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.
Showing posts with label Gu Long. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gu Long. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Friday, September 30, 2016
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
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.
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.
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.
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).
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) |
 |
| Sweet glutinous rice. So heroes are human and love snacking like us. |
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) |
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).
Friday, February 5, 2016
Full Moon Scimitar (1979)
scim·i·tar : a short sword with a curved blade that broadens toward the point, used originally in Eastern countries.
Based on a book by Khu Lung, the story is about the ambition of men. The main character, Ting Peng, was a young hero who wanted to be famous in martial arts world. With his 'shooting star' sword technique - inherited from his late father, he defeated famous swordsmen one by one.
The next on his list was Liu Jo-sung. Ting Peng wouldn't have guessed that his opponent would use a dirty trick on him. Liu sent his wife to lure Ting Peng to her bedroom, to steal the manual of the shooting star. Of course in the duel Liu could defeated Ting Peng and even more, he accused our young hero of stealing the shooting star technique from him.
Embarrassed and hopeless, Ting Peng wanted to commit suicide, but met a beautiful lady, Ching Ching, who lived underground with her grandparents. She claimed that she was a fox woman, but Ting Peng didn't mind and married her. Ching Ching had a scimitar and she taught Ting Peng how to use it. Ting Peng now had gained his confidence back and wanted revenge.
*Listening to the Spring Rain in a small attic at night* inscription on the scimitar
With the scimitar, Ching Ching's help and her grandfather's treasure, Ting Peng had Liu Jo-sung under his feet; but he was too arrogant to kill him and kept him as a student. He turned down Ching Ching's request to return underground, to live together peacefully there.
He went further to challenge the Third Master, the number one swordsman; and married again to the daughter of the most wealthy man to gain more power in martial arts world. However, things didn't go as he had planned, for his student Liu Jo-sung wanted to harm him. This movie had a happy ending anyway: the good guys lived and the bad guys died.
This movie had a nice theme song by Joseph Koo, sung by Roman Tam and Liza Wang. TVB also released a tv-series version in the same year, starring by Damian Lau and Angie Chiu.
The moon knows my heart's desire
Success draws lovers apart
Love will soon be forgotten; the wife abandoned!
Based on a book by Khu Lung, the story is about the ambition of men. The main character, Ting Peng, was a young hero who wanted to be famous in martial arts world. With his 'shooting star' sword technique - inherited from his late father, he defeated famous swordsmen one by one.
The next on his list was Liu Jo-sung. Ting Peng wouldn't have guessed that his opponent would use a dirty trick on him. Liu sent his wife to lure Ting Peng to her bedroom, to steal the manual of the shooting star. Of course in the duel Liu could defeated Ting Peng and even more, he accused our young hero of stealing the shooting star technique from him.
Embarrassed and hopeless, Ting Peng wanted to commit suicide, but met a beautiful lady, Ching Ching, who lived underground with her grandparents. She claimed that she was a fox woman, but Ting Peng didn't mind and married her. Ching Ching had a scimitar and she taught Ting Peng how to use it. Ting Peng now had gained his confidence back and wanted revenge.
*Listening to the Spring Rain in a small attic at night* inscription on the scimitar
 |
| Ting Peng (Erl Tung-shen) and Ching Ching (Liza Wang) |
 |
| Dead rats in a pot of rice. A psychological war. The parts about how Ting Peng gets revenge on Liu are very good. |
 |
| Ting Peng forces his way to meet the Third Master |
The moon knows my heart's desire
The scimitar would join two loving hearts
Tears drop as the wind lamentsSuccess draws lovers apart
Love will soon be forgotten; the wife abandoned!
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Pursuit of Vengeance (1977)
Based on Gu Long's The Black Sabre, this movie began with Ye Kai, a merry hero, met Fu Hong-xue in a casino. They and four other heroes, were invited to Wan Ma Clan.
Twenty years ago, Wan Ma Clan and Shen Dao Clan were equally famous; but as the chief of Shen Dao Clan, named Bai, was assassinated 20 years ago, nowadays the world only knew Wan Ma Clan. That day -when the six guests came to Wan Ma Clan - was the death anniversary of Hero Bai and the chief of Wan Ma believed that Bai's son had come to avenge his father. Bai's son should be among the six guests he had invited. But which one?
Bai's son should be either Ye Kai or Fu Hong-xue. Ye Kai was the student of Li Sun-huan, whose flying dagger was invincible.[See Little Li's Flying Dagger]
Ye Kai and Fu Hong-xue got a list of people responsible for Hero Bai's death. Of 30 people, Hero Bai had killed 23 of them himself in the fatal snowy night, so there were still 7 left. Now, these seven killers also wanted to save themselves by killing Ye Kai and Fu Hong-xue.
Lo Lieh played a hired killer who was supposed to kill Ye Kai and Fu Hong-xue, but he ended up helping these two because in order to be able to kill them, he had to keep them alive. Lo Lieh's present made the movie merrier.
 |
| Ye Kai (Liu Yung) and Fu Hong-xue (Ti Lung) first meeting |
Bai's son should be either Ye Kai or Fu Hong-xue. Ye Kai was the student of Li Sun-huan, whose flying dagger was invincible.[See Little Li's Flying Dagger]
Ye Kai and Fu Hong-xue got a list of people responsible for Hero Bai's death. Of 30 people, Hero Bai had killed 23 of them himself in the fatal snowy night, so there were still 7 left. Now, these seven killers also wanted to save themselves by killing Ye Kai and Fu Hong-xue.
Lo Lieh played a hired killer who was supposed to kill Ye Kai and Fu Hong-xue, but he ended up helping these two because in order to be able to kill them, he had to keep them alive. Lo Lieh's present made the movie merrier.
 |
| Lo Lieh takes a bath in public |
Monday, November 16, 2015
Murder Plot (1979)
This movie was based on Gu Long's A Fanciful Tale of the Fighting World, so there were so many to tell in 90 minutes.
The murder plot mentioned in the title was the martial arts world plotted to murder the Happy King, for the deaths of 900 heroes 15 years ago. David Chiang played Sim Long. With his fiancée Cu Jit-jit (Ching Li), first he investigated the deaths inside a tomb, but was accused with the missing of several heroes. Sim Long asked one month to look into the matter.
Cu Jit-jit found the missing heroes in the mansion belonged to the Ong family, and met the handsome but evil Ong Ling-hoa and his mother. Fleed from the Ong mansion, Cu Jit-jit, with another beautiful lady named Pek Fi-fi, were kidnapped by a woman worked for the Happy King [but unlike the book, in this movie version, Cu Jit-jit & Pek Fi-fi's faces were not changed. The woman did not operate on the young ladies's faces.], and saved by Sim Long and his new friends, Kim Bu-hong - one of the Happy King's four emissaries, and Panda, the Beggars Clan's chief. [In the book it was a Cat, instead of Panda.]
Cu Jit-jit had a kind of badge, which could be used to draw money from banks owned by Cu family. Ong Ling-hoa took the badge. While trying to get it back, Cu Jit-jit and Panda were taken by the Ong family. Mrs Ong asked Sim Long to infiltrate the Happy King's people so the martial arts heroes could kill the Happy King on his wedding day with Pek Fi-fi.
The ending was simpler than the book. All the bad guys were dead in the end.
The murder plot mentioned in the title was the martial arts world plotted to murder the Happy King, for the deaths of 900 heroes 15 years ago. David Chiang played Sim Long. With his fiancée Cu Jit-jit (Ching Li), first he investigated the deaths inside a tomb, but was accused with the missing of several heroes. Sim Long asked one month to look into the matter.
 |
| Beautiful costumes and background, reminded me how I loved Shaw Brothers movies back then |
 |
| L-R: Sim Long, Kim Bu-hong and Panda |
 |
| Actor's name usually appears on his first entrance in SB movies, even if it's in the middle or near the end. Ku Kuan-chung as Ong Ling-hua, who loves pink costumes. |
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
A Graceful Swordsman - Gu Long
First published in 1966, this book had a very good plot. I myself like this one better than Little Li's Flying Dagger, so this is my 3rd favorite among all Gu Long works I have read. [No.1 The Legend of Coh Liu-hiang, No.2 The Remarkable Twins].
Ji Hong-ho - the chief of Bu-kek-pay - had retired from the martial arts world. His only son, a young man named Ji Pwe-giok, was the hero in this story. Ji Pwe-giok saw his father being murdered in front of him. Soon after that, his fianceé Lim Tay-ih came to tell him that her own father and 4 of his friends - each of them first class swordsman - had also been murdered. However, those 5 people who Lim Tay-ih had said had been dead, came to Ji Pwe-giok's house - all alive - and it seemed his father had not been dead as well.
