| Tianfo Jhang The
title of this book is the name of a wugong fancifully created by the author. Jiang Cing,
the protagonist, was an ugly man but had a warm heart. Because of his hideous facial
appearance he lost his lover and the chair seat of the martial arts institute he attended.
Although his life was so miserable he was still helping people until this time that he
fell down off a cliff. He was rescued by Li Wusie a great martial arts master and one of
the top-ranking masters sixty years before. In order to return Li's favor Jiang started an
adventure to bring back magic medicines for Li, now he respected him as his foster father.
Jiang not only gained the medicine but also had his face changed and he became a very
good-looking young man. Then in the following three years Li Wusie taught him powerful
wugong.
When he completed his training and returned to the martial
arts circle, he soon got the attention of wugong masters. Many of Li Wusie's enemies came
to him; he was able to defeat them and at the same time made some good friends, such as
Jhan Cianyu, Bai Gu, and a female friend, Sia Hui. Jiang accompanied by his friends went
to Shuangfei Island to find the answer; however, because of misunderstandings his master,
Li, had too many enemies. Instead of finding out the reason for the misunderstandings,
they were trapped on the island. Fortunately they were rescued by Wei Si and Cyuan
Lingling, the latter was one of Li's enemy's daughters.
When they peacefully arrived at the Mainland they took a
trip to Jhan Cianyu's home. They survived several ambushes, and Jiang was able to protect
everyone. However when Sia Hui realized that she was not the only one Jiang fell in love
with she ran away. When Jiang tried to explain to her he suffered the most violent attack.
Fortunately, Wei Si appeared in time so the enemies were crushed. When they finally found
Sia Hui, who no longer hated Jiang, they worked together and helped Jiang Cing's earliest
martial arts institute out from chaos. The story ended with Jiang Cing married to two
wives, Sia Hui and Cyuan Lingling, and leading a happy life.
The first copy of this book was named Tianfo Jhang. It was
later divided into two books when it was republished: Sieshen Mentu and Rulai Bafa. The
brutal "law of the jungle" is the moral of this story, and there is no
righteousness, which could be found in this story. Because of this, the male protagonist
is described to as a superman-like character, which might disappoint some readers.
Some knight-errant novels end with a determining battle,
thought this book does not. It is well plotted, especially the author deliberately
describes the psychological transformations of the two female protagonists from being
against to accepting the idea of marry the same husband. This situation was not common in
the male chauvinistic knight-errant novel genre. |