Juedai Shuangjiao
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| Author | Gu Long |
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| Language | Chinese |
| Genre | Wuxia, romance, adventure |
Publication date | 1966 |
| Publication place | Taiwan |
| Media type |
| Juedai Shuangjiao | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 絕代雙驕 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 绝代双骄 | ||||||||||
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Juedai Shuangjiao, also known as The Legendary Twins, The Twins, Handsome Siblings, Legendary Siblings, The Twin Heroes, or Amazing Twins (and other similar variations), is a wuxia novel by Gu Long. The novel spans a total of 126 chapters and was written between 1966 and February 1969. The story is about a pair of twin brothers, who were separated from each other at birth and raised under different circumstances. The twins first see each other as enemies but gradually become friends and eventually acknowledge each other as brothers.
Plot
Jiang Feng and Yan Nantian become sworn brothers. Jiang Feng was injured during a misadventure and was rescued by the sisters Yaoyue and Lianxing of Yihua Palace. The sisters fall in love with Jiang Feng, but he spurns them because of their arrogance. Jiang Feng falls in love with the slave girl Hua Yuenu instead, and soon Hua becomes pregnant with his child.
Jiang Feng and Hua Yuenu manage to flee, but are tracked down by the sisters when Jiang's servant betrays them. Hua Yuenu gives birth to a pair of twin boys and dies together with Jiang Feng. As the ultimate vengeance for Jiang Feng's scorn, Yaoyue decides to make Jiang's sons kill each other. She raises one of the twins as her own child and names him "Hua Wuque". The other child is saved by Yan Nantian. Yan Nantian pursues Jiang Feng's treacherous servant into Villains' Valley to avenge his sworn brother, where he encounters the notorious Ten Great Villains, a group of the most brutal and malevolent criminals in the world. He is eventually overwhelmed and knocked out. Surprisingly, the villains do not harm the child, and instead intend to raise him as their student and "groom" him to become the greatest villain ever.
More than a decade later, the twins grow up into a pair of handsome youths. Yaoyue teaches Hua Wuque her formidable style of martial arts, and sends him to kill his brother without telling him about his origins. Concurrently, the other child Xiaoyu'er is trained by the Ten Great Villains in a variety of fighting styles, as well as many unique "villainous" skills such as poisons, theft, and disguise. Xiaoyu'er ventures into the jianghu (martial artists' community) alone, and his adventures lead him to encounters with many young maidens such as Tie Xinlan, Su Ying and Zhang Jing. He develops complex romantic relationships with most of them. Meanwhile Hua Wuque continues to pursue him, and the two clash on many occasions. Hua Wuque is superior to Xiaoyu'er in martial arts, but the latter usually manages to survive by using his wits and cunning.
Initially the twins are hostile towards one another, as their personalities are completely different; Hua Wuque is righteous and somewhat naive, while Xiaoyu'er is expedient and cunning. However the two eventually develop a grudging level of friendship and respect after being forced through a series of trials and adventures together. At the same time, they also become entangled in love triangles with several of the maidens they meet.
Yaoyue is determined to make the twins kill each other, and she forces Hua Wuque to challenge Xiaoyu'er to a fight to the death. Xiaoyu'er consumes some unidentified pills and is seemingly killed by Hua Wuque during the duel. After his apparent death, Yaoyue exposes her true intentions, as well as the history of the twins and her plan to make their father pay for betraying her love. Hua Wuque is shocked to hear the truth, but soon afterwards Xiaoyu'er comes back to life, revealing that he actually feigned death by consuming special drugs. The twins finally recognise and acknowledge each other as brothers.
Characters
Protagonists
- Jiang Xiaoyu (江小魚), better known as Xiaoyu'er (小魚兒), is Jiang Feng and Hua Yuenu's son. He was raised by the Ten Great Villains and trained to become a great villain. Although he is covered with scars and cuts due to his brutal upbringing, he still possesses strong charms and rugged good looks, which allow him to leave a lasting impression in every woman he meets. He is a formidable fighter, but prefers to rely on his intelligence, cunning, and a variety of "criminal" techniques such as thieving and deception. When he first met the honest and highly skilled Hua Wuque, he realises that his tricks are insufficient and proceeds to improve his own fighting capabilities. He learns from Yan Nantian and becomes a formidable pugilist in his own right. He behaves like a hooligan and comes across as callous and amoral, but is in fact a soft hearted and kind person.