Ji Pwe-giok thought he went crazy. None believed his story and Lim Tay-ih also denied what she had said before. In desperation, Ji Pwe-giok ran from them and went to the big meeting of the 13 clans (Shaolin, Butong, Hoasan etc) [with Bu-kek-pay, all were 14 clans, but since Ji Hong-ho had retired, originally only 13 clans had been scheduled to attend the meeting.] in Hong-ti, hoping to find an answer. On his way to Hong-ti, Ji Pwe-giok made friends with the Beggar's Clan's chief, who would be a great help to him in the future.
In the Hong-ti meeting, the fake Ji Hong-ho were chosen to be the chief of the martial arts world. [The real Ji Hong-ho was the initiator of the first Hong-ti meeting 70 years ago, so this old man was very respected. I don't know if the '70 years ago' was mistranslated. Even if Ji Hong-ho was 20 years old then, that made him 90 years old in the beginning of his story. I'd like to think Ji Pwe-gion's age was 25 years old. The book only said that he was 'a young man'. But probably he was younger, perhaps 18 years old. He had never met his fianceé at the beginning of the story and not much older than Cu Lui-ji who was 11-12 years old.]
With the power given to him, fake Ji Hong-ho was now the most powerful man in the martial arts world. The 13 clans were ready to do what he commanded. Since Ji Pwe-giok was the only person who knew his secret, fake Ji Hong-ho wanted the young man dead.
Being slandered with the murder of two clans' chiefs and hunted by everyone, Ji Pwe-giok ran into Sat-jin-ceng, a place where one could freely kill another, no question asked. In this place, he met an old man who hid him and changed his face (=facial surgery) so he could go out and investigate the mystery behind his father's death. The old man gave him a perfect handsome face, which would soon got 2 cuts by a desperate young woman, despite what his 'friend' believed: "With a face like that, no woman will harm him."
The story in this book spanned 6 months and in his journey, Ji Pwe-giok met characters with higher and higher fighting skills, that in the middle of the book, the 13 clans chiefs were nothing. Ji Pwe-giok himself learned more and more martial arts, and with his patience and intelligence, in the end he finally could avenged his father's death, solved the mystery and cleaned his name.
I really liked the idea of how things started and enjoyed reading this book a lot. I almost couldn't put it down. Ji Pwe-giok was described as: polite, clever, attentive, patient, and meek; all these traits made me like him very much. The dialogues were funny at times and made me giggle. The way how a woman's face was compared to a wall, for example. Khu Lung wrote about it a couple of times that I began to think this was a common thought in China.
I read that the epilogue had been written by someone else (not Gu Long). Gu Long forgot several things, like: 1)Ji Pwe-giok's name had not been cleaned concerning the murder of Tong Bu-siang, Cia Thian-pi and the Kunlun's chief, and 2)Ji Pwe-giok's relationship with Lim Tay-ih. The epilogue given was enlightening, but I don't like how he ended up with three women as his wives.
Ji Hong-ho - the chief of Bu-kek-pay - had retired from the martial arts world. His only son, a young man named Ji Pwe-giok, was the hero in this story. Ji Pwe-giok saw his father being murdered in front of him. Soon after that, his fianceé Lim Tay-ih came to tell him that her own father and 4 of his friends - each of them first class swordsman - had also been murdered. However, those 5 people who Lim Tay-ih had said had been dead, came to Ji Pwe-giok's house - all alive - and it seemed his father had not been dead as well.
Ji Pwe-giok thought he went crazy. None believed his story and Lim Tay-ih also denied what she had said before. In desperation, Ji Pwe-giok ran from them and went to the big meeting of the 13 clans (Shaolin, Butong, Hoasan etc) [with Bu-kek-pay, all were 14 clans, but since Ji Hong-ho had retired, originally only 13 clans had been scheduled to attend the meeting.] in Hong-ti, hoping to find an answer. On his way to Hong-ti, Ji Pwe-giok made friends with the Beggar's Clan's chief, who would be a great help to him in the future.
In the Hong-ti meeting, the fake Ji Hong-ho were chosen to be the chief of the martial arts world. [The real Ji Hong-ho was the initiator of the first Hong-ti meeting 70 years ago, so this old man was very respected. I don't know if the '70 years ago' was mistranslated. Even if Ji Hong-ho was 20 years old then, that made him 90 years old in the beginning of his story. I'd like to think Ji Pwe-gion's age was 25 years old. The book only said that he was 'a young man'. But probably he was younger, perhaps 18 years old. He had never met his fianceé at the beginning of the story and not much older than Cu Lui-ji who was 11-12 years old.]
With the power given to him, fake Ji Hong-ho was now the most powerful man in the martial arts world. The 13 clans were ready to do what he commanded. Since Ji Pwe-giok was the only person who knew his secret, fake Ji Hong-ho wanted the young man dead.
Being slandered with the murder of two clans' chiefs and hunted by everyone, Ji Pwe-giok ran into Sat-jin-ceng, a place where one could freely kill another, no question asked. In this place, he met an old man who hid him and changed his face (=facial surgery) so he could go out and investigate the mystery behind his father's death. The old man gave him a perfect handsome face, which would soon got 2 cuts by a desperate young woman, despite what his 'friend' believed: "With a face like that, no woman will harm him."
The story in this book spanned 6 months and in his journey, Ji Pwe-giok met characters with higher and higher fighting skills, that in the middle of the book, the 13 clans chiefs were nothing. Ji Pwe-giok himself learned more and more martial arts, and with his patience and intelligence, in the end he finally could avenged his father's death, solved the mystery and cleaned his name.
I really liked the idea of how things started and enjoyed reading this book a lot. I almost couldn't put it down. Ji Pwe-giok was described as: polite, clever, attentive, patient, and meek; all these traits made me like him very much. The dialogues were funny at times and made me giggle. The way how a woman's face was compared to a wall, for example. Khu Lung wrote about it a couple of times that I began to think this was a common thought in China.
I read that the epilogue had been written by someone else (not Gu Long). Gu Long forgot several things, like: 1)Ji Pwe-giok's name had not been cleaned concerning the murder of Tong Bu-siang, Cia Thian-pi and the Kunlun's chief, and 2)Ji Pwe-giok's relationship with Lim Tay-ih. The epilogue given was enlightening, but I don't like how he ended up with three women as his wives.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
The Lonestar Swordsman - Gu Long
The story in this book (first published in 1960) started and developed well, but there were too many twists in the end, which I think didn't quite make sense a bit... or perhaps I was just irritated because things didn't go as I had guessed.
Little Hui Giok lost his father and uncle, both murdered by a mysterious masked man who robbed the Jade Frog they had been guarded. [They were from a shipping expedition.] At this time many shipping companies's owners were murdered by the masked man, leaving only Tham Beng. As a sole surviver, Tham Beng's shipping company prospered quickly, for he was the only one they could hire. A dead masked man was later found dead that they thought the dead man was the mysterious murderer. Case closed.
Tham Beng took Hui Giok - and other children from murdered shipping companies' owners - to his home and raised them. He separated them and 'intimidated' them. Hui Giok, for example, was told that he was stupid. He was taught fighting skill but he didn't even could defeat a servant. He spent his days lamenting his stupidity. Too bad he fell in love with Tham Beng's daughter, Tham Bun-ki.
Knowing he would never win her hand with his current situation, Hui Giok ran away from Tham Beng's house. He hoped he could become a successful man so Tham Bun-ki could admire him. In his journey, he met interesting people with high skilled kungfu, made a couple of friends, but also became deaf and mute for a while. Due to his good luck, he became the leader of people's union from the south, and became Tham Beng's main rival. Hui Giok gradually learned that he was actually not as stupid as he had believed and his confidence grew. He realized that he was basically very talented and smart and Tham Beng had been afraid of him that Tham Beng had not taught him anything.
Readers could guess that Tham Beng was the masked murderer and he had murdered all his rivals, but had it been really the case? If Hui Giok avenged his father and uncle by killing Tham Beng, how could he face Tham Bun-ki, whom he always loved? Tham Beng was not all guilty for all he had been accused. In the end he got what he deserved and Hui Giok could live happily and peacefully with Tham Bun-ki.
Little Hui Giok lost his father and uncle, both murdered by a mysterious masked man who robbed the Jade Frog they had been guarded. [They were from a shipping expedition.] At this time many shipping companies's owners were murdered by the masked man, leaving only Tham Beng. As a sole surviver, Tham Beng's shipping company prospered quickly, for he was the only one they could hire. A dead masked man was later found dead that they thought the dead man was the mysterious murderer. Case closed.
Tham Beng took Hui Giok - and other children from murdered shipping companies' owners - to his home and raised them. He separated them and 'intimidated' them. Hui Giok, for example, was told that he was stupid. He was taught fighting skill but he didn't even could defeat a servant. He spent his days lamenting his stupidity. Too bad he fell in love with Tham Beng's daughter, Tham Bun-ki.
