Anyone with a little knowledge of literary history knows that novels in China originate from myths and legends, monsters of the Six Dynasties, legends of the Tang Dynasty, etc.; while in the West, novels directly originate from epics and myths of ancient Greece.
But no matter how great the differences between Chinese and Western novels are, there is one thing in common, that is, they all originated from myths and legends, so they all have the basic feature of legends.
However, since modern times, especially in modern times, the novel has gradually lost its inherent legendary color.
Because this is an era full of material desires and chasing fame and fortune, and it is also an era of spiritual emptiness and emotional passivation.Therefore, Rilke has a poem:
At this time, you can numbly and passively adapt or endure, which is understandable. Of course, you can also not be outdone, unwilling to be enslaved, and find a support and strength in art to resist and deny the world.
This has been done.
More and more people will do so.
This kind of wisdom does not necessarily only belong to thinkers, and we often see such wise men in Jin Yong's works.Determined by his environment, he strives to draw healthy strength from the people; determined by his own temperament, he prefers a kind of spiritual peace and enrichment.
Many of Jin Yong's works are classical works. These works praise the ultimate beauty and the pursuit of spiritual self-sufficiency, which are very suitable for the hearts of Chinese people who are wandering all over the world: they are not self-deceiving whitewashing of reality, It is about returning to basics, seeking truth, goodness and beauty in the world, and at the same time perfecting oneself.
There are different ways of living in the world.
Facing the bleak life is a way of living;
Walking into the ivory tower is another way of living.
Past literary works have endowed us with too much experience and history, too much wisdom and emotion, too much thought and sadness, but today's literature lacks passion and ideal, lacks criticism and profoundness, lacks vigor and enlightenment.After experiencing all kinds of confusion, the thinking of the soul points to the longing for life, freedom and self-consciousness after filtering out all the complicated and specific life.
So more and more people are going to Jin Yong.
Therefore, in the hustle and bustle of the world, people who insist on looking for poetry from literature find that they can still have a peaceful world - where there are fairy tales, childlike innocence, martial arts anecdotes, chivalrous demeanor, and classical feelings... …
Jin Yong wrote a kind of arrogance and extraordinary demeanor and temperament of golden jade and gravel into three points: the pursuit of wealth and honor will eventually reach the transcendence of wealth; the pursuit of fame and fame will eventually lead to the forgetting of fame; Many of the things that linger on his pen and paper are such long-lost Confucianism and Taoism.
It's great, although there are few topics about the ultimate value, there is an unbreakable peace and freedom here, and there is also a Tao Yuanming-style style.Yes, after experiencing too much suffering, this era still needs poetry.
Jin Yong made many people find the long-lost Chinese soul.
It is one of Jin Yong's most popular works, and it is also the best carrier of the "soul of China" in the minds of readers.Therefore, as soon as it was published, it truly established Jin Yong's status as the supreme martial artist.
It is not necessarily Jin Yong's best work, but it is Jin Yong's most important work.
This is not only because it was banned in Taiwan when it was nicknamed "The Legend of the Desert Heroes", which attracted public attention.
It's not just because the characters written in it have personalities, the plot is wonderful, and the writing is the most beautiful.
These are of course indispensable reasons, but the most important thing is that this work is full of "responsibility and daring to take responsibility".
Bearing morality on iron shoulders, this is the heroic quality most admired by the Chinese people, and it is also Jin Yong's favorite personality ideal.
He expresses this kind of heroic quality and personality ideal through majestic poems, and expresses them to the fullest.
The story is based on the history after the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty, which happened to be an era when "the green mountains were lucky to bury the loyal bones, and the white irons cast the innocent ministers".
In addition to the shame of losing the country and the worries of troubled times, the martial arts novels set off by such a historical stage are more heroic and patriotic.
The title of the novel is broken at the beginning of the chapter:
Although the people with lofty ideals are high-spirited and eager to serve the battlefield and regain their homeland from time to time, those in power hold a self-protective mentality and serve the enemy servilely.The sons and daughters of Fengyun were filled with righteous indignation and burst into tears.
The last poem goes:
Which word did not shed tears of heroes.
