The Return of Iljimae (TV - 2009)

Finished watching this last night. I love both 2009 MBC version of Iljimae and the 2008 SBS version with Lee Joon-gi.

There are viewers who don't like this version (2009) because the story was narrated, but I myself don't mind. I think the narrations make the story clearer and easier to follow. They were even helpful in fighting scenes.

This was titled with the word 'return', as if it was the sequel to the 2008 Lee Joon-gi version, but this was not. The title was only to make us easily differentiate one version to another.

MBC won the comic strip rights so I suppose this version is the one closer to the book. I love the beginning of each episode, how they made it like the beginning of a new chapter. In the end of each episode, a drawing appeared - probably taken from the comic strips. The ending song in the first half of the series, the 3/4 song, was nice and had a simple melody, like a children song.

In this version, the story began with a rising politician had a son with his servant. The servant got kicked out and became a gisaeng (courtesan). The baby was put in a basket, thrown in a river, and saved by a beggar and a monk. Knowing that the baby was alive, the politician's men wanted to kill him, so the monk took the baby to China, where a rich couple adopted him and gave him the name Iljimae. Iljimae means a branch of peach blossom. In China he learned some martial arts and mastered qing gong (=levitation art).

16-17 years later, China sent a spy to Korea and the spy asked Iljimae to accompany him so he could enter Korea easily. This was after he told Iljimae that he had been adopted. So Iljimae went to Korea and looked for his father, but his father refused to acknowledge him. Iljimae was living desperately until he met a girl name Dal, whom he fell in love with. However, Dal was charged with treason and put to death. This was because her father had been slandered by corrupted officers as a traitor. After witnessing what happened to Dal, Iljimae swore that he would defend the weak and the poor.

From Dal's guard, Iljimae learned a rare sword art; and later when he was stranded in Japan, he learned ninja art.

In his journey, he became a hero for the people and befriended the deputy chief police - even though they were enemies, one a thief and one a cop. He robbed the greedy corrupted officials and gave the money to the poor. Every time he made a move, he would leave a branch of plum blossom made of gold. He met another girl who looked like Dal and was looking forward to reuniting with his mother.

I think scenes with Iljimae and his mother were the best. It was not a really happy ending but it was better than the Lee Joon-gi version. In Lee Joon-gi version, Iljimae never had a scene where he reunited with his mother.

Iljimae's main enemy was a corrupted official named Kim Ja-joem. Kim was actually a traitor who worked for China.

Next, after knowing that China (Qing Dynasty) would attack Korea after Korea's failure in making cannons; Iljimae went to China under the pretext to meet his Chinese fiancée. His task was to find Qing's war strategy. His efforts were in vain because the secret letter fell into the hands of Kim Ja-joem. Korea lost the war, while Iljimae was unconscious after suffering a grave injury. When he regained his health, he helped the Korean crown prince - who was held hostage in China - to return as many as possible war prisoners to Korea. When at last Iljimae returned to Korea, his son - whom he never had met - was 9 - 10 years old, and the Chronicles of Iljimae had became a popular book.

Jung Il-woo made a calm, sad Iljimae. He chosed to be silent and rarely smiled. Lee Joon-gi's Iljimae was passionate and would laugh to disguise his sadness.

Lee Joon-gi's Iljimae was the son of a high official who was a close friend to the king. The king was suspicious of everyone and he killed Iljimae's father, then sold his wife and daughter, and was after Iljimae's life. An ex-thief and his wife took care of Iljimae. Iljimae at nights searched high officials' houses, looking for a certain sword (and its owner) that killed his father. To disguise his true intention, he robbed the house and gave the loot to the poor. He would leave a painting of plum blossom branch. 

I prefer the idea of Iljimae leaving a painting than a gold of plum blossom branch. Wasn't it better to distribute the gold among the poor? Or am I thinking like Judas Iscariot? 

Lee Joon-gi's Iljimae was more frustrating to watch. He indirectly sent his own sister to die and most of the time he lost in fighting (except in the end), not to mention his habit of having his back facing the enemy.

China also has an Iljimae version: 2010 The Vigilantes in Masks a.k.a. Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei, starring Wallace Huo. This is my least favourite among the three. Here Yi Zhi Mei was an ex high ranking official whose family had been executed because of a false accusation. He became a fugitive. Then a former colleague asking him to retrieve the stolen gold for disaster relief. He recruited 3 helpers for the job. The costumes here didn't make sense, in my opinion. They wore the masks on the nose. In this way, the enemy could still recognize them, right?

The Legend of Chu Liu-hsiang 2012 (TV)

I really enjoyed watching this series. The stories are like in the books. This TV series are based on 4 Chu Liu-hsiang books by Gu Long:  The Love Story of A Ghost and A Swordsman (1970), The Legend of The Bat (1971), The Legend of The New Moon (1978), and The Legend of The Peach Blossom (1972).

I read the first 2 books when I was in junior high school and that time I was mesmerized by them. They were much more interesting than Agatha Christie books. The Legend of The Bat, in particular, was quite scary; because the characters went into a cave where they couldn't see anything. So among the 4 stories, The Legend of The Bat is my favourite.

Only recently I found the first 3 Chu Liu-hsiang books: Lingering Fragrance in the Sea of Blood, The Great Desert, and The Thrush. These three books are a trilogy and must be read in correct order. The trilogy is, until now, one of the two best books I have ever read. --> the other one is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

I also have read the rest of Chu Liu-hsiang books, but I don't really like them. Perhaps it is the translation... Translators nowadays have different style than those in the old days.

But in The Legend of The New Moon, the mystery is not intriguing. And in the end, it is not Chu Liu-hsiang who solves the problem how to kill the enemy.

When you think about it, in the Legend of The Bat, Chu Liu-hsiang also doesn't have to fight the master of the Bat island. So there is no big fight in the end. However, they are many puzzles to solve in this story... and I really enjoy the conversations among Chu Liu-hsiang, Hu Tie-hua, and Zhang San.

The Legend of the Peach Blossom, I don't like it. I don't want to see Chu Liu-hsiang gets married...

But I'm glad they made series about The Legend of The New Moon and The Legend of The Peach Blossom, because when I read the books, I didn't really get the meaning. It was the translations.... And since this 2012 series are faithful to the books, I at last can see what are the books about.