Knowing he would never win her hand with his current situation, Hui Giok ran away from Tham Beng's house. He hoped he could become a successful man so Tham Bun-ki could admire him. In his journey, he met interesting people with high skilled kungfu, made a couple of friends, but also became deaf and mute for a while. Due to his good luck, he became the leader of people's union from the south, and became Tham Beng's main rival. Hui Giok gradually learned that he was actually not as stupid as he had believed and his confidence grew. He realized that he was basically very talented and smart and Tham Beng had been afraid of him that Tham Beng had not taught him anything.
Readers could guess that Tham Beng was the masked murderer and he had murdered all his rivals, but had it been really the case? If Hui Giok avenged his father and uncle by killing Tham Beng, how could he face Tham Bun-ki, whom he always loved? Tham Beng was not all guilty for all he had been accused. In the end he got what he deserved and Hui Giok could live happily and peacefully with Tham Bun-ki.
Lady Siang's Sword - Gu Long
First published in 1960, this book was one of Khu Lung's early works. The plot was very interesting and I plan to re-read this sometime in the future. Siu Tok, a high-skilled swordsman, was actually not a bad man; but because of his strange nature, people misunderstood him and believed that his character was bad. Ten people known as 'jit-kiam-sam-pian' [it means seven of them carried swords and three carried flogs/whips] surrounded him when he was alone. When they confronted him for his sins, Siu Tok stayed silent, believing that he had done what was right.
They eventually could kill Siu Tok because he had been paralyzed from waist below, due to Mao Kau's trick. Mao Kau was one of the 10 people. Siu Tok had fallen in love with his sister and Mao Kau used her to harm Siu Tok. Several people from 'jit-kiam-sam-pian' also wanted to kill Siu Tok because they wanted to cover their own crimes. They hated him so much that they ruined his dead body.
Mao Kau's sister regretted what she had done to Siu Tok and she went away. At that time she was pregnant with Siu Tok's baby. She went to a mysterious island inhabited by high-skilled kungfu masters. It can be predicted that Siu Tok's kid would avenge his father's terrible death.
Years passed and appeared this handsome young man who claimed that he came from a rich family and wanted to see the world. Easy to guess that this was Siu Tok's son. He looked like someone who never learned martial arts, but actually it was because he had already perfected his skill, so he was very dangerous, that was, of course, to his enemies. He was also very clever and smart and already had schemes how to deal with his enemies. At this time, Mao Kau had a high position in the martial world and was very respected.
As this story was written by Khu Lung, things didn't go well as planned. Siu Su (it's Siu Tok's son's name) was very smart, but he had lived in a deserted island all his life so he lacked experience. Although he was only appeared for a couple of months in martial art world, it turned out his enemies were not merely those who had killed his father. His life was in great danger when his real identity had been exposed.
To get to his main enemy Mao Kau, Siu Su used Mao Kau's daughter, Mao Bun-ki. Using his handsome face, soon Mao Bun-ki was crazy about Siu Su. Mao Bun-ki had a sworn sister, Buyung Siok-sing. Knew that Siu Su only played with Mao Bun-ki's feeling, Buyung Siok-sing captured Siu Su and took him to look for Mao Bun-ki. It was a pity that during this capture, the author didn't put more effort to tell what had happened [but he did a good job years later in 'The Remarkable Twins'], the next thing we knew, when Siu Su and Buyung Siok-sing appeared again, they were attracted to each other. Mao Bun-ki found out about how Siu Su and Buyung Siok-sing had betrayed her love and she went crazy. She ruined her own beautiful face.
Like The Count of Monte Cristo, Siu Su found a hidden treasure and used it to finance his schemes. This story ended with a happy ending, at least for Siu Su and Buyung Siok-sing, with forgiveness for both sides... quite a rare thing in the martial art world, where men should take revenge for their father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, grandmother, grandfather, student, uncle, friend ... or anyone who has any relation to them.
The title means the unique sword used by Mao Bun-ki. It was a magnetic sword and used by high-skilled Mao Bun-ki, it could beat any sword... except swords not made of steel. I think it was a 'bad' title, for Mao Bun-ki's sword was not major issue in this story.
They eventually could kill Siu Tok because he had been paralyzed from waist below, due to Mao Kau's trick. Mao Kau was one of the 10 people. Siu Tok had fallen in love with his sister and Mao Kau used her to harm Siu Tok. Several people from 'jit-kiam-sam-pian' also wanted to kill Siu Tok because they wanted to cover their own crimes. They hated him so much that they ruined his dead body.
Mao Kau's sister regretted what she had done to Siu Tok and she went away. At that time she was pregnant with Siu Tok's baby. She went to a mysterious island inhabited by high-skilled kungfu masters. It can be predicted that Siu Tok's kid would avenge his father's terrible death.
Years passed and appeared this handsome young man who claimed that he came from a rich family and wanted to see the world. Easy to guess that this was Siu Tok's son. He looked like someone who never learned martial arts, but actually it was because he had already perfected his skill, so he was very dangerous, that was, of course, to his enemies. He was also very clever and smart and already had schemes how to deal with his enemies. At this time, Mao Kau had a high position in the martial world and was very respected.
As this story was written by Khu Lung, things didn't go well as planned. Siu Su (it's Siu Tok's son's name) was very smart, but he had lived in a deserted island all his life so he lacked experience. Although he was only appeared for a couple of months in martial art world, it turned out his enemies were not merely those who had killed his father. His life was in great danger when his real identity had been exposed.
To get to his main enemy Mao Kau, Siu Su used Mao Kau's daughter, Mao Bun-ki. Using his handsome face, soon Mao Bun-ki was crazy about Siu Su. Mao Bun-ki had a sworn sister, Buyung Siok-sing. Knew that Siu Su only played with Mao Bun-ki's feeling, Buyung Siok-sing captured Siu Su and took him to look for Mao Bun-ki. It was a pity that during this capture, the author didn't put more effort to tell what had happened [but he did a good job years later in 'The Remarkable Twins'], the next thing we knew, when Siu Su and Buyung Siok-sing appeared again, they were attracted to each other. Mao Bun-ki found out about how Siu Su and Buyung Siok-sing had betrayed her love and she went crazy. She ruined her own beautiful face.
Like The Count of Monte Cristo, Siu Su found a hidden treasure and used it to finance his schemes. This story ended with a happy ending, at least for Siu Su and Buyung Siok-sing, with forgiveness for both sides... quite a rare thing in the martial art world, where men should take revenge for their father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, grandmother, grandfather, student, uncle, friend ... or anyone who has any relation to them.
The title means the unique sword used by Mao Bun-ki. It was a magnetic sword and used by high-skilled Mao Bun-ki, it could beat any sword... except swords not made of steel. I think it was a 'bad' title, for Mao Bun-ki's sword was not major issue in this story.
Flower-Guarding Bell - Gu Long
This book was first published in 1962. The story was the adventures of Lamkiong Peng, the 5th student of the Powerful Dragon. Powerful Dragon was number one swordsman at that time. The story began with the long-waited duel between Powerful Dragon and his ex-lover Yap Jiu-pek, to determine which one of them was the best. It ended with Powerful Dragon missing. However, he had a time to left a message to his 5th student, his youngest and most talented student, to keep his sword and guard a coffin.
Separated from other students, Lamkiong Peng, who was the only son of a wealthy merchant, found that the coffin contained a beautiful lady. She was known as an evil woman, but as it was his master's last wish, Lamkiong Peng did what he could to guard her and protect her. As soon as the news about her re-appearance known, people came to kill her. Actually it was a misunderstanding that made the Powerful Dragon fought her ten years ago and it ended with her imprisoned in the coffin since. During that time she did not age and she was still as beautiful as ever. [Like a fairy tale, right?] Lamkiong Peng and she fell in love with each other, but Powerful Dragon also left another wish, that was for Lamkiong Peng to marry Miss Yap Man-jing, the student of Yap Jiu-pek.
Meanwhile, a mysterious man tried to rule the martial world. He gathered best swordsmen to work for him, and those who refused were given drugs that they forgot everything but subdued his commands.
There was also a mysterious island inhabited by legendary swordsmen. Lamkiong Peng was given a task by his parents to deliver all the Lamkiong's wealth to the island as a part of a pact made hundreds of years ago by their anchestors. Those who had gone there would never go back, but as Lamkiong Peng was our hero in this story, he of course came back to the mainland, with high-skilled kungfu to beat the mysterious man and his gang.
As for the title, Lamkiong Peng's parents and uncle used 3 pairs of bells to signal each other if there was a danger. The bells were later given to Lamkiong Peng and he could give them to the woman he liked.
