| A deaf-mute old man Su Singhe
invited talented people to play chess on a chessboard already arranged by him. No one
could defeat him until Monk Syu Jhu of the Shaolin Temple appeared. So Su Singhe gave him
seventy years of wugong strength. Later on, Syu Jhu rescued both the master of Lingjio
Palace and Tianshan Tonglao, he was able to learn some extraordinary wugong. Before long
he became the new master of the Palace, where he met Duan Yu and they became sworn
brothers and they respected Ciao Fong as the eldest brother. Monk Syu Jhu always regarded
himself as a student of the Shaolin School, so he went back the Shaolin where he
demonstrated his extraordinary wugong to protect Shaolin. Then he found that Ciao's father
Siao Yuenshan was still alive, and went underground in the Shaolin Temple in order to
learn the excellent Shaolin wugong. He also found the leader of the Shaolin Temple Syuanci
was actually a devious criminal. Later on Syuenci committed suicide, and Siao Yuenshan
devoted himself to Buddhism. Syu Jhu married the Princess of
the Sisia Kingdom. And Duan Yu's father was once the crown prince of the Dali Kingdom and
now the head of an infamous gang. Later on Duan Yu ascended the throne. Ciao refused to
invade the Song Dynasty, so he was jailed. Duan Yu and Syu Jhu then led a great number of
wugong masters to rescue Ciao. They were in the middle of the battlefield between the Song
and the Liao. Ciao arrested the King of the Liao and demanded the Liao withdraw their
army. When Liao withdrew, Ciao committed suicide.
Although this story has various sub-plots, the clues are clear. It successfully combines
Chinese traditional patterns and Western writing skill. And that Ciao Fong the hero is
doomed to die in a miserable way is particularly moving. This novel is one of Jin Yong's
most renowned ones. |
