The Smiling, Proud Wander (T:S: 笑傲江湖) is a 1967 Chinese-language wuxia ("martial arts") novel written by Jinyong.
The term "笑傲江湖" means to live a carefree life in a mundane world of strife. An alternative English name is State of Divinity, although the book is known by both translations in English. In film adaptation, it was known as the The Swordsman and a sequel The Swordsman II staring Jet Li.
Background
The story is about friendship and love, deception and betrayal, ambition and lust for power. And in the middle of it all is the hero, Linghu Chong, an orphan under the care of Yue Buqun, leader of Huashan Sect. Although he didn't have much desire to fight and get involved, he was forced again and again in order to help his friends...
Legend has it that there is a martial arts manuscript Bixie Jianfa in the House of Lin, which when learned will give the person god-like speed and power. Many people lusted after this manuscript, among them Zuo Lengchan the leader of Song Mountain sect and allied leader of the 5 Mountains Alliance, Yue Buqun, Yu Canghai, leader of Qingcheng Sect, who sports the somewhat nonstandard Szechuan dialect.
Unlike most of his other novels in which the historical timeframes are explicitly mentioned (e.g. The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes took place in the Southern Song during Jurchen and Mongol encroachment; The Deer and the Cauldron happened during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty), the historical period in which The Smiling, Proud Wanderer took place is less obvious. Given the fact that Zhang Sanfeng and Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang were mentioned in this novel, and Linghu Chong was mentioned in the Deer and the Cauldron, it is most probably set during the Ming Dynasty. In the movie Swordsman and Swordsman II starring Jet Li, it was mentioned that it took place during the reign of the Wanli Emperor.
The Smiling, Proud Wanderer was intentionally written as character study of politicians. In 1980, Jin Yong commented that he did not include any historical setting in this novel to show that these colorful people appear in every era. Furthermore, he pictured the characters (Yue Buqun, Old Man Mo, Zuo Lengchan, Ren Woxing, Dongfang Bubai, Chongxu, and etc.) as politicians rather than the leaders of the martial art sects.
Characters
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The Five Mountains Alliance (五嶽劍派)
The Five Mountains Alliance, so called because all of its members have names ending with "shan" (mountain), is a loose alliance of self-proclaimed "righteous" sects, with Songshan Sect as its leader. The Alliance is not without friction between its members, as Songshan's Zuo Lengchan plots to unite the 5 sects under his leadership.
Huashan Sect (華山派)
Huashan Sect originally was the most powerful of the five allied sects. Unfortunately, it became divided into two factions: the Qi faction, which emphasized the cultivation of internal energy before learning sword techniques and the Sword faction, which focused on acquiring sword techniques and mastering its use and making internal energy cultivation a secondary emphasis. While the Sword faction was in the majority, the Qi faction managed to win control of Huashan mountain and the sect, forcing the other faction to leave the sect into exile. Because of the feud, the sect's strength was severely weakened and consequently, the Songshan sect won control of the leadership of the five sects. In general, the Sword faction possessed more innovative and creative sword techniques, while the Qi faction relied on having strong internal energy, but were less creative and skillful with the sword.
The origin of the split arose when two members of the Huashan school went to the Shaolin temple and stumbled upon a manual written by a eunuch. In an effort to copy the manual, the two ended up reading a half of the manual and memorized it before return to Huashan. However, the two could not agree on the interpretations of the things that they remembered. A Shaolin monk was sent to help the two understand the theories behind the manual, and to dissuade them from practicing the methods found there. With the recollections of the two Huashan fighters and the monk's understanding, a manual was able to be formed. Using these recollections, the monk renounced his vows and returned to secular life as Lin Yuantu, the great-grandfather of Lin Pingzhi, compiling the Bixie Jianfa (Evil Resisting Sword Art) manual. The two Huashan masters' disagreements were never resolved and as a result, led to the formation of the Sword and Qi factions. The copy which they compiled became was stolen and became the Sunflower Manual in the hands of the Sun-Moon Sect.
