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Author: Liang Yusheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-03-01
Features: Liang Yusheng's martial arts novels connect the tradition of heroic tales since The Story of the Heroic Parents and the old martial arts fiction of the Republican era, pioneering a new school of martial arts literature. They also paved the way for Jin Yong and Gu Long's literary world. He once described his own position in the realm of martial arts fiction: "The pioneer of the genre, Liang Yusheng; the one who brought it to greater heights, Jin Yong." In the 1960s and 1970s, he and Jin Yong together carried the banner of the new school of martial arts fiction, earning the reputation of "Jin and Liang, rivals of their time." During their concurrent fame, Liang Yusheng advocated that "the hero is the embodiment of the wisdom and virtue of the lower laboring classes," grounding heroic actions in justice, dignity, and love for the people, while discarding the tendency of old martial arts fiction to glorify revenge and bloodshed. Jin Yong further elevated this to "The greatest hero is one who serves the nation and its people."
Liang Yusheng's novels are renowned for their rich historical and literary knowledge, as well as their incorporation of classical poetry and folk sayings. His writing is elegant and imbued with a strong scholarly atmosphere, often interweaving poetic verses and folk expressions into the narrative. His literary techniques primarily draw from tradition, frequently employing the form of serial novels. The chapter titles of his works are profound in meaning and skillfully crafted in parallelism, with plot developments that carry a rhythmic and harmonious flow. His storytelling also retains a distinct tone of a traditional storyteller. The characters in his martial arts novels are deeply moralized, with clear distinctions between heroes and villains. Each of his works is set against a specific historical backdrop, with plots that are cleverly constructed and steady in their complexity.
Some critics argue that the flaw in Liang Yusheng's novels lies in their "tedium," a perception that may stem from the author's persistent adherence to a "conventional" scholarly demeanor. Liang Yusheng himself once remarked, "Perhaps I have also been guilty of being 'far-fetched.' But in my works, 'far-fetched' is not the mainstream—it is not my style."