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*''[[Kung Fu Hustle]]'' (2004) — A parody of wuxia
*''[[Kung Fu Hustle]]'' (2004) — A parody of wuxia
*''[[Seven Swords]]'' (2005) — Adapted from wuxia author [[Liang Yusheng]]'s novel
*''[[Seven Swords]]'' (2005) — Adapted from wuxia author [[Liang Yusheng]]'s novel
*''[[Hero]]'' (2002) — movie in time of [[Qin Shi Huang]] with [[Jet Li]] as Nameless.
*''[[Hero]]'' (2002) — Movie set at time of [[Qin Shi Huang]] with [[Jet Li]] as Nameless.


==Books==
==Books==

Revision as of 19:14, 30 December 2006

Template:ChineseText Wǔxiá (simplified Chinese: 武侠; traditional Chinese: 武俠, Mandarin IPA: wuɕiɑ, Cantonese Pinyin: mou5 hap6), literally meaning "martial (arts) heroes", is a quasi-fantasy sub-genre of the martial arts genre in literature, television and cinema. Wǔxiá figures prominently in the popular culture of Chinese-speaking areas, and the most important writers have devoted followings.

The wǔxiá genre is a blend of the philosophy of xiá (俠, "honor code", "an ethical person", "a hero"), and China's long history in wǔshù ("kung fu" or "martial arts"). A martial artist who follows the code of xiá is called a swordsman, or xiákè (俠客/侠客, literally "chivalrous guest"). Japan's samurai bushidō traditions, England's knight chivalry traditions, and America's gunslinger Western traditions all share some aspects with China's swordsman xiá traditions. The swordsman, however, need not serve a lord or hold any military power and they are not required to be from an aristocratic class.

History

Wuxia stories have their roots in some early yóuxiá (游侠, "wandering hero") and cìkè (刺客, "assassin") stories around 2nd to 3rd century BC, such as the assassination attempts of Jing Ke and Zhuan Zhu (專諸/专诸) listed in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. In the section entitled "Assassins" (刺客列傳/刺客列传), Sima Qian outlined a number of famed assassins in the Warring States who were entrusted with the (then considered noble) task of political assassination. These were usually cì kè (刺客, literally "stabbing guests") who resided in the residences of feudal lords and noblemen, rendering services and loyalties much in the manner of Japanese samurais. In another section, "Roaming Xia" (游俠列傳/游侠列传), he detailed many embryonic features of the xia culture of his day. This popular phenomenon continues to be documented in historical annals like The Book of Han (汉书) and The Book of Later Han (後漢書/后汉书).

Xiákè stories made a strong comeback in the Tang dynasty in the form of Chuanqi (傳奇/传奇, literally "legendary") tales. Stories like Nie Yin Niang (聶隱娘/聂隐娘), The Slave of Kunlun (崑崙奴/昆仑奴), Jing Shi San Niang (荆十三娘), Red String (紅線/红线) and The Bearded Warrior (虬髯客) served as prototypes for modern wuxia stories, featuring fantastic, out-of-the-world protagonists, often loners, who performed daring heroic deeds.

The earliest full-length novel that could be considered part of the genre was Water Margin, written in the Ming Dynasty, although some would classify parts of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a possible earlier antecedent. The former was a political criticism of the deplorable socio-economical state of the late Northern Song Dynasty, whilst the latter was an alternative historical retelling of the post-Han Dynasty's state of three kingdoms. Water Margin's championing of outlaws with a code of honor was especially influential in the development of Jianghu culture. Three Kingdoms contained many classic close combat descriptions which were later borrowed by wuxia writers.

Many works in this vein during the Ming and Qing dynasties were lost due to prohibition by the government. The ethos of personal freedom and conflict-readiness of these novels were seen as seditious even in times of peace and stability. The departure from mainstream literature also meant that patronage of this genre was limited to the masses and not to the literati, and stifled some of its growth. Nonetheless, the genre continued to be enormously popular, with certain full-length novels such as The Strange Case of Shi Gong (施公案奇聞/施公案奇闻) and The Romance of the Heroic Daughters and Sons (兒女英雄傳/儿女英雄传) cited as the clearest nascent wuxia novels. Justice Bao stories seen in San Xia Wu Yi (三俠五義/三侠五义, which was later extended and renamed Qi Xia Wu Yi 七俠五義) and Xiao Wu Yi (小五義/小五义) incorporated much of social justice themes of later wuxia stories.

Theme

In order for a fantasy story to fit into the sub-genre of wuxia, certain thematic elements need to be present.

Setting

Wuxia stories take place in ancient China. Characters wear period costumes and use props like horses, paper lanterns, ink brushes, scrolls, wax seals, bowls for rice or liquor, firewood backpacks, Conical or straight straw hats, paper charms, talismans, incense sticks, and ancestor plaques. Sets are filled with Chinese architecture, and include such places as inns, markets, temples, castles, mansions, towns, cities, and the wilderness. Everyone follows, adheres to, respects, or at least acknowledges the philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and ancestor worship. Social classes include farmers, merchants, tavern and inn keepers, tradesmen, scholars, government officials, soldiers, royalty, and the swordsman.

