今日上海
赋予文化新情节的作者 - 2022年11月20日
Author who gave culture a new plot
Featuring the life and work of Louis Cha, the most celebrated martial arts writer in Chinese, better known by his pen name Jin Yong, the Jin Yong Exhibition Shanghai has attracted many visitors since it opened on Oct 28.
Exhibition showcases the work and life of prolific Chinese wuxia writer who turned tales of martial arts into literary classics, reports Zhang Kun in Shanghai.
An exhibition at the Pudong branch of the Shanghai Library features the life and work of Louis Cha Leung-yung (1924-2018), the most celebrated martial arts writer in Chinese, better known by his pen name Jin Yong.
Organized by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai, Jin Yong Exhibition Shanghai, opened on Oct 28 and will run through to Dec 11.
Cha wrote wuxia novels. Wuxia, or "martial heroes", is a genre of fiction about the adventures of martial arts practitioners in ancient China.
Occupying around 1,000 square meters, the exhibition showcases more than 300 exhibits, including manuscripts, early editions of Cha's novels, newsletters, magazines, photos, film posters, and some of Cha's personal items that were loaned by his family, such as seals, stationery, glasses and chessboards, which had not been publicly exhibited in Hong Kong, says Kelvin Lo Yat-man, acting director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai.
"There is a saying that goes 'wherever you find Chinese, you'll find Jin Yong's novels'. Louis Cha, the renowned writer and journalist, has made a distinctive contribution to the development of popular culture and even Chinese literature," says Lo.
"With his in-depth knowledge and elegant writing, he succeeded in advancing martial arts novels from leisure reading to the level of literary classics. He also inspired the production of different kinds of classic movies, TV series, and various cultural and creative products over the past decades. This common language generated for Chinese readers around the world has influenced generations after generations of readers."
Cha was born into a well-educated family in Haining, Zhejiang province. On show in the first chapter of the exhibition are his grandfather's imperial examination papers, which have been collected by the Shanghai Library.
A woman attending the event poses in traditional clothes with a bamboo flute.
An avid reader of literature from a young age, Cha was especially attracted to wuxia novels.
He studied at the foreign language department at the Central University of Political Affairs, and the faculty of law at Soochow University, before starting his career as a journalist at the Shanghai newspaper Ta Kung Pao in 1947. He was transferred to Hong Kong the following year.
Under the influence of his friend, Liang Yusheng, in Hong Kong, Cha began to create his first serialized martial arts novel, Romance of the Book and Sword, in 1955. He went on to publish serialized novels in the newspaper and, by 1972, when he announced his retirement from wuxia writing, he had created 14 novels and a short story.
These books, which were translated into multiple languages, including English, Korean, Japanese and French, have been widely read around the world.
Manuscripts and different editions of the books are on display in the second chapter of the exhibition. A rare copy of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, published in 1956, is among the exhibits.
Cha's works are frequently adapted into films, TV series, manga books and plays, as reflected in the third chapter of the exhibition.
This section features artworks from Hong Kong artists, including paintings from Cha's daughter Edna, illustrations of Jin Yong characters by the renowned illustrators Lee Chi-ching and Wong Yuklong, as well as thematic sculptures created by Simon Ma, a Hong Kong cross-cultural artist.
A delighted visitor poses for a photo before an ink painting at the exhibition.
The exhibition also features various interactive areas where visitors can play motion-sensing games and have their photos taken.
Through his wuxia stories, Cha presented different aspects of traditional Chinese customs and culture, from traditional Chinese medicine to cuisine to martial arts and philosophical ideas such as Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.
Cha was so familiar with Chinese imperial history that his fictional characters often intermingled with historical figures. His storytelling was so convincing that readers sometimes had trouble telling fact from fiction.
Li Chengzhi was among the first to visit the exhibition on Oct 28. The 50-year-old said he has read all of Cha's books at least three times since borrowing a copy of The Legend of the Condor Heroes from a classmate during his second year in senior middle school.
"Every time I read his books, I get a different feeling," he tells China Daily. "I am sure I would be able to find something new when I read them again."
A history lover, Li was particularly drawn by the historical facts intertwined in the adventurous stories.
"In his earliest novels, the heroes were driven by patriotic passion and the dramatic conflicts between righteousness and wicked betrayal, while in his last novel, The Deer and the Cauldron, the leading character, Wei Xiaobao, is an anti-hero with no noble intentions. He is an eyewitness to the corrupt officialdom, and himself a selfish and trivial man of no honor.
"He overturned the definition of the hero in the wuxia world and brought fantasy closer to modern social reality. Now I understand why he retired from wuxia writing after The Deer and the Cauldron. New writers will probably create new wuxia characters like those in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, but I really doubt there will be a second Wei Xiaobao," he says.
Wang Yunfan, a Chinese teacher from Shanghai Jincai High School, also visited the exhibition.
She says she is touched by the patriotic passion, chivalry and heroism in Cha's novels and believes that today's young readers will still find these values relevant and the stories inspiring.
"With adequate guidance, the younger generation will come to realize that many of the subjects and themes in the popular fantasy tales they read online today were once written by Jin Yong," she says.
Lo of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai says she hopes the rich content in the exhibition will help visitors rekindle their fond memories of Cha's novels and gain a deeper understanding of his life.
Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn
IF YOU GO
Jin Yong Exhibition Shanghai
Through to Dec 11.
No 1 Exhibition Hall, Shanghai Library Pudong Branch, 300 Hehuan Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai.
021-6445-5555.
Source: China Daily