- Hua Wuque (花無缺) is Xiaoyu'er's twin brother. He is the heir to Yihua Palace and also its only male resident. He bears a striking resemblance to his father, and looks more effeminately handsome than his brother. He is respected by fellow pugilists for his prowess in martial arts and is one of the strongest fighters in his generation. He is gentlemanly, graceful and polite. However he has a tendency to suppress his emotions and has a naive outlook of life, but this changes after he met Xiaoyu'er.
- Tie Xinlan (鐵心蘭) is the daughter of Tie Zhan, one of the Ten Great Villains. She is beautiful in appearance and appears soft hearted, but is actually strong willed and brash, and extremely stubborn. She is a decent fighter and utilises the skill Berserk Hundred Hits (瘋狂一百零捌打) like her father. She falls madly in love with Xiaoyu'er, though he initially treats her badly. She later falls in love with Hua Wuque, who has strong feelings for her. She becomes entangled in a love triangle between the brothers and often has to intervene in order to prevent them from fighting.
- Su Ying (蘇樱) is Wei Wuya's foster daughter. She is spoilt, arrogant, scheming, and anti-social. Although she does not know any martial arts, she is versed in medicine and extremely cunning. Her intelligence enables her to manipulate many skilled pugilists during the course of her appearance. Her beautiful appearance and indifferent personality were similar to those of Yaoyue and Lianxing, which was why Wei Wuya decided to adopt her. When she meets Xiaoyu'er, she falls in love with him and decides to follow him until she wins his heart. She is actually more intelligent than he is and knows how to act in accordance to his mood, effectively making her the only person who can control him.
- Yan Nantian (燕南天), nicknamed the "Best Divine Swordsman Under Heaven" (天下第一神劍), is the most powerful martial artist in the story and is Jiang Feng's sworn brother. His prowess in swordplay is unmatched in the jianghu and his "swordsman aura" can be even felt from a distance. He is said to be so talented that he can shave a man bald in a single stroke without the person noticing. He is massive in stature and dresses like a pauper. He is ambushed by the Ten Great Villains and enters a coma. He is revived by the physician Wan Chuliu, who kept him alive under the pretext of using his comatose body to test new drugs. He awakens only to find that he has lost most of his original abilities, and trains for long months to regain them, eventually even surpassing his previous level of power. He serves as Xiaoyu'er's role model and later trains him in his own style of martial arts.
Xiaoyu'er's lovers
- Taohua (桃花) is a nomadic girl living on the plains. She is the first maiden Xiaoyu'er meets on his adventures and she plays a hospitable host to him.
- Zhang Jing (張菁) is nicknamed "Little Fairy" (小仙子). Although beautiful in appearance, she is extremely brutal. She has a fiery temper and hates evil to the core. She is not very powerful in martial arts, but her moves are very fast. Once, to comfort her mother, she decides to find the treasure left behind by her mother's ex-lover Yan Nantian. She follows Tie Xinlan, who finds the treasure and meets Xiaoyu'er along the way, who gives her her first kiss. She marries Gu Renyu eventually.
- Murong Jiu (慕容九) is a member of the Murong family. She seems very cold towards people because she practises the Rock Altering Divine Skill (化石神功). Once, Xiaoyu'er disguises himself as a vengeful ghost to scare her and captures her. She falls in love with him afterwards. She marries Black Spider eventually.
- Tie Pinggu (鐵萍姑) is a servant in Yihua Palace. She helps Xiaoyu'er escape from Yaoyue. She is deceived by Jiang Yulang and loses her virginity to him, and is used as a bait to lure Xiaoyu'er into a trap. She is abandoned by Jiang Yulang and becomes dejected, eventually deciding to join Hu Yaoshi and the Twelve Zodiac. She is actually the daughter of the "cannibalistic" Great Villain Li Dazhui.