I really want to see the team who made this series make a series based on the first 3 Chu Liu-hsiang books. So far, I think the closest version ever made perhaps the 1979 one. It was a pity that Adam Cheng fell sick during the making, so that the lead character had to disappear in several episodes, leaving the supporting cast doing the investigation.

The fighting scenes in this 2012 version are not many, but in the books they are just like that. We can see that Xue Yi-ren, the #1 swordsman, earlier killed his enemies with only 1 stroke only. Then we see Xue Yi-ren chases Chu Liu-hsiang in a fight and never gets him, so we can see that they both are very high skilled.

When I was watching the part of The Legend of The Bat, they were just talking and talking... When I read the book, I really enjoyed it. But when it's made into a movie... well, now I can understand why the other versions of The Legend of The Bat are changed so much. The producers usually want their money back, plus profits.

This 2012 version was perhaps made with low budgets. I wish they hired more beautiful actresses, and it would be great if a more good looking actor could play Zhang San. Zhang San is a fisherman, so I wasn't imagining an overweight guy. Zhang San in this version has eaten too many grilled fish. --> I hope the actor who played Zhang San never read this. He did well, anyway, with the dialogues, also with the gesture of imitating Chu Liu-hsiang rubbing his nose.

I think it was  also due to low budgets that they had to change some locations. Like when it should be in a river or a ocean, it was changed to a land or an island. Sometimes it worked, but sometimes not. In the legend of The Bat, after the ship was destroyed and they had to use coffins, they reached a land and met Yuan Sui-yun. They stayed in the land, in Yuan Sui-yun's, until the messengers from the Bat Island arrived. Jin Ling-zhi mentioned that she had spent 7 days with a ship before reaching the Bat Island, but after they left the shore, floating using those coffins and met Yuan Sui-yun, it had been only 2-3 days. In the book, they were picked up by Yuan Sui-yun's ship and continued the journey until they reached the Bat Island.

I love Ken Chang Tzu-yao here. In some parts, he looks older and thinner, but it's okay. This Chu Liu-hsiang is patient towards women (but not all of them). While Adam Cheng and Ti Lung were more humorous, Ken Chang is calmer. He often pauses before delivering his lines, though. [I don't like Michael Miu's Chu Liu-hsiang. He killed.]

I checked out Ken Chang's filmography to see if I had seen his works before. So he was in The Lost Tomb (with bristles) and in Lu Xiao-feng with Cheung Chi-lam. I didn't remember him in Sha Po Lang at all, until I watched a clip in YouTube. The filmography only mentions Inspector Lee Wai-lok in Sha Po Lang. Which one was Lee Wai-lok? It should be written like this: Good-looking cop whose throat slitted by Wu Jing.

Perguruan Sejati

I don't know the real title of this book. Although it was published with the name of Gu Long, but I cannot find this in the list of Gu Long works. In English the title can be translated to -more or less- "True School".

The lead character was a young scholar, who learnt martial arts secretly, named In Tiong Giok. His teacher left suddenly after leaving a message to In Tiong Giok to deliver a letter. On his way, our hero saw that a sect named Pok Thian Pang was looking for a Sanskrit translator, and since he could speak the language, he applied for the job, and got it. It turned out he was to translate a martial arts manual and that he would be killed after completing the job.

In short, our hero ran away from the sect, taking the book with him. He was chased by people who wanted the manual. To solve the problem, In Tiong Giok went to a printing house and printed the manual 550 copies and gave them away. --> I found this very funny... Often I wonder why in wuxia stories people fight for a manual, why not borrow and copy it...? A kungfu manual usually only consists of not so many pages anyway. Stupid Kwee Ceng even could memorize the whole Kiu Im Cin Keng 九陰真經.

Then they began to fight for a pair of swords, which were hidden in a lake. [This reminded me a bit of King Arthur's sword.] Our hero won, of course.

On his journey, In Tiong Giok would find his true identity, became the head of a school, and destroyed the evil Pok Thian Pang. The "True School" in the title was not mentioned much. It was actually a group of 3 people, 1 Buddhist monk, 1 Buddhist nun and 1 Lama: who fought for the pair of swords many years ago.

Di Ren-jie (TV) 2017

Like many, I also think that the actor who played the famous judge was too young, but actually he was in his late 20's - so let's take it that he just passed the imperial examination and became a judge in Bian-zhou.

If in Robert van Gulik's books, Judge Dee was a good swordsman; here in the series, our hero could not fight, but he could shoot a steel ball from his pen, like a secret weapon.

Mo Yu (Miao Jun-jie) and Die Ren-jie (Allen Ren)

I like detective stories, so I really enjoyed watching this series. Judge Dee here rarely appeared on his local court, but he was often called by the imperial palace - usually by The Emperor (Li Zhi) or his concubine Wu Mei-niang. Three times the emperor wanted to reward him by giving him a position in the palace and three times also Judge Dee refused the offer. He preferred to become a little judge in Bian-zhou.

From history, Di Ren-jie and Wu Mei-niang were enemies. So it was interesting here to watch Wu Mei-niang changed, from a cute, kind girl to a heartless woman. It was because she had to survive the difficulties in the palace. The Emperor was weak and couldn't protect her, so she must protect herself.

The cases were quite interesting, like the human bomb, a priestess who claimed that she could send people to heaven, the death of the little princess, the phantom army... not to mention some strange deaths.

Judge Dee liked Murong Qing, with whom he studied medicines together. It didn't work well between them because she became an enemy. But I was not unhappy because I knew the judge would end with three wives.

There were also two women, both ex thieves, who helped the judge. I found them sometimes irritating. I hoped that the creator of this series would have sent two men instead to help him.

Here in the series, our judge received a bribe. They were looking for a lost fortress and the judge met someone familiar, who didn't want to be recognized. This man quickly fled the place after giving the judge his fortune. The judge would use this jewelry to gamble....😅

Face to Fate (TV) 2006

I think compared to Lofty Waters Verdant Bow, Face to Fate is a better series. The main character was a soothsayer/fortune-teller named Li Po-yee, played by Frankie Lam. At that time, the martial art world was divided into the good and the bad, and our hero belonged to none of them.

Every five years, both sides would engage in the Golden Seal Battle and each should send five representative. The one who won 3 fights out of 5, would be the winner and could reign the martial art world for 5 years. The leader of the bad guys, Ko Shu-tin, believed in a divination that said 'Evil prevails, Good disappears' - so he persuaded more guys to join the evil side.

