Thursday, November 1, 2018 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION

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Louis Cha (second left) poses with cast members of the filmThe Story of the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping meets with Louis Cha and his family in Beijing Louis Cha displays his novel Book and Sword, Gratitude and Revenge at his Great Heroes in 1960. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY in 1983. LYU XIANGYOU / CHINA NEWS SERVICE office in Hong Kong in 2002. BOBBY YIP / FILE PHOTO / REUTERS Author: Works won immediate acclaim From page 1 transitions from the Song to Yuan years ago, said, “Despite relatively and Ming to Qing dynasties, and low salaries, Ming Pao is still a popu­ His ideals fascinated his publish­ explores topics including the ethnic lar choice for youngsters looking for ers abroad more than martial arts. conflict between Han and non­Han a job”. Christopher MacLehose, a veteran peoples, the collective memory Apart from its professionalism, he of the profession in London, pub­ under colonial rule, and broad and said another reason is that the news­ lished Legends of Condor Heroes in narrow nationalisms. paper is willing to recruit diversified the United Kingdom in February. According to Petrus Liu, associate talent, including Hui himself, who He said, “The story he tells is part of professor of comparative literature had never studied journalism his view and opinion. I think it’s at Boston University, Cha’s works before. inaccurate to simply call it martial contain an encyclopedic knowledge Tam Yiu­chung, a Hong Kong dep­ arts fiction.” of traditional Chinese history, medi­ uty to the Standing Committee of the Albert Yeung Hing­on, honorary cine, geography, cosmology and National People’s Congress, the coun­ chairman of the Hong Kong Novel­ even mathematics. try’s top legislature, worked with Cha ist Association, who was Cha’s secre­ Chun Chun­fai, the author of on the Basic Law Drafting Commit­ tary at Ming Pao in the late 1980s, Hong Kong studies on Cha’s novels, tee in the 1980s. said readers can find Cha’s personal said that in the 1980s many people Tam said the proposal Cha put for­ values and philosophy in his novels’ born in Hong Kong were studying ward back then with fellow commit­ characters, and Duan Zhengming in abroad. They returned to the city to tee member, Hong Kong industrialist The Demi­Gods and Semi­Devils is work, but knew little about Chinese Cha Chi­ming, on electoral arrange­ the one closest to the real Cha. culture. It was Cha’s novels that ments for the city’s chief executive “Duan is a benevolent and wise allowed them to understand the and legislators had contributed to monarch from Dali. He is highly spirit that Chinese society promoted the stable development of the Hong skilled in martial arts. In his old age, and to appreciate the charm of Chi­ Kong Special Administrative he abdicates and becomes a monk,” nese literature. Region’s political system. Yeung said. Cha himself sought self­ “The novels carry Hong Kong Tam said Cha was familiar with the improvement over fame and wealth. people far from our busy daily lives. political affairs of the day, was quick­ In his 80s, he enrolled at the Univer­ They lead us to a world of chivalry minded and put forward many sug­ sity of Cambridge to pursue a PhD in with knight­errant heroism, draw­ gestions to the committee. Oriental Studies, Yeung said. ing us away from anxious, fast­ paced society,” Chun said. Louis Cha reads China Daily while visiting the newspaper’s Hong Kong office in 2005. EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY Recurring theme Note of praise Cha’s trilogy Legends of the Con­ Death is a topic that features Cha had “a bit of a stammer” but dor Heroes begins in 1205, just before often in Cha’s novels. In one scene was fluent and scintillating with his the Mongol conquest, and ends more Anna Holmwood, translator of won immediate acclaim. in Heavenly Sword Dragon Slaying writing, Yeung said, adding, “He than 150 years later. the first volume of Legends of Con­ After publishing three successful Sabre the heroes are cornered and preferred writing to talking.” British novelist Marcel Theroux dor Heroes, said the Mongolian set­ novels, he founded Ming Pao in chant: “What is the happiness of “When I worked as his executive told The Guardian of the trilogy: “I ting “acts likes a gateway to Western Hong Kong in 1959. In the paper’s life and what is the bitterness of secretary at Ming Pao, he wrote felt a slight regret that I was coming readers into the Chinese setting and early years, Cha wrote many of its death? We