- Hai Hongzhu (海紅珠) is the only child of Hai Laodie, the leader of a wandering performance troupe. Xiaoyu'er disguises himself as "Hai Xiaodai" and sneaks into the troupe. She meets him and falls in love with him. Xiaoyu'er refuses to admit that he is actually Hai Xiaodai after he saves her from danger in subsequent events.
- Duan Sangu (段三姑) is Duan Hefei's daughter. She dresses up as a man to help her father with his business. She appreciates Xiaoyu'er's talents and recruits him to be in charge of the medicine shop. She helps Xiaoyu'er once in solving a mystery case. Xiaoyu'er influences her to dress as a woman.
Yihua Palace
- Yaoyue (邀月) is the chief mistress of Yihua Palace. Although she possesses beauty, charisma and skill, she is described by Jiang Feng as "not a living person or human being, but fire, a block, ice or a sword instead". Jiang Feng rejects her love and decides to elope with one of Yihua Palace's slave girls, Hua Yuenu. Yaoyue is angered and she pursues and hunts down the couple. After Jiang Feng and Hua Yuenu die, Yaoyue intends to kill their twin boys but Lianxing stops her. The sisters then choose one of the twins and raise him like a son and groom him to be the heir to Yihua Palace. According to Lianxing, before Yaoyue and Yan Nantian mastered all their respective skills, Yaoyue was slightly more powerful than Yan, making her the strongest martial artist in the whole story.
- Lianxing (連星) is the second mistress of Yihua Palace and Yaoyue's younger sister. She is described to be a sweet and pretty woman whose beauty surpasses that of a flower blooming in spring. According to Xiaoyue'er, in comparison to Yaoyue, Lianxing is warmer in character than her sister. This is confirmed by Tie Pinggu, because Lianxing, like Yaoyue, had also fallen in love with Jiang Feng, but was afraid to express her feelings for fear of her sister. After Jiang Feng and Hua Yuenu die, Lianxing saves the twins by suggesting to make them kill each other when they are grown up instead of killing them now. Throughout the story, it is hinted that Lianxing, unlike Yaoyue, does not take the plot seriously. Lianxing is seen by Hua Wuque as a mother and he treats her with love and respect. As compared to Yaoyue and Yan Nantian in terms of martial arts abilities, Lianxing is slightly weaker than her sister but slightly more powerful than Yan.
Good characters
- Gu Renyu (顧人玉) is nicknamed "Jade Faced Divine Fist" (玉面神拳). He is honest, simple and easily embarrassed. He practises his family's martial art Gu Family Divine Fist (顧家神拳) to a level of competence, blending in well when combined with Zhang Jing's palm skills. He is initially ordered by his mother to woo Murong Jiu, but falls in love with Zhang Jing instead and eventually marries her.
- Black Spider (黑蜘蛛) is a pugilist who dresses in a tight black suit and has a mechanical device strapped to his wrist capable of shooting spider web fluid at enemies. He is an expert in qinggong and is capable of scaling walls with his Flying Silver Threads (銀絲飛渡) skill. He has a strong sense of personal pride and likes to play a "big brother" role to his friends. He is in love with Murong Jiu but is afraid of confessing his feelings to her and can only gaze at her from a distance. When Murong Jiu ventures into the jianghu, he follows her closely and protects her with his life. They are married eventually.
Villains
- Jiang Biehe (江別鶴) is Xiaoyu'er's primary nemesis. He was originally Jiang Feng's servant and was known as Jiang Qin (江琴). He betrayed his master for monetary rewards and eventually rises to become an influential nobleman and respected pugilist. He is brutal and ruthless by nature, but also intelligent and adept at deception. He is hailed as a "Hero of Jiangnan" through elaborate acts of heroism and kindness, all the while covering up his many illegal activities, such as extortion and assassination. When Xiaoyu'er attempts to expose his evil schemes in public, he attacks Xiaoyu'er verbally and accuses the latter of committing the very atrocities he is responsible for. This backfires when he is tricked into revealing his involvement with said activities. He is later captured and crippled by Yan Nantian, who sends him to Xiaoyu'er for punishment. Xiaoyu'er spares his life and allows him to leave.