The web of the plots was quite complicated, but still could be enjoyed. This was one of Khu Lung's first works anyway. But because there were so many to tell in this little book, the characters's development was limited. The previous book I read 'Tale of A Wandering Swordsman' was better in this aspect.
Separated from other students, Lamkiong Peng, who was the only son of a wealthy merchant, found that the coffin contained a beautiful lady. She was known as an evil woman, but as it was his master's last wish, Lamkiong Peng did what he could to guard her and protect her. As soon as the news about her re-appearance known, people came to kill her. Actually it was a misunderstanding that made the Powerful Dragon fought her ten years ago and it ended with her imprisoned in the coffin since. During that time she did not age and she was still as beautiful as ever. [Like a fairy tale, right?] Lamkiong Peng and she fell in love with each other, but Powerful Dragon also left another wish, that was for Lamkiong Peng to marry Miss Yap Man-jing, the student of Yap Jiu-pek.
Meanwhile, a mysterious man tried to rule the martial world. He gathered best swordsmen to work for him, and those who refused were given drugs that they forgot everything but subdued his commands.
There was also a mysterious island inhabited by legendary swordsmen. Lamkiong Peng was given a task by his parents to deliver all the Lamkiong's wealth to the island as a part of a pact made hundreds of years ago by their anchestors. Those who had gone there would never go back, but as Lamkiong Peng was our hero in this story, he of course came back to the mainland, with high-skilled kungfu to beat the mysterious man and his gang.
As for the title, Lamkiong Peng's parents and uncle used 3 pairs of bells to signal each other if there was a danger. The bells were later given to Lamkiong Peng and he could give them to the woman he liked.
The web of the plots was quite complicated, but still could be enjoyed. This was one of Khu Lung's first works anyway. But because there were so many to tell in this little book, the characters's development was limited. The previous book I read 'Tale of A Wandering Swordsman' was better in this aspect.
The Tale of A Wandering Swordsman - Gu Long
First published in 1961, this was one of Khu Lung's early works. From articles I had read, I had an impression that his works before The Remarkable Twins in 1967 were unworthy to read. However, I think the Tale of A Wandering Swordsman is enjoyable to read.
I wonder why for the English title 'a wandering swordsman' was chosen. The main characters were 2 swordsmen, although one of them was not 'wandering', because he was the son of a wealthy man, meant he had a big home.
The two main characters were Liong It-hiong and Pang Bun-hiong. They were of the same age, about 25 years old. [More or less they were of the same age as the author.] Liong It-hiong was known as The Dragon and Pang Bun-hiong as The Tiger. They both enjoyed good life and frequented brothels, definitely not model swordsmen, at least in the moral aspect. From their first meeting, they competed with each other, tried to find which one of them was the best swordsman. As time passed, the duel never came, instead they became good friends and helped each other.
Liong It-hiong met a dying old man when he was on his way for a duel with Pan Bun-hiong. The dying old man gave him a little black box and asked him to deliver it to a certain hill, the headquarters of a powerful group of bandits led by a mysterious man. Along the way, many people tried to rob the black box away from him. The rumour was the black box contained a treasure map belonged to a well-known previous bandit leader, Oh Kiam-lam. The ones who wanted the black box were mainly Oh Kiam-lam's seven sworn-brothers, who had taken his place after his death.
In wuxia stories, a promise should not be broken, so Liong It-hiong did whatever it took to deliver the black box, although he didn't know what was inside. He also had a task from a retired detective to find a prostitute named Giok-nio, who later turned out to be Oh Kiam-lam's sister. Until the end I didn't fully understand what the black box contained, perhaps I missed the part when it was mentioned, or perhaps it was really empty - because it was merely a trap to lure Oh Kiam-lam's seven brothers to kill each other.
The identity of the mysterious leader was easy to guess, but this little book was worth my time. The dialogues between Liong It-hiong and Pan Bun-hiong were quite funny, although not as very good as the dialogues in Khu Lung's later works i.e. The Remarkable Twins or The Legend of Coh Liu-hiang [This two are my most favourite]. People said that among the first five books (or perhaps all) of Coh Liu-hiang books, the Great Desert was the best. I myself cannot decide between The Great Desert and The Thrush, and I also liked The Legend of The Bat a lot; because Oh Thi-hoa were in those three books. In Coh Liu-hiang movies, Oh Thi-hoa was described as a wine-devil who was drunk a lot; but in the books, he was a great friend and I enjoyed reading his conversations with Coh Liu-hiang. Coh Liu-hiang was not arrogant like Sherlock Holmes and Oh Thi-hoa was not a stiff British gentleman like Dr. Watson, so although in most of those dialogues Coh Liu-hiang, as the cleverer, explained things to Oh Thi-hoa (and us readers), they were enjoyable to read, amusing and sometimes made you giggle.
I wonder why for the English title 'a wandering swordsman' was chosen. The main characters were 2 swordsmen, although one of them was not 'wandering', because he was the son of a wealthy man, meant he had a big home.
The two main characters were Liong It-hiong and Pang Bun-hiong. They were of the same age, about 25 years old. [More or less they were of the same age as the author.] Liong It-hiong was known as The Dragon and Pang Bun-hiong as The Tiger. They both enjoyed good life and frequented brothels, definitely not model swordsmen, at least in the moral aspect. From their first meeting, they competed with each other, tried to find which one of them was the best swordsman. As time passed, the duel never came, instead they became good friends and helped each other.
Liong It-hiong met a dying old man when he was on his way for a duel with Pan Bun-hiong. The dying old man gave him a little black box and asked him to deliver it to a certain hill, the headquarters of a powerful group of bandits led by a mysterious man. Along the way, many people tried to rob the black box away from him. The rumour was the black box contained a treasure map belonged to a well-known previous bandit leader, Oh Kiam-lam. The ones who wanted the black box were mainly Oh Kiam-lam's seven sworn-brothers, who had taken his place after his death.
In wuxia stories, a promise should not be broken, so Liong It-hiong did whatever it took to deliver the black box, although he didn't know what was inside. He also had a task from a retired detective to find a prostitute named Giok-nio, who later turned out to be Oh Kiam-lam's sister. Until the end I didn't fully understand what the black box contained, perhaps I missed the part when it was mentioned, or perhaps it was really empty - because it was merely a trap to lure Oh Kiam-lam's seven brothers to kill each other.
The identity of the mysterious leader was easy to guess, but this little book was worth my time. The dialogues between Liong It-hiong and Pan Bun-hiong were quite funny, although not as very good as the dialogues in Khu Lung's later works i.e. The Remarkable Twins or The Legend of Coh Liu-hiang [This two are my most favourite]. People said that among the first five books (or perhaps all) of Coh Liu-hiang books, the Great Desert was the best. I myself cannot decide between The Great Desert and The Thrush, and I also liked The Legend of The Bat a lot; because Oh Thi-hoa were in those three books. In Coh Liu-hiang movies, Oh Thi-hoa was described as a wine-devil who was drunk a lot; but in the books, he was a great friend and I enjoyed reading his conversations with Coh Liu-hiang. Coh Liu-hiang was not arrogant like Sherlock Holmes and Oh Thi-hoa was not a stiff British gentleman like Dr. Watson, so although in most of those dialogues Coh Liu-hiang, as the cleverer, explained things to Oh Thi-hoa (and us readers), they were enjoyable to read, amusing and sometimes made you giggle.
Smile of The Sword God (Lu Siao Feng) - Gu Long
If I am not mistaken, this is the last book from the Liok Siao-hong series. In this book (first published in 1981), the author wanted to tell an incident, the only incident, that made the Sword God smile/laugh. In Liok Siao-hong's world, there was only 1 Sword God, and that was Sebun Jiu-soat. To become a sword god was not an easy matter and that was why the people never saw Sebun Jui-soat smile, thus this story was created. However, after I read this story, I didn't find the incident extraordinary enough to make Sebun Jui-soat smile. It was hardly funny enough to make me smile.
Liok Siao-hong's friend went missing after going to a deserted poor small town to examine something [he was an escort for a shipping company]. Liok Siao-hong went to the small town to find about his friend's fate. During the investigation, he saw the dead body of his friend and felt that his own life was in great danger, because although the town was small and poor, the inhabitants were of interesting characters. Which one of them had killed hid friend? From the clues, it must be someone whom he had really trusted. At the end of part 1, there was a news that Liok Siao-hong had died in the small town.
His friend Beef Soup (I have no idea why Beef Soup became his friend. In the previous book, Beef Soup was his enemy.) went to Sebun Jiu-soat's house to ask for his help. Because he was the number 1 swordsman, she thought the Sword God could handle Liok Siao-hong's enemies in the small town. But the enemies were too clever and both Beef Soup and Sebun Jiu-soat fell into their hands. The whole thing was the bad guys's scheme to rob a shipment of gold passing through the little town. Liok Siao-hong also didn't die because of the help of his friend Sukong Ti-sing, the king of thief and a master of disguise. The disguise thing was very interesting to read and it was clever enough to fool the clever bad guys... and made the Sword God smile.