In the beginning of the series, five future representatives from the Good were killed, so the leader of the Good, Shum Shing-nam (played by David Chiang -- or John Chiang) from Flying Fish Village, asked our hero's help to seek other five high skilled fighters to represent the Good in the soon-coming Golden Seal Battle. The journey was quite challenging because the 5 fighters were all outcasts from their own schools. Li Po-yee, however, in the end could persuade each of them to take part in the Golden Seal Battle - although later one of them died in Flying Fish Village and Li Po-yee had to replace him.

Death Wish (Chun Wong) and Li Po-yee (Frankie Lam)

The guys in the Good were not always kind and the guys in the Evil group also had their own merits. Like when one of supposed to be good guys, tortured the Miracle Doctor's girlfriend by cutting off her leg and arm tendons. This false step would make the Good almost lost the fight because the Miracle Doctor chose to be with Evil in order to cure his girlfriend, and this doctor became a strong opponent against Li Po-yee.

Doctor Lai Yeuk-yee (Raymond Lam) and his girlfriend Yin Ye-loi (Selena Li)

The ending was a happy one, with the Good and the Bad -which was no longer bad - lived together harmoniously.

Wong Ching as King Bat

 The happiest event was when King Bat could see again. King Bat was one of the bad guys and he was named like that because he was blind. The doctor later healed him. I wonder if he should changed his name.

Lofty Waters Verdant Bow (TV) 2003

I read reviews saying that this series was so-so, but I think I quite enjoyed watching it. It was only 20 episodes anyway. The story was ordinary, but I like watching Raymond Lam, Michelle Ye, and the interaction between Power Chan and Pierre Ngo.

Raymond Lam played a gallant hero - named Jin Shi-yi, who came from Snake Island - to the mainland, to seek a heroine named Lu Si-niang - who could neutralize the poison in his body. By the way, if you are familiar with Chinese history,  you will recognize Lu Si-niang's name as the heroine who beheaded Emperor Yong Zheng (from Qing dynasty).

Jin Shi-yi would be involved in a love triangle. One was an kind-hearted young heroine, Lu Si-niang's student, named Gu Zhi-hua, played by Rain Li, ; while the other, Li Sheng-nan - played by Michelle Ye - seemed mysterious and come from the enemy's side. It could be guessed that our hero chose the Gu Zhi-hua and seemed to hate the other. But who loved him more? I think this was actually not the question of who loved him more; it should be whom he chose between the two. I think he did really love Gu Zhi-hua. But near the end, when he realized that Li Sheng-nan, whom he misunderstood to be his enemy, had been loving him more; he left Gu Zhi-hua to be with Li Sheng-nan... but it was too late. In the end we see Jin Shi-yi with Li Sheng-nan's dead body on a raft, heading for the island where they had found the ultimate martial-art manual.

One of the villains, the wulin leader, Meng Shen-tong (played by Eddie Ko), had slandered Jin Shi-yi's teacher so that everybody hated the teacher. Meng Shen-tong had accused the hero's teacher as a traitor - so that they failed to assassinate Yong Zheng years ago - and the teacher had to flee to Snake Island. The teacher's good name was never restored although Meng Shen-tong had turned into a public enemy because it had been him who had cooperated with Qing government, not the teacher.

The setting in this series should be during Qian Long's era. In Qing dynasty, the men should had shaved the front side of the hair and braided the hair at the back ... I am not sure why they didn't in this series. Were the characters all rebels or the director simply thought it was not a must.

I heard that this series was based on Liang Yu-sheng's book, which I haven't read. Jin Shi-yi should be with Gu Zhi-hua in the end and they went together to a remote island where they would have a son.

Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion (2006)

I would like to try to read the original book which this TV series was based on, if there is any in English. I only have read one book by Huang Yi, A Step Into The Past, and enjoyed it a lot. In this Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion - I must say the English title is horrible and not interesting at all - we are taken into the beginning of the Ming Dynasty era. I had never read this topic before, so this series were very interesting to me.

Before the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese people were ruled by Mongolians, the Yuan Dynasty. I am not familiar with the (real) history, but in this series, the present emperor had been one of the generals in the fights against Mongolians. An oracle told him that a descendant of Kubilai Khan would bring his demise, so to play safe, he killed all Mongolian children at the same age as the Mongolian Prince.

The Emperor ordered the Mongolians to pay hard tax and took men, even the old and young,  to become slaves. The Mongolians, led by Pong Pan, tried to find the Kubilai Khan's descendant and overturn Ming.

I like how the antagonists and protagonists here are not really bad. Both sides are fighting for their own country. Some characters do have weaknesses, like too suspicious, too greedy, ... I also like the ending, where The Chinese and The Mongolians could have peace on both sides and live together in harmony.

A Fist Within Four Walls (2016)

Finished watching this last night. I think it's one of the best recent series TVB ever made. Although I don't know each series TVB have made, I rarely met one like this. In the 1980's I remember there were quite a few series like this one, but it is rare these days. I think TVB lately made lots of drama/comedy series, police themed series, but not one with fist fighting.

The original title should be 'Walled-city Heroes' - which I like better than the English title. In the beginning of episode 1 it was explained the background of the situation. I must say I enjoyed the explanation. I remember the Donnie Yen movie 'Chasing The Dragon' also situated in the walled city, but I don't remember if they also gave the background - other than the large scale of corruption.

It was explained here how the walled city became a no man's land. After Qing's defeat in the two opium wars, Hong Kong Island and part of Kowloon were ceded respectively to Britain. Then under pressure, Qing leased to Britain the New Territories and the rest of Kowloon. However the Qing Court fought hard and excluded the Walled City from this. So in the following years, the walled city was left with no government. It was independent of colonial rule (Britain), but Hong Kong police also could not get in. Criminals wanted to take the walled city over and residents had to stand up for their own protection.

The story in this series began in 1945. Duen Tung-tin of Duen Style Baji [Baji fist = eight-extremities fist] and Chiu Meng-shan of Chiu Style Baji protected the walled city from criminals. In a chaos following a fire, Duen Tung-tin was murdered, but the only witness pointed Chiu Meng-shan as the murderer. Chiu Meng-shan insisted that he was innocent so he agreed to be taken to a police jail outside the walled city. In the jail, he was ambushed by three men, so he returned to his home in the walled city. The residents thought that he broke jail, so they bludgeoned him and his wife to death. Chiu Meng-shan's two children, a boy and a girl, ran away. The boy was taken by the grand-aunt to Macau, but the girl was missing.

