Jian Wang Chen Si (Upper and Lower)

Author: Liang Yusheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: Liang Yusheng's wuxia novels connect the heroic tales following The Story of the Heroic Parents and the old wuxia novels of the Republican era, a new school of wuxia literature; they also paved the way for Jin Yong and Gu Long's unparalleled world. He once evaluated his own position in the wuxia genre: "The pioneer of wuxia, 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 wuxia novels, earning the title of "Jin and Liang, rivals of their time." During their era, 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 old school's tendency toward revenge and bloodlust. Jin Yong further elevated this to "serving the nation and its people—this is the true essence of a hero." 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 brims with scholarly charm, often interspersed with poetic verses and folk expressions. His narrative techniques primarily draw from tradition, frequently employing the chapter-based structure of classical novels. The chapter titles are profound in meaning and meticulously crafted in parallelism, with plot developments possessing a rhythmic and harmonious flow. His storytelling also carries the unmistakable 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 that are cleverly constructed and steady yet dense. Some critics argue that the flaw in Liang Yusheng's novels lies in their "tedium," likely because he consistently maintained a "conventional" scholarly demeanor. Liang himself once said: "Perhaps I too have been guilty of being 'far-fetched.' But in my works, 'far-fetched' is not the mainstream—it is not my style."