As for the murder mystery, the conclusion was similar to the Murder on the Orient Express.
Liok Siao-hong's friend went missing after going to a deserted poor small town to examine something [he was an escort for a shipping company]. Liok Siao-hong went to the small town to find about his friend's fate. During the investigation, he saw the dead body of his friend and felt that his own life was in great danger, because although the town was small and poor, the inhabitants were of interesting characters. Which one of them had killed hid friend? From the clues, it must be someone whom he had really trusted. At the end of part 1, there was a news that Liok Siao-hong had died in the small town.
His friend Beef Soup (I have no idea why Beef Soup became his friend. In the previous book, Beef Soup was his enemy.) went to Sebun Jiu-soat's house to ask for his help. Because he was the number 1 swordsman, she thought the Sword God could handle Liok Siao-hong's enemies in the small town. But the enemies were too clever and both Beef Soup and Sebun Jiu-soat fell into their hands. The whole thing was the bad guys's scheme to rob a shipment of gold passing through the little town. Liok Siao-hong also didn't die because of the help of his friend Sukong Ti-sing, the king of thief and a master of disguise. The disguise thing was very interesting to read and it was clever enough to fool the clever bad guys... and made the Sword God smile.
As for the murder mystery, the conclusion was similar to the Murder on the Orient Express.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Phoenix Dances on the Ninth Level of Heaven (Lu Siao Feng) - Gu Long
First published in 1978, there is a 1996 movie version of this book, the [english] title is the same as Shaw Brothers' Liok Siau-hong movie made in 1978 with different story (the SB one is about the Embroidery Bandit): Clan of Amazons. I wonder why the marketing people liked the idea of giving an impression that they were lots of s3xy girls in both movies.
103 martial art heroes and 35 million gold taels disappeared in one night. The only witness at first was found alive, although gravely wounded, but later he was murdered in a tight guarded room, along with two trusty guards. The shipping expeditions (such a big job couldn't be handled by one company) responsible of course had to reimburse the lost, but they didn't have such money. One of the leaders decided to ask Liok Siau-hong's help before the deadline ended. He couldn't find Liok Siau-hong because our hero had sailed away to Japan.
But did Liok Siau-hong really go to Japan? The ship he had boarded swept away by a violent storm and he was stranded in a deserted island. After a month living like Robinson Crusoe and eating banana, he found a village (ha-ha!). The people there were high-level skilled heroes, led by a genius little old man. This old man was the brain behind the disappearance of the 103 heroes and 35 million gold taels. After meeting Liok Siau-hong, the old man wanted to hire him to assassinate the recent emperor, because none would believe Liok Siau-hong would do such a thing, therefore Liok Siau-hong would never be caught. The old man wanted Liok Siau-hong to become an invisible killer. Our hero refused to cooperate, of course, so the bad guys kidnapped his lover, a beautiful woman named Sha Man, whom he met in the island. Liok Siau-hong must save Sha Man and find the missing men and gold taels, because now the imperial guards wanted him, for they had thought he was the one who had stolen the gold taels.
The old man had a son and a daughter. The daughter loved to cook and eat beef soup. The son, Kiong Kiu (Kiu=nine, see the title. Phoenix refers to 'hong' in Liok Siau-hong), was more genius and dangerous than his father, but he had this strange s3xual problem: he liked to be wh1pped. Kiong Kiu would became the Emperor after Liok Siau-hong assassinated the recent one. Liok Siau-hong would use Kiong Kiu's problem/weakness to get rid of him.
This story also told that one of Liok Siau-hong's friends, known as Honest Monk, was not honest. Honest Monk joined
the old man to seek pleasure of life.
103 martial art heroes and 35 million gold taels disappeared in one night. The only witness at first was found alive, although gravely wounded, but later he was murdered in a tight guarded room, along with two trusty guards. The shipping expeditions (such a big job couldn't be handled by one company) responsible of course had to reimburse the lost, but they didn't have such money. One of the leaders decided to ask Liok Siau-hong's help before the deadline ended. He couldn't find Liok Siau-hong because our hero had sailed away to Japan.
But did Liok Siau-hong really go to Japan? The ship he had boarded swept away by a violent storm and he was stranded in a deserted island. After a month living like Robinson Crusoe and eating banana, he found a village (ha-ha!). The people there were high-level skilled heroes, led by a genius little old man. This old man was the brain behind the disappearance of the 103 heroes and 35 million gold taels. After meeting Liok Siau-hong, the old man wanted to hire him to assassinate the recent emperor, because none would believe Liok Siau-hong would do such a thing, therefore Liok Siau-hong would never be caught. The old man wanted Liok Siau-hong to become an invisible killer. Our hero refused to cooperate, of course, so the bad guys kidnapped his lover, a beautiful woman named Sha Man, whom he met in the island. Liok Siau-hong must save Sha Man and find the missing men and gold taels, because now the imperial guards wanted him, for they had thought he was the one who had stolen the gold taels.
The old man had a son and a daughter. The daughter loved to cook and eat beef soup. The son, Kiong Kiu (Kiu=nine, see the title. Phoenix refers to 'hong' in Liok Siau-hong), was more genius and dangerous than his father, but he had this strange s3xual problem: he liked to be wh1pped. Kiong Kiu would became the Emperor after Liok Siau-hong assassinated the recent one. Liok Siau-hong would use Kiong Kiu's problem/weakness to get rid of him.
This story also told that one of Liok Siau-hong's friends, known as Honest Monk, was not honest. Honest Monk joined
the old man to seek pleasure of life.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Clan of Amazons (1978)
I think this movie is a good adaptation from Khu Lung's book 'The Embroidery Bandit', considering there are other adaptations which are messy. Although there are changes, important elements and plots were still used. I don't like the English title and I fail to grasp the marketing's idea why they thought The Embroidery Bandit was not as magnetic as Clan of Amazons.
The movie began with a shipping expedition met a bandit who was doing needlework on their way. The bandit not only could embroider flower on cloth, but also embroider the blind. The bandit used his needles to blind the shipping men. He also broke into The Pingnan National Treasury which was heavily guarded and blinded the guards.
Number One Constable Kim Kiu-leng asked Liok Siau-hong to look into the matter. The only lead was a piece of red cloth with embroidered flower which had been left in the national treasury. Liok Siau-hong went to visit one of his girlfriends, Sih Peng, because her mother knew all about embroidery. Sih Peng's mother told him that the flower was made by a woman. This clue was not explained until the end, why Sih Peng's mother said so, because the bandit was certainly not a woman.
Sih Peng accompanied Liok Siau-hong in his investigation, until she was kidnapped. Sih Peng's part was to explain the progress of the investigation to the audience since there were question-answer session between her and Liok Siau-hong.
The investigation would lead our hero to the Red Shoes Society, which its members were seven women (who wore red shoes). Red Shoes Society was supposed to be a secret group, but they had this big headquarters, complete with its name sign. The Embroidery Bandit was not The Red Shoes, but someone else, although in the Red Shoes there was a traitor who worked with the bandit.
Liu Yung played Liok Siau-hong, who had lost his famous moustache from the beginning of the movie. It seemed that he felt himself too tall, because he hunched his back and couldn't stood straight.
Clan of Amazons was better than its sequel Duel of The Century. Liok Siau-hong was lazy, but on screen if it was portrayed closely - like how Liu Yung played it on Duel of The Century, it could get irritating.
The movie began with a shipping expedition met a bandit who was doing needlework on their way. The bandit not only could embroider flower on cloth, but also embroider the blind. The bandit used his needles to blind the shipping men. He also broke into The Pingnan National Treasury which was heavily guarded and blinded the guards.
Number One Constable Kim Kiu-leng asked Liok Siau-hong to look into the matter. The only lead was a piece of red cloth with embroidered flower which had been left in the national treasury. Liok Siau-hong went to visit one of his girlfriends, Sih Peng, because her mother knew all about embroidery. Sih Peng's mother told him that the flower was made by a woman. This clue was not explained until the end, why Sih Peng's mother said so, because the bandit was certainly not a woman.
 |
| Sih Peng eats with healthy appetite on this date. Liok Siau-hong has a phoenix accessory on his hair. (Siau-hong means 'Little Phoenix') |
The investigation would lead our hero to the Red Shoes Society, which its members were seven women (who wore red shoes). Red Shoes Society was supposed to be a secret group, but they had this big headquarters, complete with its name sign. The Embroidery Bandit was not The Red Shoes, but someone else, although in the Red Shoes there was a traitor who worked with the bandit.
 |
| Name sign on the Red Shoes 'secret' headquarters |
 |
| Liok Siau-hong and Red Shoes members |
Friday, July 3, 2015
Phantom Manor [Lu Siao Feng] (1977) - Gu Long
I really enjoyed reading this book. One of the characters was a master of disguise who was so clever that he could transform himself into a dog.
