Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain by Jin Yong (2 page)

Chinese Weapons (Fig. 2.1)

Chinese Weapons (Fig. 2.2)

Paralytic Points (Fig. 3.1)

Paralytic Points (Fig. 3.2)

Introduction

Martial arts fiction, with a long history dating back to the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), is one of the few surviving Chinese literary forms which can claim a direct link with traditional popular literature. These tales of knights-errant gradually emerged as popular fiction in the second half of the nineteenth century. After 1919 the genre expanded in an unprecedented scale as an increasing number of people could read and were dissatisfied at the limited social improvements accompanying political changes.

This literary genre, properly known to contemporary readers as wuxia xiaoshuo which literally means the martial-chivalric novel, is really popular literature verging on serious literature. This genre of literature is devoured by Chinese readers from all walks of life, finding great popularity not only in Hong Kong, but also in overseas Chinese communities around the world as readers can readily identify themselves with heroes who opt out of society and rely solely on their own strength to confront the society whose workings escape them.

Jin Yong's martial arts novels are set in traditional China. Most of the protagonists live outside the mainstream of society. These heroes are rebels who live in their own world, who have dedicated their lives to humanitarian ideals and who have pledged themselves to a chivalric code of justice, honour and righteousness, even to the point of sacrificing their lives for certain causes of their own making.

These stories, which go into detail in giving the reader feats of various schools of swordplay and pugilism, are written in a light literary style interspersed with Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist thinking. Besides the usual fighting and revenge, ingredients essential to martial arts fiction, Jin's stories also feature romance, adventure and intrigue.

There is also no lack of linguistic elegance in the dense, compressed and cryptic prose which Jin Yong employs in describing in a vivid filmlike manner the fierce fighting heightened by the protagonists' superhuman abilities. The pseudo-archaic language, that is to say, writing in the vernacular but including towards the classical, also serves as a convenient vehicle for conveying metaphysical truths and religious cults.

Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain first appeared as newspaper serials in 1959 and was later published as a single volume. This martial arts novel, containing ten chapters, features relatively little fighting compared to Jin Yong's other novels; and yet the excitement, intrigue and action are well dramatized in this beautifully written work, with one event firmly intertwining with other incidents in the story, which is essentially a vendetta involving the offspring of several families.

The story takes place in the Changbai Range in coldest Manchuria, one winter's morning in 1781. By that time the vast Chinese Empire had come under the imperial rule of the Manchus. The Manchus, a nomadic tribe from Manchuria who ushered in the Qing Dynasty in the mid-seventeenth century, held sway over the country from 1644 to 1911. The Manchus brought an end to the Ming Dynasty and the rule of the Chinese Empire by the Han Chinese.

Two historical figures, Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui, played crucial roles in the change from one dynasty to another, from the Hans to the Manchus and from the Ming to the Qing. Li Zicheng, a Han Chinese who got into trouble over land tax at an early age, later became a brigand. He headed a band of desperadoes in 1640 and overran many provinces. In 1644, he proclaimed himself King of the Dashun Dynasty with Yongchang as the title of his reign. Then he marched to the capital, Peking. Meanwhile, Wu Sangui, a Han general, was dispatched by the Ming Emperor to fight in the East against the Manchus. Instead, Wu opened the gate to the invaders. The Ming Emperor was forced to take his own life. If Wu Sangui had not been a traitor to the Hans by shepherding in the Manchu army from beyond the Shanhai Pass, the entire Chinese Kingdom would certainly have come under the sway of Li Zicheng. Wu, having joined forces with the Manchus, met Li Zicheng's army head-on, Li retreated and his army melted away. A Manchu ascended the throne, proclaiming himself Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

In the story, Li Zicheng, the Dashing King, had four myrmidons, all paragons in martial arts, courageous and daring, who would devote their last drop of blood to the defence of their Master. These four henchmen bore the surnames Hu, Miao, Fan and Tian. They were known to the soldiers by these last names.

Li Zicheng dispatched three of his myrmidons, Miao, Fan and Tian to bring in reinforcements when he was surrounded in Hubei Province. When the myrmidons returned, they found the Emperor was dead. They decided to find Hu, the fourth myrmidon, hoping that together they could avenge the death of the Dashing King.

