Sword Stained with Royal Blood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sword Stained with Royal Blood | |
| Author | Jin Yong |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 1956 |
Sword Stained with Royal Blood (traditional Chinese: 碧血劍; simplified Chinese: 碧血剑; pinyin: bì xuě jiàn) was first published in Hong Kong Commercial Daily in 1956. It is a wuxia novel written by the Chinese author Louis Cha under the pen name Jinyong. The book is currently in its third edition and is currently (as of 2006) undergoing revision for a fourth edition. Characters from this book play minor roles in Jin Yong's last novel The Deer and the Cauldron.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
There are 20 chapters in the 3rd edition of this work. The plot centers around a master swordman named Yuan Cheng Zhi (袁承志)who witnessed the end of the Ming Dynasty and aided the Li Zi Cheng rebellion while the Manchurians were invading proper China.
The story begins with a preamble about a Brunei official and his man-servant arriving in China during the late Ming dynasty only to be robbed at knife point. In their escape, they met a group of former soldiers who were under the command of general Yuan Chong Huan. Yuan Chong Huan had been put to death by the emperor unjustly and his men wanted to avenge his death. Li Zi Cheng had sent an envoy to meet these men in hope that they will aid his rebellion against the emperor. This effectively sets the historical backdrop of the story and introduces Yuan Cheng Zhi, Yuan Chong Huan’s son and hero of the story, as a young teenager with basic martial arts skills but with great potential. The preamble ends with the Brunei official, realising that China at this time was unsafe and in chaos, returning hurriedly to Brunei.
Yuan Cheng Zhi was put under the care of An Da Niang, a friend of Cui Qiu Shan, a former soldier under Yuan Chonghuan, for a while before being sent to Mu Ren Qing, the greatest martial arts teacher alive at that time. Although Mu Ren Qing had already retired, he surprisingly took a liking to Yuan Cheng Zhi and agreed to take Yuan Cheng Zhi in as his final disciple.
Under the teaching of Mu Ren Qing and also Mu Sang, Mu Ren Qing’s close friend, Yuan Cheng Zhi’s martial arts improved tremendously. Serendipitous incidents also led Yuan Cheng Zhi to discover the sword and personal effects, including a secret martial arts manual, of Xia Xue Yi, a long dead enigmatic swordsman with legendary great skills. This allowed Yuan Cheng Zhi’s martial arts to reach a super-human level.
Hoping to aid Li Zi Cheng's rebellion, Yuan Cheng Zhi left Hua Shan, the residence of Mu Ren Qing, and travelled to Jiang Nan where he met Wen Qing Qing, a young lady born into a family of brigands. It was later revealed that Qing Qing was the daughter of Xia Xue Yi. Her family had not approved of the relationship between Xia Xue Yi and Qing Qing’s mother, Wen Yi, and Qing Qing saw Yuan Cheng Zhi as an agent from her dead father to rescue her from her family’s disdain.
Qing Qing’s family had earlier stolen a large amount of gold meant for Li Zi Cheng’s army and Yuan Cheng Zhi thought it his duty to help An Xiao Hui, his childhood friend and An Da Niang’s daughter, who was looking after the gold to get the gold back. A conflict ensues and the brigands were defeated and had to give up the gold. But in a fit, Qing Qing’s grandfather killed Wen Yi.
After the death of her mother, Qing Qing had no option but to leave with Yuan Cheng Zhi. The two decided to search for hidden treasure based on a map left behind by Xia Xue Yi and travelled to Nanjing.
The treasure is hidden in a villa in Nan Jing, owned by Min Zi Hua, a swordsman who wanted to avenge his brother killed by Jiao Gong Li. Min Zi Hua had gathered a large group of martial arts exponents to confront Jiao Gong Li. Yuan Cheng Zhi learnt that Xia Xue Yi had rescued Jiao Gong Li many years ago during a similar crisis and decided to assist Jiao Gong Li this time in place of Xia Xue Yi. The ensuing conflict resulted in Min Zi Hua to give up his villa and left Jiao Gong Li alone.
Yuan Cheng Zhi and Qing Qing quickly found the hidden treasure within the villa and decided to donate the treasure to Li Zi Cheng’s cause. As they transported the treasure to Beijing in preparation for Li Zi Cheng’s attack on the capital, several gangs of bandits plotted to rob Yuan Cheng Zhi but none could defeat him in combat.