Fifteen years later, the boy, who by then had changed his name to Chor Au-Kuen, returned to the walled city in order to look for his lost sister. He met with Duen Tung-tin's son, Duen Ying-fung, and they became friends. They stood together to protect the residents from the 3 criminals who ruled the walled city: one sold opium, one had gambling houses and one in the prostitution business.

Beside the 3 criminals, there was also a group of mysterious killers. They also had to find who had murdered Duen Tung-tin and framed Chiu Meng-shan. As for the why, it was easy to guess.

I like all the characters in this series. Even Miss Audrey was worth watching, she was not very spoiled and was strong. If there is something I hate, perhaps it was Tiu Lan's lipstick colour... but maybe in the early 60's it was common. I also think if a woman has a defected heart, it's very dangerous for her to give birth. So I was at lost when Kuen expected many children from her.

A Step Into The Past (book) - Huang Yi

It took me more than 3 months to finish this book. I am not sure if there is a copyrighted English translation, but this one I read was available at internet, translated by several volunteers. (Thanks to you all!) I converted it to .epub format contained 2850+ pages.

The author, Huang Yi, was fond of science fiction – and wrote very thick books. I know 3 of his books have been made into TV series, including this one, with Raymond Lam in all of them. [The other two are: 'Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion' and 'A Pair of Dragons in Tang Dinasty'/'Twin of Brothers'.]

When I was reading about a hundred pages I began to regret what I was doing, realizing it would take months to finish the book. It was because I had many books to read. I had that same feeling when I was reading Romance of Three Kingdoms. A Step Into The Past, however, was more interesting and attractive to read, and after finishing the book, I was satisfied with how it ended and glad that I spent some time to read it. It is definitely one of the best historical fictions I have ever read.

The main character was a 20 year old elite soldier, a member of a task force, named Xiang Shao-long. He was sent with a time machine to the warring states era. He was supposed to land in the year when Qin Shi-huang, the first emperor of Qin, who united 7 states in China, ascended the throne, in 246 B.C.  But he landed 5 years earlier.

So the story in this book spans 5 years, from the time when Xiang Shao-long arrived in the warring states era, until when Qin Shi-huang ascended the throne. We see the development in Xiang Shao-long’s character, especially in the field of love. When he first arrived he was a lecher and would sleep around, but after the ones he loved died one by one, he then took the matter of love seriously.  From a troublemaker in the 21th century, in a few years Xiang Shao-long became the Great General of Qin and was respected by many.

With his background and knowledge from the 21th century, it was easy for him to impress people and also to win the heart and hands of the most beautiful ladies in that era. We also see how he met and interacted with famous and important people, the one most interesting was with Ying Zheng, the Qin Shi-huang. There were some twists, of course, and the moral lesson is: It is the winner who writes (or re-writes) history.

In the 2001 TV series version, Xiang Shao-long was given a sort of disc, a tool that could make him return to the 21th century. He did tried to return to the 21th century, although actually from the start we knew that in the end he didn’t, because in the beginning of episode 1, the disc was found in the ancient grave with the terracotta soldiers. In the book, we know clearly that he could not return because right after he had been sent to the warring states era, the time machine and the laboratory were blown to pieces.

Xiang Shao-long had one son, Xiang Bao-er; who would later became the famous Chu general: Xiang Yu. Bao-er was actually the 2^nd son of Teng Yi, one of Xiang Shaolong’s sworn brothers. Perhaps due to time machine radiation, Xiang Shao-long could not impregnate his wives; so Teng Yi gave him his 2^nd son.

The Legendary Warrior (2006)

Finished watching this series a few days ago. I think it was very good. The hero in this series is Xue Ren Gui, or known in Indonesia as Sie Djin Koei. I read the comic book versions (2 of them) years ago.

Xue Ren Gui was a great general in Tang Dinasty. He first served under Emperor Li Shi-min and later under Emperor Li Zhi. His real life perhaps was not as dramatic as described in books and films, yet they were enjoyable to read and watch.

In this series, he first appeared as a mute who liked to learn kung-fu. He went home to find his home burnt to ashes and his father dead. It was at this time that he was able to speak and the first word he spoke was 'Father.' Alone without any money, he went to his uncle, but was refused by him. He was saved by a tofu-seller, who brought him to his house and fed him. He ate a lot, but was very strong. He finally worked for a landlord, but because a misunderstanding the landlord accused him of having an affair with the landlord's daughter. They ran away from the landlord's wrath, got married and lived in poverty.

Meanwhile, General Tie Shi-wen from Boliao was going to attack Chang-an. The Tang Emperor, Li Shi-min had a dream that Tie Shi-wen was pursuing him and a warrior in white came to save him. The Emperor told his court officials about the dream. He wanted to find the warrior in white, but General Zhang Shi-gui insisted that the warrior in white was his son-in-law.

Zhang Shi-gui recruited people for the incoming war. When Xue Ren Gui came to apply, Zhang Shi-gui recognized him as the emperor's warrior-in-white and refused him 3 times; but finally Xue Ren Gui was able to join the army as a cook. Although a cook, Xue Ren Gui and his sworn brothers defeated enemy's leaders and brought victory for the Tang army. However Zhang Shi-gui recorded the merits as his son-in-law's, while telling lies to Xue Ren Gui to keep hiding because the emperor wanted to kill him.

When the truth was found, Zhang Shi-gui, his son and his son-in-law were put to death by the emperor. Zhang's daughter, who was married to Prince Cheng, wanted revenge and set a trap for Xue Ren Gui. At this time, Li Shi-min had been dead and the new emperor Li Zhi was under Prince Cheng's influence. Li Zhi put Zue Ren Gui in jail and the officials all worked together to proof our hero's innocence.

This version ended with Prince Cheng's death and Xue Ren Gui led Li Zhi's army to defend the country against a new attack.

Unlike the comic books, there are no gods in this version. Although Xue Ren Gui was a real life character, he never had a son named Xue Ding San.

The Legend of the Passionate Daqi Hero - by Gu Long

I really like the hero in this story, a member of Tay Ki (=Daqi) Clan, named Thiat Tiong-tong. He was not very tall, small built, had a black-skinned face and a pair of sharp eyes. He was very smart and loyal.

