The success of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and its achievement
in winning three Oscars this year have kindled many people's
interest in Chinese kungfu.
China Central
Television is trying to select a cast for a new kungfu TV
series, "Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan," which is based on a kungfu novel
by Jin Yong.
Jin Yong is the pen name of Cha Liang Yong (Louis Cha), who was
born in 1924 in Haining County of Zhejiang Province. He claims that
he was very much influenced by Chinese folk literature during his
childhood.
A
journalist, editor and publisher by profession, he started to write
and publish kungfu novels in 1955. Between 1955 and 1974, Cha
published 15 works under the pen name of Jin Yong. He transformed
the artistic form and content of the old type of Chinese kungfu
stories into novels reflecting the modern spirit.
In
the past 20 years since China opened-up to the outside world,
countless Chinese people have read Jin Yong's books. According to
Simon Aligen, an experienced editor of the Far Eastern Economic
Review, more than one billion copies of Jin Yong's books, including
pirate copies, have been sold. And it is believed that probably
double the amount of people may have read Jin Yong's books.
Jin Yong's kungfu novels have arguably appealed to people from
university professors to farmers. Film companies have taken
advantage of the public's love of Jin Yong's novels. In past
decades, TV drama series and films adapted from Jin Yong's kungfu
stories have regularly been seen on the screen.
Kungfu stories, a unique form in Chinese literature, originated
from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). These stories generally depict a
band of heroes as the embodiment of justice. The heroes always
punish villains and encourage people to do good things. These books
highlight Chinese Kungfu, although violence is frequently seen in
these types of novels.
Famous Chinese writer Lu Xun once said that only the creation loved
by a nation can be loved by the whole world.
The success of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" may sufficiently
illustrate that Chinese kungfu novels are full of vitality.
(China Daily
08/15/2001)