Though the two masters eventually died while fighting the Sun-Moon Sect members who had come to Huashan to steal the manual, their disagreement over which training should take preference, qi or internal energy cultivation or swordsmanship continued within the factions they created. Each argued that the other side had turn away from orthodoxy by forgetting the teachings of the past Huashan masters. Disagreements between the sides eventually grew to the point that an all-out war between the two factions took place, taking the lives of many masters and students. Using a ruse to draw Feng Qingyang, the Sword faction's greatest swordsman and Huashan's best fighter away from Huashan, the Qi faction was able to eventually win control of the school and drive out the Sword faction members into exile. Feng Qingyang, who realized that he had been tricked, chose to stay in exile in the back of Huashan as a recluse.
Linghu Chong (令狐沖): The hero of the novel. He is the senior disciple of Huashan, and is a carefree happy-go-lucky fellow whose main loves in life are swordplay, drinking, and (beginning in the middle of the series) music. A chance meeting with a reclusive, formerly renowned Huashan grandmaster, Feng Qingyang, opens his horizons of swordsmanship and the martial world. Due to several incidents, he spends much of the novel forced to fight without the use of internal energy and only using sword techniques taught to him by the grandmaster. Later he unknowingly learns Ren Woxing's most feared skill, Xixing Dafa. Using the '9 Swords Of Dugu' skill taught by Feng Qingyang, Linghu Chong defeats his enemies with total ease just by merely locating the weak areas of the particular skill he is fighting against and attacking it from there. Even the Bixie JianFa (Evil Exterminating Sword Style) was no match to him in the end.
Yue Buqun (岳不羣): The leader of Huashan sect and of its Qi faction, he had the nickname, The Gentlemanly Sword (君子劍), but was actually a small-minded, selfish, and power hungry hypocrite. Extremely dogmatic about sword techniques and orthodoxy, he lacked creativity and taught his students strictly and rigidly. Pretending to help the Lin family out of benevolence, he secretly desired the Lin's secret manuscript, Bixie Jianfa (Evil-Resisting Sword Style). Towards the end, he castrated himself in order to learn Bixie Jianfa, and was eventually killed by Yi Lin. Viewed with contempt by Feng Qingyang and Ren Woxing, who recognize his hypocrisy. Before learning the Bixie JianFa, he is already an extremely powerful martial arts exponent by using the famous internal energy skill ZiXia Shengong(Violet Mist Divine Skill) which was to be passed only to the leaders of Huashan Sect. With it, he can destroy swords with total ease by just tapping them.
Ning Zhongze (寧中則): The wife and martial sister (apprentices of same master) of Yue Buqun, she always had faith in Linghu Chong, and thought of him as a son. She was one of the only three Huashan people that Ren Woxing respected, the other being Feng Qingyang and later Linghu Chong.
Yue LingShan (岳靈珊): The daughter of Yue Buqun, she was Linghu Chong's first love but she thought of him only as a big brother. She prefers people who are serious like her father, so she eventually became Lin Pingzhi's wife.
Lin Pingzhi (林平之): The sole survivor and the young master of Lin family. Everyone in his household were killed in the conflict for the Lin family's Bixie Jianfa (辟邪劍法) manuscript in the beginning of the story. Huashan sect came to his rescue and he became Yue Buqun's disciple.
Lao DeNuo (勞德諾)He is the second disciple of Huashan after Linghu Chong. Already an expert martial artist before he joined Huashan. He was actually sent by Songshan to steal the ZiXia Shengong of Huashan. He was the one who murdered Liu Hou'r in order to eliminate witnesses.
Liu Hou'r (六猴儿): His real name is Lu DaYou. One of Linghu Chong's younger martial brothers, and his best friend.
Feng BuPing(封不平): The leader of Huashan's Sword faction. He is brought back from exile by the Songshan Sect in an effort to challenge Yue BuQun for the leadership of the sect and bring further instability to Huashan. Ambitious and desiring to gain leadership of the 5 sects once he had claimed leadership of Huashan, he is forced to return to exile after being defeated by Linghu Chong's 9 Swords of Dugu style.
Feng QingYang (風清揚): Yue Buqun's martial great-uncle, he is a recluse that lives in the back part of Huashan. After observing Ling Hu Chong's spirited fights with Tian Bo Guang at Repentance Cliff and finding Linghu Chong to be a kindred spirit, he decided to teach Linghu Chong his sword technique, the 9 Sword Techniques of Dugu (獨孤九劍), which corresponds to the nine different types of weapons a swordsman must face. He teaches him that the essence of superior swordsmanship is having no set technique, a principle shared by real-life martial artist, Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. This is in contrast to the rigid, dogmatic approach taken by Linghu's master.