A martial arts novel borrows so many heroic literary and martial arts and grand strategies from history, which is magnificent and seems to be "out of place".But it is precisely because of this that it is so popular and so significant.
When the country is in trouble, everyone is responsible. Although the enemy's military affairs are unpredictable, the court is constantly fighting, and even Yue Fei has suffered a catastrophe that makes the heroes of the world feel sad, but the heroes in the wild are still full of chivalry, leaping like dragons and tigers, fighting for the country and the people. Always on the go.
I don't expect to make great achievements, but I can't lack the heart of the same enemy, and I can't do the thing of expelling the Hulu.
The most rare thing is the heart of worrying about the country and the people, the magnanimous and brave mind of Daren.
Thinking of the people in the world, knowing what to do and doing it, this is the life coordinate repeatedly emphasized by Confucius, and it is also the highest ideological realm of Chinese traditional Confucian heroes.This point is repeatedly rendered from multiple perspectives, layers, and sides, and with its inherent coherence and unity, it expresses the lofty integrity of true heroes and knights.
Who deserves to be called a hero?
What exactly is the connotation of a hero?
Genghis Khan certainly considered himself a great hero.
He rode on a fine horse, looked around arrogantly, and felt full of smugness, he couldn't help boasting to Guo Jing:
"Jing'er, the great country I have built is incomparable in all dynasties. From the center of the country to the extreme edges of the world, there is a one-year journey in the southeast, the north, and the west. If you talk about ancient and modern heroes, who can compare with me?"
But Guo Jing didn't take it seriously, and said loudly:
"The prosperity of Khan's martial arts has never been matched by anyone in ancient times. It's just that Khan alone is so majestic, but the world knows how many bones have been accumulated and how many tears of orphans and widows have been shed."
Because the hero in Guo Jing's mind is very different from the hero in Genghis Khan's mind.Guo Jing's hero concept is:
"A hero who is admired by the world and admired by future generations must be a person who benefits the people and loves the people. In my opinion, a hero who kills a lot of people may not be considered a hero."
Genghis Khan was conceited all his life, but at this time he was also confused by Guo Jing's "concept of a hero".After a while, there was a wow, and a mouthful of blood was sprayed on the ground.
At the end of the work it is written:
"That night when Genghis Khan died in the golden tent, he murmured in his mouth: hero, hero... I think it was Guo Jing's words that he had been thinking about in his heart."
This is of course what Jin Yong took for granted, and you can regard it as purely a novelist's words. God knows whether Genghis Khan, who "only knows how to bend a bow and shoot a big eagle", will be so sentimental.
However, we can get a glimpse of Jin Yong's view of history and heroes.
In addition to Genghis Khan, Qiu Qianren, a first-class master in the Jianghu, is also a person who is made to feel ashamed by the word "hero" and the meaning in the word.
However, it was another benevolent and courageous person who awakened him this time - Hong Qigong.
Hong Qigong was a northern beggar who was as famous as Dongxie, Xidu, and Nandi at that time. Their martial arts were outstanding and they were well-known in the world.But Yaoshi Dongxie Huang behaved strangely. Although he was cynical and felt unspeakable pain in his heart, he acted on his own and never considered others.Southern Emperor Duan Huangye is kind and generous. If he came to one side, he could have benefited the common people, but because of his own petty grievances, he retreated from the world and lived in seclusion. He is not considered a benevolent and brave person.Only Hong Qigong, the northern beggar, led the beggar gang to fight for righteousness and help the poor. He is the number one person in today's martial arts.
Therefore, when this number one martial artist went to reprimand Qiu Qianren, Qiu Qianren would feel ashamed and ashamed, wishing to die.
These words only made Qiu Qianren feel dumbfounded, and the past decades came to his mind one by one.Thinking of Master's usual teachings, and later took over as the leader of the Iron Palm Clan, the master taught the clan rules and legacy on the sick bed, admonishing how to love the country and the people, but as I got older and my martial arts became stronger, I became more and more loyal to the gang. Serving the country is contrary to the purpose of killing the enemy and resisting insults.The addiction is getting deeper and deeper, the gangsters are becoming more and more popular, the loyal people are lured away cleanly, and the treacherous gangsters gather together, turning the big iron gang into a cottage where filth is hidden and crimes are committed.When he looked up, he saw the bright moon in the sky, and when he lowered his head, he saw Hong Qigong staring at him with awe-inspiring eyes. Suddenly, Tianliang realized that everything he had done in his life was harming nature and reason, and he couldn't help sweating like rain all over his body. He sighed: "Hong Qigong, you have taught me a good lesson." Turning around, he jumped down the cliff.
