The Complete Works of Liang Yusheng -- The Legend of the Divine Arrow and Turbulent Winds (6 Volumes)

Author: Liang Yusheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1996-03-01
Features: Liang Yusheng's wuxia novels pioneered a new school of wuxia literature, paving the way for the later works of Jin Yong and Gu Long. He once described his own position in the wuxia genre as follows: "The pioneer of wuxia literature is Liang Yusheng; the one who carried it to greater heights is Jin Yong." In the 1960s and 1970s, he and Jin Yong together carried the banner of new school wuxia novels, earning the reputation of "Jin and Liang, rivals of their time." During their era, Liang Yusheng advocated that "the chivalrous are the embodiment of the wisdom and virtue of the lower laboring classes," grounding chivalry in justice, dignity, and love for the people, while discarding the one-sided focus on revenge and violence found in older wuxia novels. Jin Yong further elevated this to "Chivalry is serving 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 filled with a scholarly atmosphere, often interspersed with poetry, folk songs, and colloquial expressions. His narrative techniques primarily draw from traditional forms, frequently employing the chapter-based structure of traditional novels. The chapter titles are profound in meaning and skillfully balanced in parallelism, with plot developments possessing a rhythmic and engaging flow. His storytelling often carries the tone of a storyteller. The characters in his wuxia novels are deeply moralized, with clear distinctions between heroes and villains. Each of his wuxia works is set against a specific historical backdrop, with plots meticulously crafted and steady in complexity.
Some critics argue that the flaw in Liang Yusheng's novels lies in their "monotony." The reason may stem from his persistent adherence to a "conventional" scholarly demeanor. Liang Yusheng himself once said: "Perhaps I have also been guilty of being 'far-fetched,' but this is not the mainstream of my style."