He is one of the only 3 Huashan people that Ren Woxing respects along with Linghu Chong and Ning Zongze and is an old friend of the Shaolin abbot and his younger apprentice brother. He once belonged to Huashan's Sword faction, but was unable to fight in the decisive battle which left the Qi faction in control of the school as he was away making wedding arrangements. This was due to a ruse by the Qi faction, who hired a prostitute to pretend to be a lady of good background looking for marriage. Because of this, Feng who was already planning on leaving the school because of the intense rivalry between the two factions, withdraws into seclusion. He only returns to teach Linghu Chong before once again, going into seclusion.
Taishan Sect (泰山派)
Tian Men: Set up by Zuo Lengchan on the election day, killed by conspirators in his own sect.
(North) Hengshan Sect (恆山派)
This is a sect of martial nuns only, ironically, Linghu Chong became their leader, after which all sorts of riff-raff joined the Sect following an order by Ying Ying to make Linghu Chong less embarrassed.
Ding Xian (定閑): The benevolent and wise leader of the Sect. She dies at the Shaolin Temple at the hands of Yue Bu Qun. She names Linghu Chong the new leader before her death.
Ding Jing (定靜): She is actually the eldest of Heng Shan Sect's 3 Elder Nuns, she should have inherited the leadership of the sect, but she gave the leadership to Ding Xian instead. Zuo Leng Chan's lackeys attempted to force her to join Zuo's alliance by ambushing and kidnapping her disciples, but she refused to capitulate. Linghu Chong came to her aid, but it was too late. She is the first Elder Nun to die.
Ding Yi (定逸): She is the third of the Three Elder Nuns of Heng Shan Sect, and master of Yin Lin. She has a fiery-temper, but she is also noble. She brands Linghu Chong a scoundrel and hates him initially, but is eventually won over by Linghu Chong's character. She dies in Shaolin Temple next to Ding Xian.
Yi Lin(儀琳): a beautiful nun who fell in love with Linghu Chong when he rescued her from the hands of Tian Boguang. Her feelings for him were kept secret because she knew as a nun it was prohibited to have such feelings. She is arguably the female character in the novel who understands Linghu Chong the most, as she understands his need to live a carefree life.
(South) Hengshan Sect (衡山派)
South Hengshan is a martial arts school that incorporated music into their swordplay.
Old Man Mo Da (莫大先生): Leader of the North Hengshan Sect. He is known for playing only extremely sad, misery-filled tunes on the huqin (胡琴)he carries with him, which is also where his trademark thin sword is stored. Rumored not get along with his younger martial brother Liu Zhengfeng, perhaps because of different musical tastes. He respects Linghu Chong and helps him as much as he can. A top-notch exponent who employs remarkable swordplay which corresponds with his music, and displays the fast, unpredictable southern Hengshan sword style to its fullest. A mysterious man.
Liu Zhengfeng (劉正風): Martial brother to Old Man Mo, and also another well-known and well-liked Wulin expert of the Hengshan school, his true passion in life is music. His friendship with the Qu Yang, one of the Sun-Moon Sect's 10 Elders due to their mutual interest in music leads to his family's massacre at the hands of the Songshan Sect, on the day he is set to retire. Before he dies, together with Qu Yang, he hands over the Xiao Ao Jiang Hu manuscript, which is his and Qu Yang's life masterpiece, an amazing duet with a qin (zither played by Qu Yang) and a xiao (a vertical flute played by Liu Zhengfeng). He is weaker in terms of skills compared to Mo Da.
Songshan Sect (嵩山派)
Zuo Lengchan (左冷禅): The leader of Song Mountain sect, he is an ambitious man who dreams of ruling over a united sect composed of the Five Mountain Sects. He arranges for the return of Huashan's Sword faction and for the confrontation and massacre of Liu Zhengfeng's family in order to consolidate his position, while causing chaos in the other sects. Zuo Lengchan practises a skill Han Bing Zhen Qi(Freezing Breath) that freezes his internal energy to sub-zero temperature, thus increasing its power tremendously. It was thanks to this skill that he defeated Ren Woxing as Ren Woxing was unable to tolerate the powerful barrage of freezing energy in his veins as he unleashed his infamous Xixing Dafa on Zuo Lengchan.
