|
Lang Hongwan Lang
Tiecing known by his penname Lang Hongwan was from the Changbai Mountains in Manchuria,
and he was also Manchurian Chinese. He was born in 1897, and the date of his death is
unknown. According to his own records, his first wusia novel published in Taiwan was a
series in the weekly magazine, Fongyun Sinwun, The theme of this story, Beiyan Nanfei is
about Kosinga, Jheng Chenggong, who defeated the Dutch and regained Taiwan. Unfortunately
for certain reasons this story was not completed. Then he was invited by the evening
daily, Tahau Wan Bao, to write a wusia series, Guse Aisian and its sequel Bihai Singtian.
After that he started a ten-year wusia writing career.
According to the microfilm of the Tahau Wan Bao evening daily,
there are eleven serial novels written by him, and the break between each series was not
longer than one week. It shows his importance as a wusia series writer to the newspaper.
Lang's pen is "light and lively"; the Mandarin
conversation flows naturally. He was particularly good in describing the intimate scenes
between the youths. The plotted episodes were sometimes delicate in love making, sometimes
coarse and lamenting. Either tight or smooth, the development of the story is very
fascinating. In addition to that, the author had experienced many things and was very
intellectual. He exceeded the ordinary in his knowledge about traditional conventions,
costumes, allusions and antiques.
| Guse
Aisian Literally the title means the
'Lamenting Strings on the Zither.' It has ten chapters and one hundred and forty thousand
words. The male protagonists Long Biren and Shih Nanjhih are sworn brothers, and the two
heroines are Jha Wancing and Hua Shengwan. Nanjhih and Wancing are in love, but they never
stop testing each other as if they were Baoyu and Daiyu in Dream of the Red Chamber. The
next episode shows the authors knowledge concerning the martial arts when Nanjhih met Hua
Shengwan, and they discussed the boxing and the spearing forms and their skills. After
Wancing quit from this triangle relationship, Nanjhih married Shengwan. When Nanjhih
suffered capital punishment for a crime he was framed for by the notorious gang member
Jhao Youyun, Shengwan furiously avenged her husband by taking a sword, aiming at the old
evil gangster, thrusting, chopping, blowing and smacking. There are excellent picturesque
depictions like Shengwan's desperate revenge, and other marvelous fighting scenes that
happen throughout the story.
Compared to the other three main characters, Shengwan was the
real soul of this tragic story. In order to avenge her husband, she broke into the den of
the gang several times but never won. However she did not give up. She then married Long
Biren, who used a false name to work for the government, in exchange for assistance from
the officials. Shengwan did not know that her new spouse was in fact her ex-husband's
sworn brother -- what irony! When they finally both found out, she stopped Long from
committing suicide because of shame. Then she introduced Wancing to Long, a man who looked
very similar to Nanjhih. At the end, she walked away to live in the desert, although she
already carried Long's baby. Shengwan was brave, loving and as strong as a man. |
|