The movie 'Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman' (1982) was based on this book, but the main character was changed from Lu Siao-feng to Chu Liu-hsiang. The book was much better, though, in my opinion, with more complex plots.
It was said that Liok Siau-hong had committed adultery with Sebun Jui-soat's beloved wife. Sebun Jui-soat had reached perfection with his sword, so perhaps he could kill Liok Siau-hong. Scared to death, Liok Siau-hong ran to the mysterious Phantom Manor, a secluded place where he met many swordsmen whom thought to be dead. There they had been hiding to evade their enemies. The Phantom Manor was led by a mysterious person who was arranging a scheme to kill leaders of the martial world. Liok Siau-hong had been given the most difficult task: to steal a gold cap being worn by Wu Tang's leader in a meeting.
The conclusion was good. Liok Siau-hong did a wonderful detective job here.
The parts with the dog character were amusing. The master of disguise knew that if he had done his part, he would be killed. So he asked Liok Siau-hong's help to take him along when Liok Siau-hong went out to do his task. When the time came, Liok Siau-hong left the Phantom Manor as an official with a wife, a son, several servants, and a dog. Because he was being watched all the time, he met with his 'dog' in a toilet. Once a day he would ask someone to walk the dog. Until the time when his watchers couldn't take it anymore and killed the dog, but what they killed was really a dog. The master of disguise had fled. Nevertheless the watchers wrote a report to their leader: 'Today we covered two hundred kilometers. The dog suddenly dead.'
Liok Siau-hong loved making friends. It was safe to guess that the bad guy in every Liok Siau-hong story was one of his friends.
The movie 'Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman' (1982) was based on this book, but the main character was changed from Lu Siao-feng to Chu Liu-hsiang. The book was much better, though, in my opinion, with more complex plots.
It was said that Liok Siau-hong had committed adultery with Sebun Jui-soat's beloved wife. Sebun Jui-soat had reached perfection with his sword, so perhaps he could kill Liok Siau-hong. Scared to death, Liok Siau-hong ran to the mysterious Phantom Manor, a secluded place where he met many swordsmen whom thought to be dead. There they had been hiding to evade their enemies. The Phantom Manor was led by a mysterious person who was arranging a scheme to kill leaders of the martial world. Liok Siau-hong had been given the most difficult task: to steal a gold cap being worn by Wu Tang's leader in a meeting.
The conclusion was good. Liok Siau-hong did a wonderful detective job here.
The parts with the dog character were amusing. The master of disguise knew that if he had done his part, he would be killed. So he asked Liok Siau-hong's help to take him along when Liok Siau-hong went out to do his task. When the time came, Liok Siau-hong left the Phantom Manor as an official with a wife, a son, several servants, and a dog. Because he was being watched all the time, he met with his 'dog' in a toilet. Once a day he would ask someone to walk the dog. Until the time when his watchers couldn't take it anymore and killed the dog, but what they killed was really a dog. The master of disguise had fled. Nevertheless the watchers wrote a report to their leader: 'Today we covered two hundred kilometers. The dog suddenly dead.'
Liok Siau-hong loved making friends. It was safe to guess that the bad guy in every Liok Siau-hong story was one of his friends.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Silver-hook Gambling House (Lu Siao Feng) - Gu Long
Liok Siau-hong: "Some people looking for fame, power; some for treasure. Do you know what I look for?"
Sebun Jui-soat : "Trouble"
Liok Siau-hong: "Exactly. No matter where I go and where I look, all I found is trouble."
Forst published in 1977, this book started well. Liok Siau-hong went with one of his friends, Put Giok-hui, to the Silver-hook Gambling House - whose owner was Put Giok-hui's brother-in-law, known as Blue Beard. It was said that those who liked women and wine, should also like gambling.
In the gambling house, Liok Siau-hong met a mysterious beautiful woman who lured him out and encaged him for 3 days. After 3 days, Liok Siau-hong was free, but accused of killing the son of a powerful clan. Of course Liok Siau-hong was unable to prove his alibi. Blue Beard promised to clear Liok Siau-hong's name if Liok Siau-hong promised to get back a-thousand-year-old sacred jade stone, which had been stolen by Blue Beard's first wife. The jade stone had been pawned to the gambling house by the dead son of the powerful clan's leader and now the leader wanted it back.
So Liok Siau-hong went to the north, to a very cold city, the hometown of Blue Beard's first wife. All the way he was protected by three people from the clan who wouldn't let anything happen to him before he found the jade stone.
This story features a number of beautiful women, but all of them were cunning. The twists of the story were very good.
Sebun Jui-soat : "Trouble"
Liok Siau-hong: "Exactly. No matter where I go and where I look, all I found is trouble."
Forst published in 1977, this book started well. Liok Siau-hong went with one of his friends, Put Giok-hui, to the Silver-hook Gambling House - whose owner was Put Giok-hui's brother-in-law, known as Blue Beard. It was said that those who liked women and wine, should also like gambling.
In the gambling house, Liok Siau-hong met a mysterious beautiful woman who lured him out and encaged him for 3 days. After 3 days, Liok Siau-hong was free, but accused of killing the son of a powerful clan. Of course Liok Siau-hong was unable to prove his alibi. Blue Beard promised to clear Liok Siau-hong's name if Liok Siau-hong promised to get back a-thousand-year-old sacred jade stone, which had been stolen by Blue Beard's first wife. The jade stone had been pawned to the gambling house by the dead son of the powerful clan's leader and now the leader wanted it back.
So Liok Siau-hong went to the north, to a very cold city, the hometown of Blue Beard's first wife. All the way he was protected by three people from the clan who wouldn't let anything happen to him before he found the jade stone.
This story features a number of beautiful women, but all of them were cunning. The twists of the story were very good.
Monday, June 22, 2015
The Legend of Lu Siao Feng - Gu Long
I remember seeing the poster of Luk Siu Fung TV series in early 80's (but I never had the opportunity to watch the series). Liu Sung Ren (Damian Lau) played Luk Siu Fung (or Lu Xiao Feng or Liok Siau-hong). The TV series was made in 1976 - the same year as the books (if the notes I found are right); it shows how popular Khu Lung was, if his books were straight made into films.
I just finished reading the first 3 books, and among the 3, I think The Bandit Who Did Needlework is the best. The detective work really stands out (at least compared to the other 2). The 3 books should be read together and in the right order. A very important key to enjoy these books is they have to be translated by a right person.
Liok Siau-hong (siau = little, hong=phoenix; Siau-hong means 'little phoenix'. Usually it's a woman's name.) was well-known for his 4 eyebrows: two above his eyes, two above his mouth or moustache. His great skill was his ability to catch a sword, no matter how fast it was, with his 2 fingers. Like Coh Liu-hiang, he was very smart, liked beautiful women and wine, poking in other people's business, and already became a legend while still alive. One of his good friends, Hoa Ban-lau, was blind. Liok Siau-hong taught Hoa Ban-lau how to clamp a sword using forefinger and middle finger.
[The differences - between Coh Liu-hiang and Liok Siau-hong - were: 1) Liok Siau-hong was lazier. There were times he wouldn't get up from bed, not even for a cup of wine. He lied down, put the cup on his chest and sucked the cup (without raising his head). The cup would move towards his lips, then he drank the wine without spilling a drop. 2) Coh Liu-hiang never killed. He didn't have the heart to hurt other people. In The Trush, when Li Giok-ham was attacking him, if Coh Liu-hiang using his inner force to block the blow, Li Giok-ham would be dead. He did not want to hurt Li Giok-ham, so he himself got kicked and tumbled down. 3)Coh Liu-hiang was more patient. In all five books, I think he only got angry 3 times: when Chiu Ling-siok told him about Lamkiong Ling's crime, when a Kaypang elder didn't believe him that Bu Hoa had been dead, and when Kionglam Yan slandered him as Sutouw King's killer.]
In the first book, the emperor from The Kingdom of Golden Bird, who had been living in exile, asked Liok Siau-hong's help to find 3 men who had stolen the kingdom's treasure and return the treasure to him. The 3 men had been 3 high officials and after years they had became big names in the martial world. To confront them, Liok Siau-hong sought a famous swordsman's help. His name was Sebun Jui-soat. Sebun Jui-soat agreed to help if Liok Siau-hong shaved his famous moustache.
Like in any good detective stories, of course the matter was not as easy as it seemed.