Tay Kin Clan had few members, but the rules were very strict. This little clan had a feud with five big families. Thiat Tiong-tong and his fellow brother, Im Ceng, broke the clan's rules and they were banished from the clan for three years. If after 3 years they could show that they were worth to be Tay Ki members, they could rejoin the Clan.

In his difficulties, Thiat Tiong-tong always be able to evade his enemies. He even be able to save others. Unfortunately, Im Ceng mistakenly thought that Thiat Tiong-tong had betrayed Tay Ki Clan and tried to kill him every time.  When Im Ceng realized his mistake, it was a moving scene. He was told that 'surrounded by many enemies, Thiat Tiong-tong had a chance to save only one person. And he chose to save you, while he himself fell off a cliff.'

The relationship between Thiat Tiong-tong and Sui Leng-kong, the girl he loved, was unique and strong. He was, at first, afraid to develop his feelings for her because he believed that she perhaps was his cousin, his father's brother's daughter. [It was okay to marry her if she was his cousin from his mother's side.] This couple understood each other perfectly without saying any words.

I was surprised when I reached the end of the book. The enemies were eliminated by supporting characters, while our hero was trapped in an underground cave. Thiat Tiong-tong was learning the highest level of fighting skills but he didn't use it in this story because he was still trapped in a cave when the story ended. I know Khu Lung often ended his books badly, but this has gone too far, don't you agree?

There was still an addendum, though, a conclusion. [Is it written by the author or someone else?] Thiat Tiong-tong finally could escape from the cave after all, with helps from his friends. He married Sui Leng-kong and their son probably was the famous Coh Liu-hiang (=Chu Liu-hsiang).

First published in 1965, this book is one of Khu Lung's best works. Wish he had spent more time to write the ending, though.

Sword Stained with Royal Blood - by Chin Yung

I watched 3 movie versions based on this book, 1980 version with Wang Yue, 1982 version with Kuo Chui, and the 1993 version with Yuen Biao. The 1982 version is closer to the book, the 1980 version has different twists, and the 1993 version makes me think whether it was based on the same book :-)

Chin Yung books are always interesting to read. Reading this one, I again was reminded why he had become the most successful wuxia writers all the time.

The book started with the story of Hau Tiau Cong, a scholar, and his servant, who were attacked by robbers. They were saved by farmers - or swordsmen in disguise - who were taking care of the only son of General Wang Cong Hoan. General Wang Cong Hoan had been very loyal to the country, but the emperor sentenced him to death because of a false accusation. Chased by the royal army, the general's son, Wan Sin Cie, was taken to a teacher from Hoa San Clan.

Years passed. Wan Sin Cie was now a young man and very skillful in martial arts. He found the legacy of the Golden Snake swordsman in a hidden cave in Hoa San. In his next journey, he met the Golden Snake swordsman's wife and daughter. He learned the tragic story of the Golden Snake swordsman. He also fell in love with the Golden Snake swordsman's daughter, who was -unfortunately - a very jealous girl. That time was a turmoil - it was the end of Ming dynasty - and Wan Sin Cie's girlfriend a couple of times ranaway, made him busy to find her back.

Wan Sin Cie also found a treasure map, another legacy from the Golden Snake swordsman. He used the money to help the rebels against the emperor. In his journey, Wan Sin Cie also met with the Princess -in disguise. This princess, who lost an arm when the dynasty fell, cut off by her own father, appeared again in other Chin Yung book: The Deer and The Cauldron.

The rebel story also did not end happily here. Wan Sin Cie's sworn brother, like his father, was convicted of treason and executed. On the grave of his sworn brother, Wan Sin Cie met again with Hau Tiau Cong, the scholar he met when he was a little boy. So the character Hau Tiau Cong was used for the opening and ending of this book. Disappointed with the way how the country was run, Wan Sin Cie brought his friends to the South Sea, to seclusion.

The Golden Knight - by Qing Hong

This book by Qing Hong / Chin Hung is one of the best I have read. I don't know its original title, but in Indonesia it was published with the title 'Raja Silat'. I remembered there was a Shaw Brothers movie 'The Golden Knight' (1970) based on this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was written with much humour and the plot was more complicated that the movie version.

The central character was a handsome 20-year-old swordsman named Ie Lip Tong. He was very smart and romantic-or at least he thought he was. His father had been killed by leaders of the 5 main clans under a false accusation, so he tried to clean his fathers's good name and re-build his clan.

The story began with a new security bureau, Boan Chio Security in Tiang An. This security bureau did not escort goods, but solved mysteries. In the martial arts world at that time, the good guys was led by Hong-lay-sian-ong. If there was a problem between or among different clans, they had to go to Hong-lay-sian-ong and he would be the judge. Under Hong-lay-siang-ong, there was 12 emissaries who wore yellow robes as their identity. These 12 chosen swordsmen were more skillful fighters and smarter than others.

There had been mysterious murderer who targeted people from the 5 clans. Since they couldn’t catch the murderer, the people from 5 clans accused Ie Lip Tong, whose father had been killed by the leaders of the 5 clans. They couldn’t think of other suspect than Ie Lip Tong. Only Ie Lip Tong had a grudge on them. The 12 emissaries from Lu San (Mountain Lu) – the headquarters of Hong-lay-sian-ong – couldn’t find Ie Lip Tong, so Emissary No.8 went to Boan Chio Security to ask them to find Ie Lip Tong.

With much ease, the owner of Boan Chio Security found Ie Lip Tong. Swordsman no.8 brought the young man to Lu San for trial, but the people from the 5 clans wouldn’t believe that Ie Lip Tong was not the murderer. They sentenced him to death.

But as Ie Lip Tong was our main character, surely he wasn’t dead. He went out and found the real murderer and found a gang who flayed people and used the skin for disguise. He cleaned his name, twice, and his father’s name. He also became Emissary No.13.

Golden Sword, Eagle Feathers by Wolong Sheng

I wanted to read this book after reading in a discussion, how the translator, Tjan ID, mentioned that the story was very exciting. The translator had translated many wuxia books and I like his style, so I believed his judgement. Here, the book was published into 4 parts - due to its long story. Today I finished reading them all and hoped that it would have been longer.

