Sword of the Yue Maiden

Sword of the Yue Maiden, alternatively translated as Yue Maiden's Sword,[1] is a wuxia novelette[2] by Jin Yong (Louis Cha) based on the legend of Yuenü. It was first serialised in January 1970 in the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao Evening Supplement.[3] Although this is the last wuxia short work by the author, its historical setting, in the Spring and Autumn period, is chronologically the earliest among Jin Yong's works.[4]

Sword of the Yue Maiden
Book cover
AuthorJin Yong
Original title越女劍
CountryHong Kong
LanguageChinese
GenreWuxia
PublisherMing Pao
Publication date
1970
Media typePrint
Followed byDemi-Gods and Semi-Devils 
Sword of the Yue Maiden
Traditional Chinese越女劍
Simplified Chinese越女剑

Plot

The story is set in southern China during the Spring and Autumn period against the backdrop of the conflict between the states of Wu and Yue. A team of Wu swordsmen defeats the best swordsmen in Yue. Fan Li, an adviser to King Goujian of Yue, discovers Aqing, a highly skilled swordswoman, and gets her to defeat the Wu swordsmen.

It is revealed that Aqing learned her skills while playing mock sword duels with a white gibbon. Fan Li engages Aqing to train the Yue soldiers in swordsmanship and gradually falls in love with her. King Goujian of Yue finally defeats his rival, King Fuchai of Wu, after enduring hardship and humiliation.

Fan Li is reunited with his lover Xi Shi, who had earlier been sent as a concubine to Fuchai. Out of jealousy, Aqing intends to kill Xi Shi upon seeing her. However, when she sees Xi Shi for the first time, she is so taken aback by her beauty and accidentally hurts Xi Shi with her inner energy while thrusting her sword towards Xi Shi, even though the blade did not touch Xi Shi at all. Xi Shi clutches her bosom in pain, and the expression on her face is described as "so beautiful that it will take away the soul of any man who looks upon her". This is the origin of the Chinese phrase "Xi Shi clutching her bosom" (西子捧心; xīzǐ pěng xīn), which refers to a woman's beauty being enhanced when she is in a state of distress or agony.

Adaptations

In 1986, Hong Kong's ATV produced a 20-episode television series "The Supersword Lady" based on the novel, starring Moon Lee as Aqing.[5]

See also

References
  1. Wu, Dingbo; Murphy, Patrick D., eds. (1994). "Gallant Fiction". Handbook of Chinese Popular Culture. Greenwood Press. p. 248. ISBN 0313278083.
  2. Chapman, Rebecca (2009). "Spectator Violence and Queenly Desire in The Banquet" (PDF). Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation (Spring/Summer): 102. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  3. The date conforms to the data published in Chen Zhenhui (陳鎮輝), Wuxia Xiaoshuo Xiaoyao Tan (武俠小說逍遙談), 2000, Huizhi Publishing Company (匯智出版有限公司), p. 58.
  4. Li, Yijian (2007). "'Rewriting' Jin Yong's Novels into the Canon: A Consideration of Jin Yong Novels as Serialized Fiction". In Huss, Ann; Liu, Jianmei (eds.). The Jin Yong Phenomenon: Chinese Martial Arts Fiction and Modern Chinese Literary History. Youngstown, New York: Cambria Press. p. 78. ISBN 1624990207.
  5. Moon Lee at IMDb
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