The 2nd book: The Bandit Who Did Needlework. A mysterious bandit did big 60 robberies in a month, including the robbery of the Palace's Treasure Room which had been guarded very tight. No one could see the face of the robber and at first sight, he bowed down his face while he was doing a needlework; then after he mentioned his intention to rob, he did needlework to the guards' eyes, made them blind. Becoming blind was hard to endure, but thanks to Hoa Ban-lau, Liok Siau-hong's friend who was blind, the victims regained their spirit to live. The investigation of the bandit led Liok Siau-hong to a mysterious group which all of its members wore red shoes.
The 3rd book: Before and after the final duel. Liok Siau-hong had 2 friends who excelled in swordplay: Sebun Jui-soat and Yap Koh-seng. Both liked to wear white clothes. These two had made a promise to duel on the rooftop of the Forbidden City. People made bets on who would win, but then they heard that Yap Koh-seng had been critically wounded. On the other hand, Sebun Jui-soat had recently been married, and this had made him human. If he had become human, it would be impossible for him to defeated Yap Koh-seng. However, there was another reason why the duel was to be held in the Forbidden City. Like its name, the place was forbidden to enter. The palace's guard gave Liok Siau-hong six silk belts. Only those who wore the belts could enter the palace to watch the duel.
The silk belts part was used in Chu Liu-hsiang 1995 TV series. Chu Liu-hsiang was going to have a duel with a Japanese swordsman in the palace and only those who wore the special token could enter. I think they had replace the belts with brooches. The last part in the same book was also used in the Chu Liu-hsiang 1995 TV series: Chu Liu-hsiang and the emperor were having a private meeting and his friends outside were curious what they were talking about. They only heard that Chu laughed very hard ("In front of the emperor he dared to laugh like that?") and that the emperor would grant whatever he wanted. They all wondered what he asked.
I just finished reading the first 3 books, and among the 3, I think The Bandit Who Did Needlework is the best. The detective work really stands out (at least compared to the other 2). The 3 books should be read together and in the right order. A very important key to enjoy these books is they have to be translated by a right person.
Liok Siau-hong (siau = little, hong=phoenix; Siau-hong means 'little phoenix'. Usually it's a woman's name.) was well-known for his 4 eyebrows: two above his eyes, two above his mouth or moustache. His great skill was his ability to catch a sword, no matter how fast it was, with his 2 fingers. Like Coh Liu-hiang, he was very smart, liked beautiful women and wine, poking in other people's business, and already became a legend while still alive. One of his good friends, Hoa Ban-lau, was blind. Liok Siau-hong taught Hoa Ban-lau how to clamp a sword using forefinger and middle finger.
[The differences - between Coh Liu-hiang and Liok Siau-hong - were: 1) Liok Siau-hong was lazier. There were times he wouldn't get up from bed, not even for a cup of wine. He lied down, put the cup on his chest and sucked the cup (without raising his head). The cup would move towards his lips, then he drank the wine without spilling a drop. 2) Coh Liu-hiang never killed. He didn't have the heart to hurt other people. In The Trush, when Li Giok-ham was attacking him, if Coh Liu-hiang using his inner force to block the blow, Li Giok-ham would be dead. He did not want to hurt Li Giok-ham, so he himself got kicked and tumbled down. 3)Coh Liu-hiang was more patient. In all five books, I think he only got angry 3 times: when Chiu Ling-siok told him about Lamkiong Ling's crime, when a Kaypang elder didn't believe him that Bu Hoa had been dead, and when Kionglam Yan slandered him as Sutouw King's killer.]
In the first book, the emperor from The Kingdom of Golden Bird, who had been living in exile, asked Liok Siau-hong's help to find 3 men who had stolen the kingdom's treasure and return the treasure to him. The 3 men had been 3 high officials and after years they had became big names in the martial world. To confront them, Liok Siau-hong sought a famous swordsman's help. His name was Sebun Jui-soat. Sebun Jui-soat agreed to help if Liok Siau-hong shaved his famous moustache.
Like in any good detective stories, of course the matter was not as easy as it seemed.
The 2nd book: The Bandit Who Did Needlework. A mysterious bandit did big 60 robberies in a month, including the robbery of the Palace's Treasure Room which had been guarded very tight. No one could see the face of the robber and at first sight, he bowed down his face while he was doing a needlework; then after he mentioned his intention to rob, he did needlework to the guards' eyes, made them blind. Becoming blind was hard to endure, but thanks to Hoa Ban-lau, Liok Siau-hong's friend who was blind, the victims regained their spirit to live. The investigation of the bandit led Liok Siau-hong to a mysterious group which all of its members wore red shoes.
The 3rd book: Before and after the final duel. Liok Siau-hong had 2 friends who excelled in swordplay: Sebun Jui-soat and Yap Koh-seng. Both liked to wear white clothes. These two had made a promise to duel on the rooftop of the Forbidden City. People made bets on who would win, but then they heard that Yap Koh-seng had been critically wounded. On the other hand, Sebun Jui-soat had recently been married, and this had made him human. If he had become human, it would be impossible for him to defeated Yap Koh-seng. However, there was another reason why the duel was to be held in the Forbidden City. Like its name, the place was forbidden to enter. The palace's guard gave Liok Siau-hong six silk belts. Only those who wore the belts could enter the palace to watch the duel.
The silk belts part was used in Chu Liu-hsiang 1995 TV series. Chu Liu-hsiang was going to have a duel with a Japanese swordsman in the palace and only those who wore the special token could enter. I think they had replace the belts with brooches. The last part in the same book was also used in the Chu Liu-hsiang 1995 TV series: Chu Liu-hsiang and the emperor were having a private meeting and his friends outside were curious what they were talking about. They only heard that Chu laughed very hard ("In front of the emperor he dared to laugh like that?") and that the emperor would grant whatever he wanted. They all wondered what he asked.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Night Orchid (1982)
After the death of Soh Yong-yong, one of his three girl-friends, Coh Liu-hiang left the martial world and went into hiding. To lure him out, the enemies killed his friends. The most outstanding killer was a mysterious person nicknamed The Night Orchid.
One of Coh Liu-hiang's friends had this jade horse, given by Coh himself. People shed blood trying to obtain it and when Coh Liu-hiang arrived and this friend told him how he had defended it with his life, Coh said carelessly that it was a fake.
So it was said that he went into hiding and people died for him, but after he appeared, his friend Oh Thi-hoa and the two girls Li Ang-siu and Song Thiam-ji soon joined him. I wonder if this meant they traveled in a group - and why it was so difficult to find him.
I thought the 3 girls who lived with Coh Liu-hiang were orphans. They went to live with him because they had no one else. However, here Soh Yong-yong had a father and a younger sister.
The main enemy, from his clothes, seemed from a foreign country. The Night Orchid was one of his pawns. He lured out Coh Liu-hiang in order to kill our hero because he wanted to rule the martial world and apparently it wouldn't work if Coh was still alive. You can tell that the script writer was a James Bond fan.
The scenes with Miss Lan (the woman who dared Coh to take an acid bath) were all weird and they looked outdated, especially with her 80's hair-style. [The "acid" bath was only in appearance. 'The poison is in her nails', explained Coh Liu-hiang.]
As bad as this movie was, I remember how I wanted to watch it when it was shown on theatre. I wanted so much to watch Cheng Shao-chiu and Lin Ching-hsia, yet I didn't even dare to ask money (for the ticket) from my mom. I knew she would not give me a permission because it was a movie for adult (17+). I had seen the trailer, it showed the waterfall scene and I loved the memorable theme song. Compared to Ti Lung versions from Shaw Brothers, the ones with Adam Cheng had more beautiful costumes.
There are two versions of this movie on YouTube. The first one is English dubbed, but in my opinion the dubbing is so bad, it is hard to understand the dialogues. This version also has lost the opening credits and, if I remember correctly, the theme song in one of the waterfall scenes. The second version with a better quality is the Mandarin version, with Chinese subtitles, which for me also doesn't work because I understand neither. However, there are English subtitles available somewhere. So what I did was: download the Mandarin version from YouTube and synchronized it with the English subs. It could do for the moment until a decent quality DVD (with English subs) is available.
One of Coh Liu-hiang's friends had this jade horse, given by Coh himself. People shed blood trying to obtain it and when Coh Liu-hiang arrived and this friend told him how he had defended it with his life, Coh said carelessly that it was a fake.
So it was said that he went into hiding and people died for him, but after he appeared, his friend Oh Thi-hoa and the two girls Li Ang-siu and Song Thiam-ji soon joined him. I wonder if this meant they traveled in a group - and why it was so difficult to find him.