When I was reading the first part, I thought that the book was very action packed. The characters ran and fought over and over again After escaped from one enemy, another enemy was waiting ahead. It seemed that they never rest. Even I as a reader felt tired. I read this first part slowly. When I got to the end of the second book, the characters had grown on me. So when reading book 3 and 4, I almost couldn't it down and read until 3 o'clock in the morning, when I said to myself that I really needed to put it down and get some sleep.

This is the first book of Wolong Sheng I've read. After reading this book for days, of course I couldn't say that I didn't like it. I only hope that it had more dialogues so the characters could rest. They could be talking instead of fighting all the time.

The central character was a hero named Siau Ling, the only son of a rich retired official. When the story began, Siau Ling was a 12 year old weak boy. He suffered a strange illness so that he couldn't live until 20 years old. His parents saved a grave-wounded heroine, who months later died in the house. The heroine's only daughter, Gak Siau-cha, who was 4-5 years older than Siau Ling, came and took her mother's body away. Siau Ling begged to come with her because he also wanted to bury the body and he wanted to see the outside world, since he would be dead in a couple of years. After leaving the house, Gak Siau-cha and Siau Ling were chased by many people. It had been said that Gak Siau-cha's mother had had the only key to a place called 'The Forbidden Palace" [when I first read this I kept thinking of the palace in the Forbidden City. but it was not.]. The rumor said that ten great swordsmen had been trapped in that place and who could get into the place, he would inherit their kung-fu manuals.

After long chases, Siau Ling was separated from Gak Siau-cha. He fell into a river, was saved, brought into a cave in a mountain, where he fell off a cliff and ate 1000 year old rare mushrooms. He also met three great people who became his kung-fu teachers. During this time, his illness had been cured and he surely could live a long life. Five years later he appeared in the martial arts world as a handsome, brave young hero; and found that somebody else had been using his name. Soon he was tricked and became a member of the White Flower Village. The leader was an smart evil swordsman called Jen Bok-hong. When Siau Ling realized his mistake and wanted to break free, Jen Bok-hong caught his parents to threaten him.

But Siau Ling - who at this time should be about 17 years old - didn't gave up and kept fighting Jen Bok-hong. As the story went, we would learn how lucky our hero was. He was caught, poisoned, and almost died a couple of times... yet he could live until the end of the book - because he was the hero. It took 2 years for Siau Ling to became a greatly admired hero. In the beginning he was the only one who would stand up against Jen Bok-hong, but near the end of the book, almost all heroes supported him in his battle. He was supposed to be smart, but he was tricked again and again. Only in book 4 he indeed had learned a lot from his mistakes and showed the readers that he was smart.

Gak Siau-cha, after she and Siau Ling met again, had become an admired heroine. She lived in seclusion, but three high-skilled young handsome swordsmen were crazy about her, and the three would kill Siau Ling for he was the only obstacle if they wanted to marry Gak Siau-cha. But Siau Ling himself thought of Gak Siau-cha as his older sister. He was rather afraid of her, out of respect. "Siau Ling fears no heaven no earth, but he fears Gak Siau-cha."

Siau Ling himself, was described as very handsome. He was even more handsome than the 3 swordsmen who wanted Gak Siau-cha's hand. Plus, he was brave, sincere, righteous.... All females in this book fell in love with him - a situation which I never believe because every woman sees handsomeness differently. The journey of Siau Ling's love life was told very well here. He was not romantic and in his struggles against Jen Bok-hong he didn't have time for romance.

There was a golden sword appeared near the end of the book, and Siau Ling was saved by an eagle in a scene. So it took me a while to find this book's title in English. The Indonesian titles - for 4 books - are far from that.

I wanted to write more, but if you are reading this, you perhaps should read the book yourself - if you haven't. It's nice to read books from different cultures. They always have different expressions, different terms. Like if you are bored while watching an American movie - why the dialogues are dull and repetitive? Try watching a movie from another country.

The Black Butterfly (1968)

I had been watching a couple of Shaw Brothers movies made in 1967-1968 and when I watched this one, in the middle of it suddenly I saw how different this was from others. The others often showed close-ups and stayed on the actor's face for a while while he/she did his/her act. It disturbs me a lot when in a time of critical danger and a hero has to fight to death, and he will ask his friend or sibling or child to leave - to be able to avenge him in the future; and the friend/sibling/child doesn't go in that moment and spends several seconds to weep and cry 'I won't leave you' 'I'm not afraid to die'. This kind of drama is very annoying. I sort of hope that the characters live around a swordsman have a military discipline - that they should go as soon as they are told to.

The Black Butterfly was a masked character who robbed from the rich to help the poor. No one knew that the Black Butterfly was actually a young woman named Bao Zhu, the daughter of Gold Sword Kwan - a retired swordsman who now opened the Ten Mile Inn. Kwan had students and his first student, Hsi Lang, worked for Lord Fang in the Court of Censors. Kwan had refused to teach his own daughter martial arts, so she secretly learned from the Drunken Beggar.

Chiao Chiao as Bao Zhu

Five Devils Rock's third master took Lord Fang's stamp and asked Lord Fang to give 10,000 silver taels to make up the loss for the robbery done by the Black Butterfly in the beginning of the movie. With the help of the Drunken Beggar and Bao Zhu, Gold Sword Kwan and his students wiped out the Five Devils Rock.

The director, Lo Wei, used long shots and I enjoyed activities in the background. Like when Bao Zhu was arguing with Hsi Lang in Ten Mile Inn, a student of Kwan appeared in background and called his friend to enjoy the argument. Another example is when Hsi Lang agreed to have a duel with the man from Five Devils Rock, a student of Kwan happily fetched a sword for Hsi Lang and was laughing, as if he knew that he would enjoy an interesting spectacle soon. Again another example: when Gold Sword Kwan was about to go to Five Devils Rock to get the stamp back, Bao Zhu only said a sentence, hoping her father wouldn't go - but she knew that he had to go, so soon after she said what she had to say, she ran to her room crying - followed by her father's students who were trying to comfort her. This was done fast and we could see Gold Sword Kwan stood sadly on the inn's bridge, looking at his daughter's room (from a distance) while his students still comforting her.

The Thundering Sword (1967)

This movie was based on some parts in Chin Yung's The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre.

"The Thundering Sword can shatter world's other two precious swords. When the sword appears it could cause great disasters which would cease only when the earth cracks."

