The Book and the Sword

The Book and the Sword is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). First serialised between 8 February 1955 and 5 September 1956[1] in the Hong Kong newspaper The New Evening Post, it is also Jin Yong's debut novel.

The Book and the Sword
Chapter 10 of The Book and the Sword, from page 6 of 5 August 1955 issue of the Hong Kong newspaper New Evening Post.
AuthorJin Yong
Original title書劍恩仇錄
TranslatorGraham Earnshaw
CountryHong Kong
LanguageChinese
GenreWuxia, historical fiction
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date
8 February 1955
Published in English
2005
Media typePrint, serialised in The New Evening Post
ISBN978-0-19-590727-8
Preceded byA Deadly Secret 
Followed byThe Young Flying Fox 
The Book and the Sword
Traditional Chinese書劍恩仇錄
Simplified Chinese书剑恩仇录
Literal meaningChronicles of the Book and the Sword: Gratitude and Vengeance

Set in 18th-century China during the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, the novel follows the quest of the Red Flower Society, a secret society aiming to overthrow the Qing government, and their entanglements with a Uyghur tribe in southern Xinjiang. The "book" in the title refers to a Quran that was stolen from the tribe while the "sword" refers to a sword given to the protagonist, Chen Jialuo, by his first romantic interest, Huoqingtong. Historical figures such as the Qianlong Emperor, Zhaohui, Heshen, Zheng Banqiao and Fuk'anggan also make appearances or are mentioned by name in the novel. One of the protagonists, Princess Fragrance, is loosely based on the Fragrant Concubine.

Alternative English titles of the novel include Book and Sword: Gratitude and Revenge and The Romance of the Book and Sword.

Plot

The novel is set in 18th-century China during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Empire. The Red Flower Society is a secret society aiming to overthrow the Qing Empire and restore Han Chinese rule in China. It is led by 15 heroes, with Chen Jialuo as their chief. At the beginning of the novel, the Qianlong Emperor sends soldiers to ambush and arrest Wen Tailai, the society's fourth leader, in order to silence him because he knows a secret about the emperor.

The main plot, which is intertwined with two or more extensive subplots, follows the heroes' repeated attempts to rescue Wen Tailai while he is being escorted by a convoy of soldiers to Beijing. Along the way, the heroes encounter some Uyghur tribesmen who are pursuing a group of mercenaries who have robbed them of their holy artefact, a Quran. Chen Jialuo aids the tribesmen in defeating the mercenaries and recovers the holy book, earning the respect and admiration of Huoqingtong, the tribe leader's daughter. Throughout the novel, some of the heroes eventually find their future spouses after braving danger together: Xu Tianhong and Yu Yutong marry Zhou Qi and Li Yuanzhi respectively.

Chen Jialuo and the heroes follow Wen Tailai's trail to Hangzhou, where Chen coincidentally meets and befriends the Qianlong Emperor, who is in disguise as a rich man. However, after they discover each other's true identities, they become suspicious and wary of each other. When the emperor's best warriors are defeated by the heroes in a martial arts contest, the emperor feels humiliated and wants to summon the armed forces stationed in Hangzhou to destroy the Red Flower Society. However, he eventually refrains from doing so when he learns that the society has a vast network of underground connections in Hangzhou which has penetrated even the armed forces.

When Chen Jialuo finally rescues Wen Tailai, he is surprised to learn that the Qianlong Emperor is not a Manchu, but a Han Chinese. Wen Tailai also reveals that the emperor is actually Chen Jialuo's elder brother. Shortly after he was born, the emperor had been switched places with a newborn princess and had been raised as a son of the Yongzheng Emperor before he eventually inherited the throne. Chen Jialuo and the heroes kidnap the emperor and hold him hostage in the Liuhe Pagoda, where they try to persuade him to acknowledge his ethnicity. They suggest that he use his privileged status to drive the Manchus out of the Central Plains, and assure him that he will remain as the emperor after that. The emperor reluctantly agrees and swears an oath of alliance with the heroes.

Around the same time, the Qing army invades southern Xinjiang where the Uyghur tribe lives, so Chen Jialuo travels there to help his friends. He meets Huoqingtong and her younger sister, Kasili (Princess Fragrance). After falling in love with Kasili, he finds himself entangled in a love triangle because Huoqingtong also has romantic feelings for him. The Uyghur tribe is eventually annihilated by the Qing army while Kasili is captured and brought to Beijing.

The Qianlong Emperor is attracted to Kasili's beauty and tries to force her to become his concubine but she refuses. Chen Jialuo infiltrates the palace to meet the emperor, reminds him about their oath, and promises him that he will persuade Kasili to be his concubine. Kasili later discovers that the emperor has no intention of keeping his promise and has been secretly planning to lure the Red Flower Society into a trap and destroy them. After Kasili commits suicide to warn Chen Jialuo, the society's leaders feel outraged by the emperor's betrayal so they storm the palace. The conflict concludes with the emperor coming to a reluctant truce with the Red Flower Society. Chen Jialuo and his friends then head towards the Western Regions after paying their respects at Kasili's tomb.

Characters

Adaptions

Films

YearProductionMain castAdditional information
1960Emei Film Company
(Hong Kong)
Cheung Ying, Tsi Law-lin, Yung Siu-yeeSee The Book and the Sword
1981Shaw Brothers Studio (Hong Kong)Ti Lung, Jason PaiSee Emperor and His Brother
1987Hong KongZhang Duofu, Chang Dashi, Liu Jia, AiyinuoSee The Romance of Book and Sword and Princess Fragrance.
2023Mainland ChinaLi MIngxuan, Cui Zhenzhen, Wang Jiming

Television

YearProductionMain castAdditional information
1976TVB (Hong Kong)Adam Cheng, Liza Wang, Candice YuSee The Legend of the Book and the Sword (1976 TV series)
1984TTV (Taiwan)Yu Tien-lung, Sam-sam, Yang LiyinSee Book and Sword Chronicles
1987TVB (Hong Kong)Pang Man-kin, Jacqueline Law, Fiona Leung, Simon YamSee The Legend of the Book and the Sword (1987 TV series)
1992CTS (Taiwan)Kenny Ho, Shen Meng-sheng, Leanne Liu, Fu ChuanSee The Book and the Sword (1992 TV series)
1994CCTV (Mainland China)Huang Haibing, Wang Weiguo, Wang Jinghua, Yang YanuoSee The Book and the Sword (1994 TV series)
2002Chinese Entertainment Shanghai (various countries)Vincent Zhao, Chen Chao-jung (Aaron Chen), Esther Kwan, Rachel NganSee Book and Sword, Gratitude and Revenge
2008Mainland ChinaAdam Cheng, Liu Dekai, Qiao Zhenyu, Niki Chow, Liu YingSee The Book and the Sword (2008 TV series)

Radio

In 1999, Hong Kong's RTHK produced a 32-episodes radio drama based on the novel, voiced by Tse Kwan-ho, Gigi Leung, Chow Kwok-fung and Jacqueline Pang.

References

  1. The date conforms to the data published in Chen Zhenhui (陳鎮輝), Wuxia Xiaoshuo Xiaoyao Tan (武俠小說逍遙談), 2000, Huizhi Publishing Company (匯智出版有限公司), p. 56.
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