I thought the 3 girls who lived with Coh Liu-hiang were orphans. They went to live with him because they had no one else. However, here Soh Yong-yong had a father and a younger sister.
 |
| One of the two waterfall scenes |
The scenes with Miss Lan (the woman who dared Coh to take an acid bath) were all weird and they looked outdated, especially with her 80's hair-style. [The "acid" bath was only in appearance. 'The poison is in her nails', explained Coh Liu-hiang.]
 |
| Coh wondered why he had orchids at his place |
 |
| Adam Cheng |
Monday, June 8, 2015
The Black Sabre - Gu Long
The Black Sabre (1976)
From the beginning, it is obvious that the main theme of this story is revenge. However, this book is in the same series as Little Li's Flying Dagger, where one could not overlook forgiveness, hence the twists of the story.
A limp, pale young man called Pho Ang-soat traveled around in black, carrying a black sabre. His mother had made him swear to kill Be Khong-cun, the chief of a powerful clan Ban-be-tong. There were many mysterious deaths in the clan since Pho Ang-soat arrived in a little town nearby, but who was the killer? - for Pho Ang-soat only wanted to kill one man: the chief.
Nineteen years ago, Pho Ang-soat's father and his (almost) entire family was massacred by a mysterious group, but clearly Pho's mother knew that one of them was Be Khong-cun, then Pho's father close friend. Although Pho Ang-soat was crippled, when he fought, he would forget he was a cripple. The black sabre in his hand became a deadly weapon.
There was also a mysterious young man named Yap Kay. He wanted to befriend and help Pho Ang-soat, but was always refused.It would turn out that Yap Kay was Siau Li (Li Sun-hoan)'s [only] student. He also had every right to meddle into Pho Ang-soat's affair.
Another interesting character was a young man named Lok Siau-ka. He liked peanuts. He ate them anytime, anywhere and could attack with one.
Pho Ang-soat, Yap Kay and Lok Siau-ka were of same age; yet the way they think was different, much influenced by their teachers. Pho Ang-soat's mind was cold and full of revenge because of his mother; Yap Kay was wise and forgiving, he examined the facts before making a conclusion; while Lok Siau-ka was a bit eccentric.
There were a couple of mistaken identities, babies switched at birth and switched lovers, which made the revelation was more amusing.
People say that this book is not the author's best, but in my opinion this is a good read, with a good ending. Those who are familiar with the author's works would know that he was often too drunk to write clear endings.
The Sound of the Sabre in a Border Town (1983)
This is the sequel and soon as I'd read a couple of pages, I started to have regrets. The story took place 10 years later and the dead people in the previous story lived again. Be Khong-cun held a party and invited Yap Kay and Pho Ang-soat. Be Khong-cun had a beautiful daughter and was looking for a son-in-law. This daughter grew up in a garden full of monkey belong to an old man named Ong. Curious, Yap Kay went to the garden to investigate a rumor he had heard, that there was a monkey with human head. There was also a mystery of a vampire who killed people.
Looking at when this book was written, I could understand why the plots were far fetched. The author must be having many troubles then. Most of the story was written by someone else.
The Eagle Flying in September (1974)
It turned out I read these books in wrong order, I should have read this first. However I was glad I had not, because I had not known Pho Ang-soat was Yap Kay's brother when I read the Black Sabre; which made the surprise more exciting.
The book started well. Yap Kay had several aliases and he was good in every one of them. Every body was afraid of him because he was Li Sun-hoan's student. A new interesting character was Siangkoan Kim-hong and Lim Sian-ji's beautiful daughter Siangkoan Siau-sian, who had declared herself as the chief of Kim-ci-pang. Her strongest opponent was the Mo-kau clan, so she asked Yap Kay's help to eliminate the top swordsmen from Mo-kau. The problem was they didn't know who they were because they were in disguise.
The relationship between Yap Kay and his girlfriend Ting Hun-pin was rather weird. As soon as she heard that Yap Kay was dead, she made a decision to marry someone else the next day. Even if she owned her life to him, at least she had to have some mourning time, right?
The ending was not very good, in my opinion. The enemies died easily.
From the beginning, it is obvious that the main theme of this story is revenge. However, this book is in the same series as Little Li's Flying Dagger, where one could not overlook forgiveness, hence the twists of the story.
A limp, pale young man called Pho Ang-soat traveled around in black, carrying a black sabre. His mother had made him swear to kill Be Khong-cun, the chief of a powerful clan Ban-be-tong. There were many mysterious deaths in the clan since Pho Ang-soat arrived in a little town nearby, but who was the killer? - for Pho Ang-soat only wanted to kill one man: the chief.
Nineteen years ago, Pho Ang-soat's father and his (almost) entire family was massacred by a mysterious group, but clearly Pho's mother knew that one of them was Be Khong-cun, then Pho's father close friend. Although Pho Ang-soat was crippled, when he fought, he would forget he was a cripple. The black sabre in his hand became a deadly weapon.
There was also a mysterious young man named Yap Kay. He wanted to befriend and help Pho Ang-soat, but was always refused.It would turn out that Yap Kay was Siau Li (Li Sun-hoan)'s [only] student. He also had every right to meddle into Pho Ang-soat's affair.
Another interesting character was a young man named Lok Siau-ka. He liked peanuts. He ate them anytime, anywhere and could attack with one.
Pho Ang-soat, Yap Kay and Lok Siau-ka were of same age; yet the way they think was different, much influenced by their teachers. Pho Ang-soat's mind was cold and full of revenge because of his mother; Yap Kay was wise and forgiving, he examined the facts before making a conclusion; while Lok Siau-ka was a bit eccentric.
There were a couple of mistaken identities, babies switched at birth and switched lovers, which made the revelation was more amusing.
People say that this book is not the author's best, but in my opinion this is a good read, with a good ending. Those who are familiar with the author's works would know that he was often too drunk to write clear endings.
The Sound of the Sabre in a Border Town (1983)
This is the sequel and soon as I'd read a couple of pages, I started to have regrets. The story took place 10 years later and the dead people in the previous story lived again. Be Khong-cun held a party and invited Yap Kay and Pho Ang-soat. Be Khong-cun had a beautiful daughter and was looking for a son-in-law. This daughter grew up in a garden full of monkey belong to an old man named Ong. Curious, Yap Kay went to the garden to investigate a rumor he had heard, that there was a monkey with human head. There was also a mystery of a vampire who killed people.
Looking at when this book was written, I could understand why the plots were far fetched. The author must be having many troubles then. Most of the story was written by someone else.
The Eagle Flying in September (1974)
It turned out I read these books in wrong order, I should have read this first. However I was glad I had not, because I had not known Pho Ang-soat was Yap Kay's brother when I read the Black Sabre; which made the surprise more exciting.
The book started well. Yap Kay had several aliases and he was good in every one of them. Every body was afraid of him because he was Li Sun-hoan's student. A new interesting character was Siangkoan Kim-hong and Lim Sian-ji's beautiful daughter Siangkoan Siau-sian, who had declared herself as the chief of Kim-ci-pang. Her strongest opponent was the Mo-kau clan, so she asked Yap Kay's help to eliminate the top swordsmen from Mo-kau. The problem was they didn't know who they were because they were in disguise.
The relationship between Yap Kay and his girlfriend Ting Hun-pin was rather weird. As soon as she heard that Yap Kay was dead, she made a decision to marry someone else the next day. Even if she owned her life to him, at least she had to have some mourning time, right?
The ending was not very good, in my opinion. The enemies died easily.
Clans of Intrigue (1977)
This movie is based on the first 3 books from The Legend of Chu Liu-hsiang, but as its running time is only about 1 1/2 hours, some parts have been - of course- cut out.
Chu Liu-hsiang was a dandy man, still I was amused with the big chains on Ti Lung's costume. [Later in the Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman, he wore more accessories on his hair.]
Three big chiefs from different clans had been murdered, poisoned by the magic water. If in the book the poison left no trace, here the bodies were bloated. The owner of Palace Magic Water accused our master thief Chu Liu-hsiang as the culprit and as our hero denied the accusation, they gave him one month to catch the real guilty person.
Chu Liu-hsiang found that the 3 dead leaders had been lured out by a letter from a beautiful woman, who had been married to the chief of the Beggars' Clan. The woman admitted that she had sent the letters, looking for help because her husband had been murdered.
The plots were a bit different from the book, mostly because one of the Japanese hero's children was a girl.
Chu Liu-hsiang was a dandy man, still I was amused with the big chains on Ti Lung's costume. [Later in the Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman, he wore more accessories on his hair.]
 |
| See the chain accessories. The boat in the background looked expensive. |
Chu Liu-hsiang found that the 3 dead leaders had been lured out by a letter from a beautiful woman, who had been married to the chief of the Beggars' Clan. The woman admitted that she had sent the letters, looking for help because her husband had been murdered.
 |
| Chu Liu-hsiang had a problem with his nose. It's the first time I saw he used an inhaler, though. |
 |
| A very young Norman Tsui in a little role. He played a student of one of the dead chiefs. |
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