Yu Chien Wan (Chang Yi) and Chiang Kwun Yuan (Lo Lieh), two heroes from Baiyun Temple, were sent by their master to find the Thundering Sword. The master wanted to destroy the sword so the world would be peaceful.

Chen Pei-pei as So Jiau-jiau

Chiang found the sword in a tomb but he was wounded by So Jiau-jiau's poisonous dart from Wu Du Clan. Jiau-jiau regretted what she had done, but she was in a hurry to deliver the sword, so she asked Yue Security Escort to deliver the fainted Chiang back to Baiyun Temple, so his master could cure him. On the way, the escort guys  were attacked, and a a result, Chiang could not be cured and became a cripple.

Jiau-jiau killed 32 people in Yue Security Escort because they had failed the task, but because she disguised himself as a man, the only surviving victim pointed Yu Chien Wan as the culprit. Yu Chien Wan became a wanted man and when Jiau-jiau confessed, no one believed her.

Yu Chien Wan met So Jiau-jiau and they fell in love with each other. Jiau-jiau even gave him the Thundering Sword, although it was later seized by a skilled monk.

Things didn't go well for Yu Chien Wan and So Jiau-jiau. First because of the matter of Yue Security Escort and because Jiau-jiau had wounded Chiang. From this point the pace became slow and the story teary like soap operas.

The Golden Knight (1970)

There were six main clans in the martial arts world and they formed an alliance and pointed a master to be their leader. The alliance was to find a solution if there were a problem between or among clans. The Golden Knights from Tongxin Clan sat as outsiders who gave their opinions, more like jurors.

There had been a Grand Master, the ruler for decades with this six excellent skills. When he was dying, he gave six manuals to the chiefs of six clans, each chief received one manual. Yu Yun-yang from Huangshan Clan arrived late. Later the grand master was found dead and Yu Yun-yang was missing.

There were two versions of stories of what happened that day. The chiefs from five clans testified that when they left the grand master's house, they met Yu Yun-yang on his way. They told him that the grand master had kept one manual for him. Then they heard Yu Yun-yang's shout, telling them to return to the grand master's house because the grand master had been murdered. They returned, but only found the grand master's dead body. The manual was missing, along with Yu Yun-yang.

The second version was told to Yu Fei-xia, Yu Yun-yang's daughter, by a woodcutter who claimed that he had seen the chiefs of five clans (in black clothes / disguise actually) attacking and killing Yu Yun-yang. But when Yu Fe-xia was confronted by one of the golden knights, she said she didn't know who the woodcutter was and couldn't find him again.

The trial of Yu Fei-xia

Then appeared a masked girl who attacked two clans and stole their manuals. The five clans believed that the masked girl was Yu Fei-xia because 1) she had declared she would kill all people in the five clans to take revenge for her father. 2) The masked girl used 'Poison Palm', a skill only used by the Yu family. However, the first missing manual contained 'Poison Palm'.

Lily Ho and Kao Yuen

I enjoyed watching this movie. The mystery was a nice touch, although I could guess who the bad guy was from the beginning. The story was well-written. The enemies had a skill to change their faces, so it was fun to see how the good guys solved the puzzle.

The Proud Youth (1978)

Lately I started to notice an actor named Wang Yu (not Jimmy Wang Yu), who appeared in several Liu Chia-liang movies. The rumor said that when Jimmy Wang Yu left Shaw Brothers in 1970, the studio owner was so angry that he hired a look-alike and had him play a parody of the former star. I must say that at first I was mistaken, but now I can tell the difference between two actors. You can actually see the year of the making to see which Wang Yu it was. Their names in Chinese characters are also different.

(L) Jimmy Wang Yu vs (R) Not Jimmy Wang Yu

The younger Wang Yu usually played a naughty kid. If the movie was not dubbed, but was in Cantonese, he could be even more annoying (in a funny way). For a kung-fu actor, I think he was good in acting and in delivery of his lines.

So it was interesting to see he played in this movie. The Proud Youth was based on Chin Yung novel 'The Smiling Proud Wanderer'. Wang Yu usually played proud characters, so this part should be easy for him. I only hoped he could be given more dialogues so he could practiced his fast mouth.

Every two years, sword clans of the Five Mountains gathered on the top of Mount Taishan. They are: Huashan Clan, Taishan Clan, Hingshan Clan, Hengshan Clan, and Songshan Clan. The younger clan members learned from competitions, while the chiefs selected a leader of the alliance.

The head student of Huashan Clan, Nangong Song, saved a young nun from Hao Jie-ying, a rapist. Nangong Song suffered grave injuries from this fight because Hao Jie-ying was a more skilled fighter than him and Song only won because of his quick wit and fast mouth. While the nun treated his injuries, other nuns saw them and reported 'the inappropriate conduct' to their teacher, the abbess of Hingshan Clan.

Nangong Song vs Hao Jie-ying. 'Do you want to try my Toilet Sword Style?'

Shi Zhong-ying from Hengshan Clan befriended Gao Yun from the evil clan, Sun Clan, because they both liked music. Shi Zhong-ying played flute and Gao Yun played khim. They both composed a tune together, called 'The Last Sound of the Empty Valley'.

Leng Ruo-jun from Songshan Clan, the new leader of the alliance, found out about the friendship and commanded Shi Zhong-ying to kill his friend. Shi Zhong-ying refused, so Leng Ruo-jun had all his family members killed. Shi Zhong-ying was wounded, but Gao Yun saved him. Together they played 'The Last Sound of the Empty Valley' before their deaths. Nangong Song who was being treated by the young nun heard the melody and came towards. Gao Yun gave him the sheet music, told him to pass it to a talented musician.

Huashan Clan's chief Luo Chao-jun punished Nangong Song for his inappropriate behaviour with the nun. The young man must face the wall for a year at Huashan's Cliff of Remorse. On this cliff Nangong Song found a hidden cave and learned the unbeatable Chongyang Nine Swords Style.

Learning Chongyang Nine Sword Style in a hidden cave

One year passed and being free again, Nangong Song gave the music sheet to Bai Ying-ying from the Sun Clan. When they first met he couldn't see her face and thought that she was an old woman.

Sheet music

Bai Ying-ying was the Sacred Lady from Sun Clan and because Nangong Song had given her a gift, people from the evil clan came to Huashan Clan to give wine to Nangong Song. They also held a party at Wuba Mound. The Huashan Clan's chief was angry that he kicked out Nangong Song from Huashan Clan.