It is not so easy to be a real hero. He is as mighty and brave as Genghis Khan, but he is still criticized by others;
It’s not so difficult to be a real hero. As long as you have a heart of patriotism and love for the people, you will act chivalrously all your life, and do your best. Even if you are not upright for a while, people will give you a thumbs up, saying: A real hero and also.
This seemingly contradictory and paradoxical conclusion is the greatest inspiration for Jin Yong in this book.
The entire story structure of the book is basically "Huashan discusses swords and discusses heroes".
The desert is just a fiction, and Huashan is the real one.
Dongxie, Xidu, Nandi, Beibei, Zhongshentong, Old Urchin, Quanzhen Seven Sons, Jiangnan Seven Monsters, Black Wind Shuangsha, Dongxiemen, fishermen, woodcutters, plowing and reading, and this gang, that gang, a group of people Wait, whether they are righteous or evil, whether they are good or evil, whether they are stupid or weird, and so on, they all gather together for Huashan to discuss swords.It doesn't matter whether enemies don't get together, or heroes cherish heroes, the last songs, sighs, laughter and cries are all condensed on the top of Huashan Mountain.
Huashan is called Xiyue among the five mountains.Among the famous mountains in the world, it is the most strange and dangerous, and it also has the most exciting stories.
There is a story that goes like this:
It is said that an old ancestor Chen Tuan was born at the end of the Tang Dynasty and lived through the Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Wu dynasties. Whenever he heard about the change of dynasty and surname, he was always unhappy and closed his door.It is said in the world that he slept for many years, but in fact, he was worried about the chaos in the world and the suffering of the people, so he didn't want to go out. When he heard that Song Taizu had ascended the throne, he laughed and fell off the donkey's back with joy, saying that the world was peaceful from then on.Song Taizu was really kind and caring for the people, and the people all over the world did rest and recuperate for a while.
It was at this time that Mount Hua became a bet between Patriarch Chen Tuan and Song Taizu.The two of them were playing chess at the chess booth, and Song Taizu lost the bet. From then on, the land on Huashan Mountain did not need to pay money and food.It was originally a famous mountain, but now it is even more famous, and it has become the residence of those who worry about the world.
But Jin Yong didn't like this story very much. He used the words of the characters in the book to criticize the patriarch Chen Tuan, although he was a master, but lying down with his arms out of concern for the world is not the behavior of a benevolent and chivalrous man.
Therefore, he took another path and reconstructed a Huashan story full of chivalry and heroism.
Here, there are examples of lofty and perfect ideal personalities: they are based on the interests of the country and the nation, and their careers and goals are precisely for the fundamental interests of the country and the nation; they are not necessarily the best in the world , but their character, bearing, words and deeds will definitely be admired by people all over the world.
Huashan talks about swords not only about swords, but also about character.
At that time, Huashan was like a big melting pot, from which many heroes were refined.
Which one is better and which one is worse, which one is higher and which one is lower, which one is first superior and then inferior, which one is first lower and then higher, the peaks of Huashan Mountain are clearly numbered one by one.
In the beginning, it was Huashan Discussion of Swords, and in the end it was Huashan Discussion of Swords. The two times of Huashan Discussion of Swords have created a group of heroes.However, talented people come out from generation to generation, the waves of the Yangtze River push forward the waves of the past, and the later Huashan debate on swords is the main theme.
Although the legacy of the heroic spirit and courage of Huashan's sword debate last time is endless, but after all, it is "all the past, counting the heroes, let's look at the present."
For the country and the people, the great chivalrous man began from the second round of Huashan Lunjian.
Since ancient times, heroes have emerged from famous mountains. Huashan and chivalrous men complement each other and reflect each other in Jin Yong's works.
