The Dream of Eternity for Scholars and Martial Artists

Author: Chen Pingyuan
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2002-09-01
Features: The spirit of the wandering knight is worth paying attention to, and it does not entirely equate with the future development of wuxia novels. The success of Jin Yong is both an honor for wuxia novels and a great challenge for successors: Can wuxia novels move forward further? Literary scholars and Jin Yong himself have promised that the emergence of great writers can elevate the status of a literary genre. This is certainly true, but it must be added: Whether it can continue to develop depends on the potential of the genre and the size of the reserved space. From The Three Heroes and Five Outlaws to Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, wuxia novels have rapidly matured over a century. Lu Xun, in A Brief History of Chinese Fiction, stated that "in the Qing Dynasty, the wuxia novels directly followed the veins of the Song Dynasty's talk tales, as they were indeed a rebirth of popular literature after seven hundred years." Perhaps, the future of wuxia novels in the next century will depend on the involvement of new literary figures and the absorption of the traditional literary essence of the wandering knights. In a certain sense, Jin Yong has already done so, but I believe we can take even bigger steps. After all, for historians and literary scholars, the spirit of the wandering knight is an extremely challenging and enticing "eternal topic."