Nangong Song sees Ying-ying's reflection in a river

Then Nangong Song help a guardian from the Sun Clan to free the Sun Clan's former chief, also Ying-ying's father, who had been locked in a dungeon for twelve years by the recent chief, Sima Wuji.

Shih Szu plays Bai Ying-ying

Sima Wuji had learn 'Plum Blossom Classics' on fighting styles and was actually matchless. Guardian Shi, Chief Bai, Nangong Song and Ying-ying surrounded him but he was stronger than the four of them. Finally Ying-ying and Nangong Song could kill him. In the book, even the 4 of them could not handle the enemy. Only by threatening Sima Wuji's lover, Ying-ying could trick him. But in this movie version, the lover had been killed before the four met Sima Wuji.

Sima Wuji becomes half man half woman after learning Plum Blossom Classics

Hao Jie-ying, the rapist, was also a hired assassin. Someone had paid him to kill the leaders of the four clans and the wife of the Huashan Clan's leader. Easy to guess who had paid him, right? Because only one man left to lead the alliance. Also, if you are familiar with the story you already knew who the bad guy was.

The location of the final fight was at a waterfall, so it was nice to watch. The location where Nangong Song fought Hao Jie-ying was also beautiful.

The final fight. Nangong Song vs Luo Chao-jun

I like Wang Yu as Nangong Song [although I think he was better in Swift Sword (1980)]. He was not convincing in romantic scenes (which were very rare in this movie. In the book, Lenghou Tiong - the original name for Nangong Song, was in love with his teacher's daughter, but she loved someone else. In this movie, she liked him but he only saw her as a sister), though, and maybe that was why the last scene which portrayed Bai Ying-ying talked to him was dialogue-less and the Shaw Brothers logo appeared, a sign that it was the end of the movie.

The Jade Faced Assassin (1971)

Based on Khu Lung's novel The Remarkable Twins, this movie was quite enjoyable. I even prefer this one than the 1979 version with Fu Sheng and Lawrence Ng. Both movies are based on the same novel, but with limited time, it's interesting to see which material stayed and which were omitted.

At first I was a bit disappointed to see that Siao Hi-ji character was played by a female, but later I thought she was okay and played the part well. The character had a scar on her cheek, just like in the book.

Chang Chun ran from Chang Chuen Clan with his wife - the 3rd sister from the clan, and their new-born twins. On their way, they were stopped by robbers and finally killed by the 1st sister from Chang Chuen clan, who thought Chang Chun had stolen their creed. The 1st sister took one of the twins, and left the other for No.1 Swordsman Lian Lan-yan, the sworn-brother of Chang Chun.

When Lian Lan-yan arrived, one of the dying robbers told him that it was Chang Zhai who had betrayed Chang Chun. Lian Lan-yan went for Chang Zhai at the Happy Valley, but he was trapped by the criminals and became paralyzed. The baby was raised by the criminals. They named her Siao Lu-er. She was very naughty that they finally drove her out from Happy Valley.

Tse Hsin-chan (Pan Yin-tze) and Hua Yu-chun (Kao Yuen)

Siao Lu-er saved a girl from robbers who wanted her treasure map. The girl was Tse Hsin-chan, from Chang Chuen Clan. Siao Lu-er showed her later that the treasure map was a fake. Tse Hsin-chan had a martial brother, Hua Yu-chun. Hua Yu-chun first wanted to kill Siao Lu-er because he thought she had harmed his sister, and later was forced to kill her because his teacher said so.

Sweet glutinous rice. So heroes are human and love snacking like us.

But Siao Lu-er saved Tse Hsin-chan (again) when she was poisoned by Chang Ting-le. Chang Ting-le was most renowned hero and respected by many, but Siao Lu-er would prove that he was formerly known as Chang Zhai, the traitor.

Siao Lu-er befriended Yu Chi Zhao Guang the gambler. It was with his help that Siao Lu-er could saved a security bureau which had been robbed by Chang Ting-le. It was a funny scene when the security bureau owner visited Chang Ting-le to thank him for saving his carts before (he didn't know the master behind the robbery) and a moment later a man came to tell him that the carts had been robbed - again. While he was panicking, another messenger came to tell him that the carts had been returned.

Yu Chi Zhao Guang (Fan Mei-sheng) and Siao Lu-er (Lily Ho)

In the end, Siao Lu-er was about to have a duel with Hua Yu-chun, when the 2nd sister from Chang Chuen Clan stopped them and told them that they were siblings. Together they fought the cruel 1st sister and the good won, as always.

The actress who played Tse Hsin-chan was the weakest actress in this movie, in my opinion. Perhaps the camera stayed on her too long that she over-acted.

The title confused me. Who is the jade faced assassin? After giving this some thinking, I guess the assassin was Hua Yu-chun. Kao Yuen was good-looking enough (jade face = handsome) and Hua Yu-chun was sent by his teacher to kill Siao Lu-er. There was also the word 'yu' in his name (yu=jade).

The Shadow Boxing (1979)

What I like about this movie is that I learned something about corpse herding. It's explained in the beginning of the movie: "Transportation was not developed back then. If people died away from their home towns, they will be sent home by the corpse herders."

I had seen in Chinese movies - in backgrounds- a man led jumping zombies, and I paid little attention to it. Now I know that the man was transporting the dead bodies to their loved ones. He shouted: "The dead's on the road, the living stays away." to warn people to stay away or stay in their houses if the corpses were passing by.

Cecilia Wong and Wang Yue

In this movie itself, the location must be very remote, because seeing the hairstyles and clothes, this must be after the Ching dynasty and they should have had carts by then.

Liu Chia-liang played the corpse herder. Wang Yue played his apprentice. With a simple ceremony, they put mantra on the corpses so the corpses could walk (or hop) themselves. No need to carry them.

Corpse herder and his apprentice

On transporting the corpses this time, a fugitive sneaked in and pretended to be one of the corpses. In this way, he could pass through check points safely.

The herders rest, the corpse stay waiting

Like in other Liu Chia-liang movies, the fighting scenes were choreographed in unique styles. This time he took ideas from vampire moves. So far I am most impressed with the fighting styles in 'Return to the 36th Chamber' where Liu Chia-hui learnt how to fight by building bamboo scaffoldings.