When a group of passing government soldiers also attempted to rob Yuan Cheng Zhi, he was outraged and helped the bandits defeat the soldiers. Coincidentally, the soldiers were transporting some of Yuan Chong Huan’s men as prisoners charged with assisting Li Zi Cheng and Yuan Cheng Zhi rescued them.
The bandits in admiration of Yuan Cheng Zhi’s uprightness, patriotism and combat skills pledged allegiance to him. Yuan Cheng Zhi was then able to organise them to repel the army of the northern Qing empire who frequently raided northern parts of China at that time.
Wanting to do more for his country, Yuan Cheng Zhi travelled alone to the capital of Qing and attempted to assassinate Huang Tai Ji, the Qing emperor but failed. However, Huang Tai Ji was eventually assassinated by his brother, wanting to inherit the throne, and Yuan Cheng Zhi returned to Bei Jing.
As Li Zi Cheng’s rebellion gathered pace and his men closed in on the capital, the emperor employed a group of skilled warriors to be his bodyguards, notably He Tie Shou, a young woman with a hook for her left hand and leader of a cult skilled in the use of poison.
Jiao Gong Li’s daughter, Jiao Wan Er approached Yuan Cheng Zhi for help, informing him her father had been killed and Min Zi Hua was the prime suspect. However, Yuan Cheng Zhi was able to show that Min Zi Hua was innocent and Jiao Wan Er eventually identified the killers as Tai Bai Shuang Ying, three treacherous swordsmen, who were also among the group of bodyguards employed to protect the emperor. Yuan Cheng Zhi, Jiao Wan Er and Luo Li Ru, who was in love with Jiao Wan Er, infiltrated the emperor’s palace and killed Tai Bai San Ying.
While in the palace, Yuan Cheng Zhi also discovered that Ah Jiu, a young lady who frequently associated herself with the bandits under Yuan Cheng Zhi, was actually Princess Chang Ping, the emperor’s daughter living in the palace. When Li Zhi Cheng’s army eventually invaded the capital and removed the emperor from power, Yuan Cheng Zhi felt his job was done and, not willing to involve himself in politics, left the capital, bringing along He Tie Shou and Ah Jiu to Hua Shan to reunite with Mu Ren Qing.
Shortly after, Li Zi Cheng’s army was driven out of the capital by General Wu San Gui’s soldiers with assistance from Qing troops. The Ming dynasty came to an end and was replaced by the Qing dynasty. Yuan Cheng Zhi, devastated by the turn of events, left China for good together with Qing Qing, He Tie Shou, Jiao Wan Er, Luo Li Ru, some friends from Hua Shan, his father’s former soldiers, and his bandit followers.
[edit] Characters
- Yuan Cheng Zhi (袁承志)
- Wen Qing Qing
- Princess Chang Ping / Ah Jiu (阿九)
[edit] Film, TV and theatrical adaptations
[edit] Television series
| Year | Production | Yuan Chengzhi | Country | More information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | TVB | Felix Wong | Hong Kong | 20 episodes |
| 2000 | TVB | Gordon Lam Ka Dong | Hong Kong | 35 episodes |
| 2007 | Zhang Jizhong | Dou Zhikong | Mainland China | 35 episodes |
[edit] Films
| Year | Production | Yuan Chengzhi | Country | More information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Emei Yingpian | Hong Kong | Titled as Sword of Blood and Valour, Part One directed by Li Chen Feng | |
| 1959 | Emei Yingpian | Hong Kong | Continued as Sword of Blood and Valour, Part Two directed by Li Chen Feng | |
| 1981 | Shaw Brothers | Philip Kwok Chun-Fung | Hong Kong | |
| 1993 | Winson (HK) | Yuen Biao | Hong Kong | Set at the end of the Ming dynasty, it chronicles the year leading to and immediately after the fall of Beijing to rebels led by Li Zicheng. Directed by Cheung Hoi Ching. |
[edit] External links
- (Chinese) Jin Yong Teahouse - fansite of Jin Yong's novels in Chinese
- (English) Sword Stained With Royal Blood - Information on the revisions of the novel at Wuxiapedia.com
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