have done good and down the instructions on a note and to it in my fifth decade. It would be a historical background”. front­page stories and editorials. uprooted evil. All the luck, joy, passed it to me. If he thought I had wonderful invitation into a lifelong “The Chinese people have per­ The paper flirted with bankruptcy sadness and suffering are going done a good job, he would send me a enthusiasm for China, its history and haps felt that their culture has long but was kept afloat by its must­read to ashes. People are pathetic as note of praise, while seldom talking civilization, its vast and chronically been neglected. Now, it’s a time fiction supplement, which serial­ they worry too much.” to me in the office. He treated other misunderstood presence in the when they can feel confident about ized other writers’ novels as well as At the end of almost every nov­ employees in the same way,” he said. world.” their place in history and their cul­ Cha’s. el, Cha would set a scene where “Maybe that’s because speaking The first volume of Legends of ture in the world. Sometimes it’s A Ming Pao statement said: the hero left the rivers and lakes. Cantonese made him nervous. He Condor Heroes was published in Feb­ that exact uniqueness that creates “Thanks for Cha’s contribution dur­ In The Return of The Condor was most comfortable with the Jia­ ruary before being reprinted seven the selling point.” ing the initial stages of Ming Pao, Heroes, he wrote: “Suddenly Yang xing dialect, from his hometown.” times. The Irish Times hailed it as “A the newspaper survived and has Guo (the hero) stood up and said to Born in Haining, Jiaxing, East Chinese Lord of the Rings”. The sec­ A life in writing kept serving readers for 59 years. the crowd: ‘We have had a good China’s Zhejiang province, in 1924, ond volume is due out in January. Cha believed in the power of His passing away is definitely a drink, and it is time to say goodbye.’ Cha divorced twice before marrying Copyright for the first volume has words. In his last novel, Deer and great loss for Ming Pao, Hong Kong’s He waved the sleeve of his robe, took Lin Leyi in 1976. been sold to the US, Germany, Italy, Cauldrons, he wrote a paragraph of journalism industry and the Chi­ the hand of his lover and they went Cha was surrounded by family Finland, Portugal and Hungary. Cha’s commentary that seemed unrelated nese literary world.” down the mountain shoulder to members when he died at the works have been translated into to the story’s development. Hong Kong Chief Executive, Car­ shoulder in the company of the con­ Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hos­ English, Korean, Japanese, French, It read: “He (the hero) was just a rie Lam Cheng Yuet­ngor, said on dor. pital. Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai. The English­language edition of hooligan and got most of his literary Tuesday: “Professor Cha is also high­ “The moon was clear in the sky The author, who lived on Hong Ying Mathieson, publisher at ACA Legends of the Condor Heroes education through storytelling, ly regarded in the newspaper indus­ and the breeze swept the leaves in the Kong Island for the most of his life, Publishing in London, said Cha’s which was based on the historical try with decades of experience in it. tree. Crows on the tree top were mak­ describes in his novels the magnifi­ works resonate with a Western audi­ epics written. The knowledge was He founded Ming Pao in his early ing a noise. Guo Xiang (his admirer) cent landscapes of the Chinese ence because his writing is centered enough for him to plot and change years and also wrote editorials with could not hold her tears anymore mainland, especially the Mongolian on emotions such as love, anger, sad­ the political scene. Throughout Chi­ constructive comments on society, and cried.” Plateau. Yeung said, “The scenery is ness and happiness, which are nese history so many writers wrote earning the respect of the sector.” so beautiful and the writing widens shared across every culture. great, thoughtful works. The power Lam said Cha also served in pub­ He Shusi and Li Bingcun in Hong our imaginations.” “For this reason, international of writing is tremendous.” lic office in Hong Kong, being a Kong, Zou Shuyue in London, Xu Weijie Song, associate professor readers can immediately identify Cha lived from writing through­ member of the Basic Law Drafting Fan and Mei Jia in Beijing contri­ of Chinese Literature at Rutgers with emotions depicted through his out his life. He started working for Committee before the city returned buted to this story. University in New Jersey, said Cha writing — even if they understand the Ta Kung Pao newspaper in Hong to Chinese rule in 1997. also intentionally focuses on the nothing about Chinese culture,” she Kong in 1948, and began authoring Hui Kei, a Hong Kong columnist Contact the writers at ethical, and cultural crisis in the said. kung fu series in 1955. His works who worked at Ming Pao several [email protected] Screen adaptations help to make novels more accessible