The 15 masked men: Blinded by Linghu Chong in a forest battle.
Sun-Moon Sect, known as "Evil Sect" by those under the Five mountains alliance (日月神教)
Ren Woxing (任我行) : HIs name literally means "Go as I please." the former leader of the Sun-Moon Sect, his most infamous martial arts technique Xixing Dafa(Star Leeching Demonic Skill) which can absorb the internal energy of any martial arts exponent, thus weakening foes and benefiting oneself at the same time. Much feared in the martial arts realm.
Xiang Wentian (向問天): he pledged brotherhood with Linghu Chong when he found out they have much in common.
Qu Yang (曲洋): An Elder in the Sun-Moon Sect who befriended Liu Zhengfeng of the Northern Hengshan Sect. The two friends spent their days in secret composing the "State of Divinity" musical score and dies of severe internal injuries after rescuing Liu Zhengfeng.
Dongfang Bubai (東方不敗): Literally translated, his name means Invincible East. He overthrew Ren Woxing, and became leader of the sect. It was found out that he castrated himself to learn the martial arts skill, Kuihua Baodian(Sunflower Treasure Manuscript) which was once a manuscript belonging to an eunuch. The other manuscript Bixie Jianfa(Evil exterminating Swordplay) was a copy of this manuscript stolen by a monk who after learning the technique, became one the greatest martial arts expert and later, the adopted father of Lin Pingzhi's father. Both skills are similar in the way they teaches their learners to make use of supersonic speed to kill foes, and the all-too-familiar "castration before learning". Feared so much by everyone that no one dared to even whisper his name.
Ren Ying Ying (任盈盈): Ren Woxing's daughter, she is the Sacred Maiden of the Sun-Moon Sect, and is the second most powerful person in the sect. She became the love interest of Linghu Chong. Extremely shy but ruthless, at first, she would kill or blind anyone who saw her together with Linghu Chong.
Lan Feng Huang (藍鳳凰): Leader of the 5 Poison Sect, a Miao sect from Yunnan. Very coquettish, she is one of the people who tried to cure Linghu Chong, but didn't succeed. Linghu Chong made her his god-sister.
Ping Yizhi (平一指): A famous doctor also known as the Killer Physician (殺人名醫), as he requires one person be killed in exchange for his healing another person. His philosophy is that the number of deaths is pre-ordained by heaven, and if he snatches a person from death's door without offering a replacement soul, he will be punished when it is his turn to die.
Qingcheng Sect (青城派)
Yu Canghai (余滄海): Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, he massacred Lin Pingzhi's family in order to obtain their Bixie Jianfa. He has always held a grudge against the Lins because his master, Chang Qinzhi, had once been defeated by Lin Pingzhi's great-grandfather, Lin Yuantu. He is known for his ''Song Feng Swordplay(Swordplay of the Pine Winds), which allows him to surround his foes in a green shadow. However, he was still defeated badly by Yue Buqun.
Qingcheng 4 Xiu: The 4 Elegants of Qingcheng, they are the 4 primary disciples of Yu Canghai.
Wudang Sect (武當派)
A famous sect during that era founded by famous master Zhang San Feng who created the skill Taiji Fist and Swordplay
Priest Chongxü (冲虚道长): Leader of the Wudang Sect. Was defeated in a match by Linghu Chong while disguised as a farmer.
Shaolin Sect (少林派)
Shaolin is the most powerful school of martial arts in the novel. (Except perhaps the Sun-Moon Sect.) The main Shaolin temple is situated on Songshan, the same mountain as Songshan Sect, but are located on different peaks and are unrelated.
Others
Taogu Liu Xian / Six Immortals of the Peach Valley (桃谷六仙): six brothers, who have very high martial arts skills when combined. Their trademark skill involves holding their enemy by his limbs and tearing him apart by sheer muscle power.
Monk Bujie (不戒和尚): Yilin's father, he fell in love with Yilin's mother, who was a nun. In order to marry her, he (foolishly) became a monk, with the name Bujie, which means "No Rules", a sharp contrast to other monks who had strict rules regarding behaviour and food. A few months after Yilin was born, his wife left him in a jealous fit after he complimented a woman passing by who had complimented baby Yilin. He has spent the last 18 years searching for his wife.