- Jiang Yulang (江玉郎) is Jiang Biehe's son, who was named after Jiang Feng's nickname. He is trained by his father in martial arts and groomed to support him in his quest to dominate the jianghu. He has a pale complexion and appears feminine. He is an expert in charming and seducing women, and his many "conquests" include Tie Pinggu.
- The Ten Great Villains (十大惡人) are ten notorious criminals in the jianghu. Despite this, they are not an official group per se, with many "members" acting independently. Furthermore their fame is due more to their various eccentricities and quirks, rather than their actual villainy. Most of the ten are not even inherently evil at all. The five who raised Xiaoyu'er are Du Sha (Blood Hands), Haha'er (the Laughing Monk), Du Qiaoqiao (neither male nor female), Li Dazui (not eating head) and Yin Jiuyou (half ghost, half human). They eventually develop an emotional attachment to the boy and treat him with a degree of affection. As such, Xiaoyu'er respects them as his surrogate parents and later convinces Yan Nantian to spare them. By the end of the story, all the original ten have perished except for San Guan (Evil Gambling Demon) and Tie Zhan (Mad Lion).
- The Twelve Zodiac (十二星相) are a group of bandits named according to the twelve Chinese Zodiac signs. They are led by the "Rat" Wei Wuya, a paraplegic yet incredibly dangerous pugilist. Wei Wuya previously fell in love with the sisters of Yihua Palace, he challenged them to marry him but eventually lost.
Adaptations
Films
| Year | Production | Cast | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Shaw Brothers Studio (Hong Kong) |
Lily Ho, Kao Yuen, Ku Feng, Lin Chia | See The Jade Faced Assassin |
| 1979 | Alexander Fu, Ng Wai-kwok, Wong Yung, Wen Hsueh-erh, Susanna Au-yeung, Kitty Meng, Tang Ching | See The Proud Twins (1979 film) | |
| 1992 | Hong Kong | Andy Lau, Brigitte Lin, Sharla Cheung, Michael Miu, Francis Ng, Anita Yuen | See Handsome Siblings |
Television
| Year | Production | Cast | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | TTV (Taiwan) | Hsia Ling-ling, Chiang Ming, Chang Lu, He Szu-min, Betty Pei, Yin Pao-lien, Wu Heng | See Juedai Shuangjiao (1977 TV series) |
| 1979 | TVB (Hong Kong) | Wong Yuen-sun, Shek Sau, Michelle Yim, Wong Hang-sau, Wong Wan-choi, Idy Chan | See The Twins (1979 TV series) |
| 1986 | Taiwan | Sharon Yeung, Huang Hsiang-lien, King Doi-yum, Wong Wai-man, Tien Feng, Chang Fu-mei, Ku Cheng | See Xin Juedai Shuangjiao (1986 TV series) |
| 1988 | TVB (Hong Kong) | Tony Leung, Hugo Ng, Kitty Lai, Shallin Tse, Maggie Chan, Michael Miu, Elliot Ngok | See Two Most Honorable Knights |
| 1999 | TTV (Taiwan) | Jimmy Lin, Alec Su, Vivien Chen, Teresa Lee, Yu Li, Chang Jui-chu, Lin Jui-yang | See The Legendary Siblings |
| 2002 | CTS (Taiwan) | Jimmy Lin, TAE, Li Xiaolu, Lawrence Ng, Yu Li, Elvis Tsui, Zheng Guolin | See The Legendary Siblings 2 |
| 2005 | Hong Kong | Dicky Cheung, Nicholas Tse, Fan Bingbing, Yuan Quan, Elvis Tsui, Wu Qingzhe, Kong Lin | See The Proud Twins (2005 TV series) |
Comics
In 1997 Hong Kong cartoonist Ho Chi-man drew a manhua series for the novel.
Video games
- 新絕代雙驕 (1999)
- 新絕代雙驕 II (2000)
- 新絕代雙驕 III (2002)
- 新絕代雙驕online (2005)
- 新絕代雙驕前傳 (2006)