By XU FAN roles with historical events set in In Tsui’s 1990s hit The Legend of are long novels featuring many Cha’s last masterpiece, which tells [email protected] various dynasties to create literary Swordsman, inspired by Cha’s characters and plot twists, the nor­ the story of a boy growing up in a epics. namesake novel, the film boldly mal length of a film — about two brothel who rises to become the Louis Cha’s literary masterpieces From the late 1960s until the early used actress Brigitte Lin to play hours — is a little too short for faith­ favorite official of Emperor Kangxi are easily accessible, even to those ’80s, Shaw Brothers Studio — one of Dongfang Bubai, a male genius who ful adaptations. in the Qing Dynasty (1644­1911). who have never read a word of them, Hong Kong largest and best­known castrates himself for practicing the Compared with films, TV dramas Khan wrote on Sina Weibo: “I’m thanks to a number of screen adap­ for its martial arts blockbusters — most powerful martial arts skills. made on the Chinese mainland, very saddened to hear the sad news tations made over half a century. shot nearly 20 films adapted from or Wong’s award­winning 1994 film Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore that Louis Cha has died. His book According to mtime.com, a popu­ loosely inspired by Cha’s novels. Ashes of Time, loosely inspired by over the past three decades have The Deer and The Cauldron gave me lar website that specializes in Renowned directors who helmed Legends of the Condor Heroes, gath­ played a more influential role in a lot of joy. I read it just a few months reporting film news, the writer’s movies adapted from Cha’s works ered superstars such as Leslie etching Cha’s novels in the minds of ago. I wish I could have met him. He martial arts novels have been adapt­ include Chang Cheh and Chor Yuen, Cheung, Tony Leung Ka­fai and generations of readers. has given so much joy to so many ed for about 120 feature­length mov­ two leading figures who pioneered Maggie Cheung to tell complex, One of the highest­rated TV series generations. I am a big fan of his.” ies and TV dramas since the late Hong Kong wuxia, or martial arts, emotional romantic stories. is 1983’s Legends of the Condor Last year, Tsui announced a 1950s. films — a significant genre that took In an earlier interview with Chi­ Heroes, starring Felix Wong Yat­wa remake of The Return of the Condor A scene from the 1983 TV series Cha began to write martial arts Chinese stories to the West. nese media, Wong said that in Ashes and Barbara Yung. Heroes as a trilogy. He is selecting a Legends of the Condor Heroes novels in 1955, and three years later With the rise of emerging talent of Time he blended the nostalgia of Aside from the millions of Chi­ cast from around the world and his work Legends of the Condor and technical progress amid Hong his adolescent years and the influen­ nese fans spanning several genera­ plans to shoot it next year and in Heroes was adapted for a two­part Kong’s New Wave movement in Chi­ ces of John Wayne’s western movies. tions, the writer’s popularity also 2020. “Cinema has a bigger impact than Cantonese movie, Story of the Vul­ nese­language cinema, movie adap­ Tan Fei, a Beijing filmmaker and extended to the English­speaking In 2014, veteran Hong Kong TV dramas. As only a few of Cha’s ture Conqueror. tations of Cha’s novels opened a new critic, said: “Cha had a huge impact in world. director Gordon Chan said he would novels have been translated into With his knowledge of Chinese chapter in the 1990s. reshaping Hong Kong cinema. A lot Indian superstar Aamir Khan remake Legends of the Condor English, his overseas popularity will history, a distinctive narrative style Directors Tsui Hark and Wong of the film and TV industry insiders in said that during his trip to Beijing Heroes, but further details have yet probably grow if more cinematic and in­depth examination of Kar­wai used strong personal styles the city were fans of his wuxia tales.” last month that one of his favorite to be released. remakes can be released in foreign humanity, Cha interwove fictional to adapt Cha’s stories. However, as most of Cha’s classics books is The Deer and The Cauldron, Jiang Yong, a Beijing critic, said: markets.”