Myrmidons Miao, Fan and Tian managed to find Hu many years later. By then Hu had become a man of rank in Yunnan Province. He was working for Wu Sangui, a traitor to the Hans; it was he who had let in the Manchu army. Myrmidons Miao, Fan and Tian suspected Hu, their sworn Brother, of plotting against the Dashing King. Before Hu could finish his story about the Dashing King he was killed by the three other myrmidons. Hu's son later told them the true story of how the Emperor died. They were so ashamed of themselves that they all look their lives. Since then, the descendants of these four families never ceased wreaking vengenance on each other.

The story goes that Li Zicheng had amassed a treasure from the Ming Palace in Peking and had hidden it inside a cave and that Li's poniard together with a map held the secret to this treasure. The Dashing King passed to Hu the Myrmidon both the poniard and the treasure map. These two articles eventually changed hands several times among the descendants of the four families. The descendants of myrmidons Fan, Tian and Miao continued to believe that the Hu Family was in the wrong, and this was at the root of the vendetta among the four families. The main thread of the story evolves around how different parties of the Martial Brotherhood try to claim possession of the poniard, now an heirloom of the Northern Branch of the Dragon Lodge.

The story is set in Manchuria a hundred and thirty-seven years after the founding of the Qing Dynasty. Peking Overland Convoy mentioned in the story is an establishment set up in northern China to deliver valuables and to convey merchandise of great worth for the rich. Escorts employed by convoys are well-versed in martial arts, particularly in dispatching enemies with darts. Escorts not only protect the travellers but also the merchandise consigned to their charge.

While every effort has been made to follow as closely as possible the original in rendering the text into English, the translator has taken it upon herself to leave out certain sections or to move some paragraphs to ensure a smooth reading of the translated text. The translator has also tried to retain as much as possible the details of the story without sacrificing the flow of the narrative while capturing as much as possible the flavour and spirit of a classic martial arts fiction.

Main Characters

From the Dragon Lodge

Curio Cao 曹雲奇

(Leaping Dragon Sword) Grand Master of the Northern Branch of the Dragon Lodge

Valour Ruan 阮士中

(Seven Stars Hand) Champion of the Northern Branch of the Dragon Lodge

Radiant Zhou 周雲陽

(Winding Dragon Sword) A junior member of the Northern Branch of the Dragon Lodge

Sign Tian 田青文

(Glistening Sable) Female member of the Northern Branch of the Dragon Lodge, betrothed to Peace Tao of the Horse Spring Banditry

Pastoral Tian 田歸農

Deceased father of Sign Tian and former Grand Master of the Northern Branch of the Dragon Lodge

Fortune Yin 殷吉

(Might of the Southern Sky) Grand Master of the Southern Branch of the Dragon Lodge

From the Horse Spring Banditry

Century Tao 陶百歲

(Commander of the Eastern Border) Chieftain of the Horse Spring Banditry, a former henchman of Pastoral Tian

Peace Tao 陶子安

Son of Century Tao, young Chieftain of the Horse Spring Banditry, betrothed to Sign Tian

Chieftain Ma 馬寨主

Brigand Chief of the Horse Spring Banditry

From the Peking Overland Convoy

Prime Xiong 熊元獻

Chief Escort of the Peking Overland Convoy

Hawk Liu 劉元鶴

Imperial Guardsman of the first rank, Brother-at-arms to Prime Xiong, invited by the Peking Overland Convoy to lay an ambush on the Horse Spring bandits

Wisdom the Great Master 靜智大師

A monk invited by the Peking Overland Convoy to lay an ambush on the Horse Spring bandits

Third Zheng 鄭三娘

(Twin Knives) Widow of an escort of the Peking Overland Convoy who died in a robbery staged by the Horse Spring bandits

From the Jadeite Eyrie Others

Wish Du 杜希孟

Lord of the Eyrie; distant cousin of Fox Hu’s mother

Steward Yu 于管家

Steward of the Jadeite Eyrie

Tree the Great Master 寶樹大師

A monk who was formerly a rural doctor called Yama the osteopath, an invited hand of Wish Du

Jiang the Senior Mentor 蔣老拳師

An invited hand of Wish Du

Profundity the Taoist 玄冥子

An invited hand of Wish Du

Spirituality the Buddhist 靈青居士

An invited hand of Wish Du

Fan the Ringleader 范幫主

Ringleader of the Cathay Outlawry, an invited hand of Wish Du

Sean Sai 賽總管

Commissioner of the Imperial Guardsmen, an invited hand of Wish Du

Phoenix Miao 苗人鳳

(Invincible under the Sky) Also known as the Gilt-faced Buddha and Phoenix the Knight-errant, an invited hand of Wish Du