Female Knights-Errant in Jin Yong's Fiction by Yin-Jen Chen Bachelor Of
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Roaming Nüxia: Female Knights-errant in Jin Yong’s Fiction by Yin-Jen Chen Bachelor of Arts, University of Victoria, 2015 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Pacific and Asian Studies ã Yin-Jen Chen, 2017 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Roaming Nüxia: Female Knights-errant in Jin Yong’s Fiction by Yin-Jen Chen B.A., University of Victoria, 2015 Supervisory Committee Dr. Tsung-Cheng Lin (Department of Pacific and Asian Studies) Co-Supervisor Dr. Richard King (Department of Pacific and Asian Studies) Departmental Member Dr. Ai-Lan Chia (Department of Phychology) Outside Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Tsung-Cheng Lin (Department of Pacific and Asian Studies) Co-Supervisor Dr. Richard King (Department of Pacific and Asian Studies) Departmental Member Dr. Ai-Lan Chia (Department of Phychology) Outside Member This thesis will explore the images of nüxia or “female knight-errant” in Jin Yong’s novels: The Eagle-Shooting Heroes, the Giant Eagle and Its Companion, and the Heaven Sword and the Dragon Saber. The depiction of nüxia underwent a significant development from the classical to modern literature of knight-errantry-related genre. Jin Yong, the master of wuxia fiction, has created many remarkable nüxia that distinguishes his nüxia images from the literary conventions. To examine Jin Yong’s uniqueness in portraying nüxia, this thesis will look into the history of nüxia-related works of poetry and classical literature, and analyze Jin Yong’s nüxia in the context of the literary history. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee .................................................................................................... ii Abstract ............................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. iv Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 Jin Yong: A Legend in Wuxia Fiction ........................................................... 9 1. Life of Jin Yong ....................................................................................................... 10 1.1. The Youth Stage ............................................................................................... 23 1.2. Entering the Workforce ..................................................................................... 23 1.3. Founding Ming Pao .......................................................................................... 15 1.4. Old Age ............................................................................................................. 16 2. Features of Jin Yong’s Novels ................................................................................. 17 2.1. Various Characters ............................................................................................ 17 2.2. Human Nature ................................................................................................... 19 2.3. Human Relationship and Emotion .................................................................... 20 2.4. Life .................................................................................................................... 21 2.5. Society ............................................................................................................... 22 3. Jin Yong’s Wuxia Fiction ......................................................................................... 23 3.1. The Eagle-Shooting Heroes .............................................................................. 23 3.2. The Giant Eagle and Its Companion ................................................................ 31 3.3. The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre ............................................................. 34 Chapter 2 Amazing Nüxia: The Literary History in Classical Chinese Literature .. 41 1. Nüxia in Poetry ........................................................................................................ 41 1.1. The Female Avenger: Through Han to Six Dynasties ...................................... 42 1.2. The Swordswoman: Nüxia in Tang Poetry ....................................................... 46 1.3. The New Woman: Nüxia in Qing Poetry .......................................................... 49 2. Nüxia in Fiction........................................................................................................ 51 2.1. The Archetype: Nüxia’s Tradition in Tang ....................................................... 51 2.1.1. Magical and Supernatural Skills ............................................................. 52 2.1.2. Assassian, Avengers, and Bandits .......................................................... 54 2.1.3. Neutralization of Femininity ................................................................... 57 2.2. Continuing the Tang Legacy: Nüxia Tradition in Song .................................... 59 2.2.1. Carry on the Tang Xia Tradition ............................................................. 59 2.2.2. From Xia Transfers to an Ordinary Woman ........................................... 61 2.3. Wei Shiyining: Nüxia’s Tradition in the Late Ming ......................................... 63 2.4. Romance Combined with Xia: Nüxia in Qing .................................................. 66 2.5. Nüxia’s Tradition after the Republic of China .................................................. 68 Chapter 3 Jin Yong’s Nüxia ........................................................................................... 72 1. Appearance .............................................................................................................. 72 1.1. In Male Disguise ............................................................................................... 72 1.2. Beauty ............................................................................................................... 74 2. Martial Arts Skills .................................................................................................... 77 2.1. Poison and Hidden Weapons ............................................................................ 78 2.2. Nüxia’s Martial Arts and Her Femininity ......................................................... 78 v 2.3. Nüxia’s Internal Skills ....................................................................................... 80 3. Spitit of Xia .............................................................................................................. 83 3.1. Self-aware Avenger—Li Mochou ..................................................................... 83 3.2. Nüxia with Bad Nature Performs Knight-errantry—Mei Chaofeng ................. 85 3.3. From the Arbitrary Acts of Xia to the Traditional Acts of Xia—Huang Rong . 87 3.3.1. Xia Acts Perform in Huang Rong’s Emerging Adulthood ..................... 88 3.3.2. Xia Acts Perform in Huang Rong’s Middle-age ..................................... 90 4. Individuality ............................................................................................................. 93 4.1. Zhou Zhiruo’s Political Ambition ..................................................................... 93 4.2. Zhao Min’s Ambition ....................................................................................... 95 4.3. Huang Rong’s Leadership ................................................................................. 96 4.4. Transformable Nüxia—Huang Rong ................................................................ 97 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 102 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 105 1 Introduction A long tradition of knight-errantry (xia 俠) can be found in pre-modern Chinese literature, and underwent a significant development in modern fiction, such as wuxia novels.1 Jin Yong 金庸 (1924-present) is the most influential writer of the genre and made a significant contribution to the transformation of xia-related stories from classical to modern literature. Particularly, the image of female knight-errant (nüxia 女俠)2 stands out in the tradition. Jin Yong has successfully created many remarkable nüxia in his fiction, such as Huang Rong 黃蓉 in The Eagle-Shooting Heroes (Shediao yingxiong zhuan 射雕英雄傳), Xiaolongnü 小龍女 in The Giant Eagle and Its Companion (Shendiao xialu 神雕俠侶), and Zhao Min 趙敏 in The Heaven Sword and the Dragon Saber (Yitian tulongji 倚天屠龍記) that have been made into television series and other entertainments for people to consume,3 and thus, their images have become the norm among the broader community of Chinese in identifying nüxia. As Jin Yong’s fictional collections are widely read and consumed, a research phenomenon in studying Jin Yong and his fiction, called “Jin Yong-ology” (Jin Yong xue 金庸 學), is raised among scholars as well. Studying subjects, such as story themes, characters, narratives, and various aspects, are common in the field; but, the subject concerning nüxia is 1 A wuxia novel is a genre of