| "Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse" |
| Author |
Jin Yong |
| Country |
Hong Kong |
| Language |
Chinese |
| Genre(s) |
Wuxia |
| Published in |
1961 |
| Publisher |
Ming Pao |
| Media type |
Print |
Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse is a wuxia novella by Jin Yong. It was first published in 1961 in Hong Kong in the newspaper Ming Pao.[1] The novella marks the only time Jin Yong featured a female protagonist in all his works.
A young Han Chinese girl called Li Wenxiu loses her parents in the Gobi Desert while escaping from a group of bandits, who are after a map of the Gaochang labyrinth. Placed on a white steed, Li Wenxiu flees to Kazakh territory and is taken into the care of an elderly Han Chinese man called Old Man Ji. While growing up, Li Wenxiu meets a Kazakh boy named Su Pu and they gradually develop a romance. However Su Pu's father disapproves of the relationship between his son and a Han Chinese girl so they are forced to separate.
Several years later, Li Wenxiu meets a hermit named Hua Hui in an oasis in the Gobi Desert and helps him cure his wounds. Hua Hui is grateful to her and accepts her as his student and teaches her martial arts. She returns home amidst heavy snow and sees that Su Pu, his father and his new lover are taking shelter inside her house. Unfortunately, Chen Dahai, the leader of the group of bandits who killed Li Wenxiu's parents, arrives at Li's home and suspects that the map they have been hunting for is inside the house. He proceeds to ransack the house for the map and eventually finds it. The secret of the map is revealed when blood is spilled onto the cloth. Chen Dahai wants to silence Su Pu and the others but is stopped by Li Wenxiu, who is in disguise as a Han Chinese man. Li Wenxiu defeats and wounds Chen Dahai.
Chen Dahai flees with the map and finds his way to the labyrinth, while Li Wenxiu and Su Pu gather five others to join them in pursuit of Chen Dahai and the bandits. The seven of them make their way to the labyrinth but discover ordinary items associated with Han Chinese culture in place of treasure and riches. To their horror, they encounter a "ghost" who haunts them by killing their companions without leaving any traces. Just as they are about to flee, Su Pu learns that his lover has been kidnapped by the "ghost" and he tracks the "ghost" to its lair in the labyrinth, where he discovers that the "ghost" is actually a martial arts expert in disguise.
The "ghost" tells his story and reveals that he was forced into exile and later betrayed by his former disciple, who is actually Old Man Ji. The "ghost" is the hermit Hua Hui, whom Li Wenxiu had saved earlier. More shockingly, Old Man Ji is revealed to be actually a man in his 30s disguised as a elderly man. Old Man Ji and Hua Hui start fighting each other. Li Wenxiu is shocked to realise that the two, who are close to her, are actually enemies. Hua Hui eventually dies in his futile attempt to kill everyone present at the scene. Upon leaving the labyrinth, Li Wenxiu hears the true story behind the items hidden in the labyrinth and its origins. She decides to leave the land for central China, feeling miserable after the loss of two of her loved ones and the marriage of her lover to another woman.
[edit] Characters
- Li Wenxiu (李文秀) is the protagonist of the novel.
- Old Man Ji (計老人) is the elderly Han Chinese man who raised the young orphan Li Wenxiu.
- Hua Hui (華輝) is a hermit who teaches Li Wenxiu martial arts.
- Li San (李三) and Shangguan Hong (上官虹) are Li Wenxiu's parents, who were killed at the beginning of the story.
- Su Pu is a Kazakh youth and Li Wenxiu's childhood playmate. He was originally Li Wenxiu's lover but is forced by his father to give up on Li due to ethnic prejudice.
- A'man (阿曼) is a young Kazakh girl who becomes Su Pu's new lover.
- Chen Dahai (陳達海) is the leader of the bandits who killed Li Wenxiu's parents.
[edit] Adaptations
- In the 1970s Hong Kong's RTV produced a television series based on the story, starring Sharon Yeung as Li Wenxiu.
- In 1987 Taiwan's CTV produced a television series based on the story, starring David Chiang and Kwan Chung.
[edit] References
- ^ The date conforms to the data published in 陳鎮輝,《武俠小說逍遙談》, 2000, 匯智出版有限公司, pg. 58.
[edit] External links
