, but his poetry was too clumsy for someone of his status, so I had to revise it and remove his top scholar title. Yu Yutong, though only a scholar, should not have poetry of such a beginner’s level. However, since he is known as the "Golden Flute Scholar," I made some concessions and did not remove his scholar title. The chapter titles of this book are also not very good. The chapter titles in the first edition did not match the tonal patterns at all, and they have only slightly improved now. This book was originally serialized in newspapers and later published as a standalone book. After revision and proofreading, it is now reprinted, and almost every sentence has been changed. Even the third proofreading was completely rewritten. I often feel both gratitude and shame toward the proofreader Cai Yanpei, the typesetting foreman Chen Dong of Mingbao Publishing, and all the workers. The Jin Yong Works Collection is planned to have about forty volumes. Each volume includes color illustrations, hoping to let readers (especially those abroad) get more exposure to Chinese cultural relics and art. If you find the novel itself boring, just look at the pictures. The "Jin Yong Works Collection" seal at the end of the book was created by the calligrapher Yi Yeshi, and I hereby express my gratitude.