Tian Boguang (田伯光) / Bu Ke Bu Jie (不可不戒): a bandit known as Wan Li Du Xing who is notorious for his lust, and has committed numerous rapes. His agility (qinggong) and blade skills are very good. Linghu Chong made a gamble with him in order to save Yilin, and eventually tricked him into giving up on her and even forced him to become the disciple of Yilin. Yilin's father, Bujie semi-castrated him and forced him to become a monk with the name Bu Ke Bu Jie ("has to have rules").
Lin Zhennan (林震南): the father of Lin PingZhi. Was actually adopted by his father Lin Yuantu, who was the best swordsman in the earlier days, who forbade Lin Zhennan from learning BiXie JianFa because the learner has to castrate himself first. Because of this, his martial arts skills were extremely mediocre and proved no match for Qingcheng Sect's invasion on his home. He was eventually captured along with his wife by the Qingcheng Sect, and later tortured to death by hunchback Mu Gaofeng.
Mu GaoFeng (木高峰): a hunchback from the North. He was a notorious bandit but because of his high martial arts skill, few dared to say bad things about him to his face. He lusted after the Bixie Jianfa and tried to force Lin Pingzhi to become his disciple. He captured Lin Zhennan from the Qingcheng Sect and tortured him to the brink of death. His hump actually has a poison sack which when torn, would release a poisonous gas and blind or kill an enemy.
Adaptations
TV series
The Smiling Proud Warrior (Hong Kong, TVB, 1984) - starring Chow Yun Fat and Rebecca Chan as Linghu Chong and Ren Ying Ying. The story stays pretty faithful to the novel.
State of Divinity (Hong Kong, TVB, 1996) featured Jacky Lui and Fiona Leung as Linghu Chong and Ren Ying Ying. Widely recognised as the best adaptation by fans. Although faithful to the novel, there were some odd choices made. The 6 Saints of Peach Valley became only 4 and some of the Sects were dressed out of color from the book. The forest battle Linghu Chong with masked man from Songshan Sect is only 8 people, instead of 15. Only minor imperfections though.
State of Divinity (Taiwan, 2000) incorporates Richie Ren and Anita Yuen as Linghu Chong and Ren Ying Ying. Despite numerous plot alterations, mischaracterizations, and lack of attention to details, this version was still a big hit in Taiwan. Perhaps due to the popularity of Bridgette Lin's portrayal of the character (see Movies below), Dung Fang Bu Bai is given major emphasis despite appearing in only 1 chapter in the book.
The Legendary Swordsman (Singapore, MediaCorp, 2000) starred Steven Ma Jing Tao and Fann Wong as Linghu Chong and Ren Ying Ying. This version altered the plot greatly. Once again, Dung Fang Bu Bai is given a larger role and added a relationship with LHC. Possibly one of the most panned versions ever.
In 2001, CCTV produced a version of the story starring Li Ya Peng and X
u Qing as Linghu Chong and Ren Ying Ying. Although Jin Yong was disappointed with several script changes, he told Xu Qing that "You are the Ren Ying Ying I have always imagined her to be."
Movies
In 1991, Tsui Hark produced a version of this story in The Swordsman. Sam Hui starred as Linghu Chong, Cecilia Yip as Yue Ling Shan, Sharla Cheung Man as Ren Ying Ying, and Jacky Cheung as Au Yeung Chi. The plot amalgamizes much of the novel's details and characters. At the 10th HK Film Awards, it won for Best Action Design and Best Song (Cang Hai Yi Sheng Xiao composed by James Wong Jim). It was also nominated in 4 other categories including Jacky Cheung for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1992, Tsui Hark's Film Workshop produced a sequel, The Swordsman II starring Jet Li as Linghu Chong, Michelle Reis as Yue Ling Shan, Rosamund Kwan as Ren Ying Ying, and Bridgette Lin Ching Hsa as Dung Fang Bu Bai. Although the story again deviated from the original novel quite a bit (a romantic relationship between LHC and DFBB develops), it still became the #1 movie of that year in Hong Kong. Bridgette Lin was nominated for Best Actress at the 12th Hong Kong Film Awards. It had 7 nominations in total but only won for Best Costume Design.
In 1993, Bridgette Lin's portrayal of Dung Fang Bu Bai was so appealing to audiences that a third movie, The East is Red was made. Other than her character, it had no ties with novel.
Comics/Manhua
State of Divinity, by Li Zhiqing
