Techniques of Jin Yong's Novels

Author: Cao Bula
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: While the openings of popular novels can vary in style, they generally share the common characteristic of being highly plot-driven, to the extent that they could even be called "plot novels." This requires them to captivate readers from the very beginning. Successful popular novels often spark readers' strong interest in "storytelling" with just a few opening lines, enticing them further.'s novels, in particular, place great emphasis on creating an extraordinary atmosphere in their openings to exert a strong appeal on readers. This appeal arises either from the peculiarity of the plot, the uniqueness of the events, the extraordinary setting of the characters' activities, or the peculiar appearance and behavior of the characters themselves. In short, "uniqueness" is a prominent feature of the openings in's novels. It should be said that winning through "uniqueness" and crafting the extraordinary is not an exclusive characteristic of the openings in's novels, nor is it a unique "martial arts skill" he invented. Rather, it is a common feature of plot-driven, highly narrative novels. Most martial arts novels rely heavily on the strategy of "surprise and victory," but in's hands, this "uniqueness" is employed in a myriad of variations. In his martial arts novels, it is evident that has achieved a considerable level of conscious mastery over this "uniqueness." The opening of《》is as follows: In the sixth month of the 18th year of the Qianlong reign, in the inner courtyard of the Yanshui Town Garrison Commandery in Shaanxi, a 14-year-old girl skips merrily toward the teacher's study. In the morning, the teacher had just finished reading about the Battle of Red Cliffs from the《》and casually recounted stories of Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu. In the afternoon, there was no lesson scheduled, but the girl, still eager for more, asks the teacher to tell more stories about the Three Kingdoms. On this sweltering day, the surroundings were quiet and still, with not a single breeze. The girl arrives outside the study but fears disturbing the teacher if he is napping, so she tiptoes around to the outside window, pulls out a gold hairpin from her hair, pricks a small hole in the window paper, and peeks through. The time, place, characters, and atmosphere are all clearly presented—plain and unremarkable in themselves, with no inherent "uniqueness." But this "ordinariness" serves as a prelude to the extraordinary scene that follows, employing the technique of "building up before releasing." Next, we follow the girl as we witness a remarkable sight: The teacher sits cross-legged on a chair, a smile on his face, and with his right hand slightly raised, he waves it gently into the air. A soft "" sound is heard, as if something has collided with the wall. She looks toward the source of the sound and sees dozens of flies motionless on the opposite wall. She finds it strange and focuses her attention, only to notice that each fly has a fine hairpin, no thicker than a hair, inserted into its back. It turns out that this learned teacher, Lu Zhiqing, is actually a supreme martial arts master skilled in using hairpins to sting flies. Such a magical and suspenseful opening undoubtedly piques readers' strong interest in reading. In《》, we can see that has put considerable thought into the opening of this novel. He seems reluctant to repeat the "surprise and victory" method he used in《》and instead employs the technique of the classical Chinese novel《》by first introducing the first character to appear.