Plot

Wuxia plots are built around the happenings in the Jiang Hu and detail the execution of the code of xia. Plot seeds consist of:

The eunuch in charge of the East Chamber wants to overthrow the Emperor and rule China himself. The swordsman wulin works for the side fighting to stop the eunuch's plans:

  • The swordsman wulin acts as assassins against the eunuch's East Chamber soldiers, the eunuch's lieutenants, and, eventually, the eunuch himself. The group is paid by another eunuch who is loyal to the Emperor.
  • A family member of the swordsman clan is a high ranking official opposed to the eunuch. The eunuch gives the order to have that official and all of his family killed. The official's wulin is wiped out, but one of his children escapes with the help of two or three sympathizers. That child studies kung fu and becomes a powerful master. The child, now an adult, together with the sympathizers who helped them escape, then takes revenge for their wulin by killing the East Chamber soldiers, the eunuch's lieutenants, and the eunuch himself.
  • A family member of the swordsman clan is a high ranking official opposed to the eunuch. The eunuch gives the order to have that official and all of his family killed. The official's wulin is wiped out, but for two small children, and two or three distant relatives. The adults work different ends of an escapes plan to get the small children out of the country and into the wilderness where they can be safe from the powerful eunuch. During the escape the eunuch's army catches up with them and they have a standoff. The children escape into seclusion.
  • A family member of the swordsman clan is a high ranking official opposed to the eunuch. The eunuch gives the order to have that official and all of his family killed. The eunuch's East Chamber soldiers fail to kill the official and one or two others of his wulin. They go into hiding and eventually pull off a plan to kill the eunuch's soldiers, his lieutenants, and finally the eunuch himself in revenge for their fallen family members.

Other plots include:

  • The powerful leader of a wulin wants to overthrow the Emperor and rule all of China. The protagonists are members of another wulin that works to defeat the conquerors.
  • The powerful leader of a wulin wants to destroy all of the other wulin so that they can become the leader of the Jiang Hu. The protagonists' wulin resists, and work to defeat the dominating wulin.
  • A wulin has reached the goal of immortality and are training to achieve a high position in the Celestial Bureaucracy. An outcast swordsman attacks the protagonists, hoping to destroy them. The wulin fights for its survival.
  • Other novels, especially those by Gu Long, create detective-type and romance stories in the setting of ancient China.

The Code of Xia

Foremost in the xia code of conduct are yi ("righteousness" 义 yì) and xin ("honor"), which emphasize the importance of gracious deed received ("favors" 恩 ēn), and revenge (仇 chóu), over all other ethos of life. The code of xia is grave enough for its adherents to kill and die for, and their vendetta can pass from one generation to the next until resolved by retribution, or, in some cases, atonement. The swordsman is expected to:

  • Aid the person who needs help, usually the Emperor (though he never knows it), the Jiang Hu, the swordsman's fellows, friends, and loved ones; or the swordsman themself.
  • Take revenge for all dishonors against themself or their fellow swordsmen, friends, and loved ones. Dishonors inculde murdering people the swordsman cares about, stealing from such people, kidnapping such people, and burning down or smashing up the swordsman's wulin house. Those dishonored are grateful, expectant, and even insistent of this revenge.
  • Honor their word. What a swordsman says is considered a vow.
  • Pay back all 'gracious deeds received' in full. These favors will be paid back even if the person they are owed to has long been dead, even if the person is their mortal enemy, and even if the 'person' is their horse.

In wuxia stories, all swordsman follow the code of xia, whether they are good or evil people. The code's purpose is to give proper honor and face to those of power, and functions like a code of manners. The code has no moral compass, meaning that it justifies evil as well as good, and treats both as morally equal. Under the code, an evil character may take revenge for whatever they may consider a 'dishonor', they will honor their word literally, and they will aid other evil people who need help.

The Use of Wushu

Although wuxia is based on true-life martial arts, the genre elevates the mastery of this art to fictitious levels of attainment. Combatants have the following skills:

  • Kung fu. Fighting using a codified sequence of movements known as zhāo (招) which grant the ability to withstand armed foes. In wuxia stories, the swordsmen can fight for as long as they need to without getting tired, and can fend off unlimited foes at the same time.
  • Use of objects such as sewing needles, ink brushes, abaci, musical instruments, secret weapons (暗器 ànqì), sports balls, water droplets, and candle flames as lethal weapons with unfailing accuracy. In the case of musical instruments, soundwaves emanate from them when they are played that cause wounds or explosions. This is referred to as the "sound wave stance". The sword, bow, and staff weapons are still the most common used by combatants.
  • Use of qīnggōng (T: 輕功 S: 轻功), or the ability to move swiftly and lightly, allowing them to run up walls, run across water, or leap around sixty feet into the air. This is sometimes translated as "lightness kung fu". Real life martial art exponents of qinggong practice by going through years of attaching heavy weights onto their legs. Its use, however, is greatly exaggerated in wire-fu movies where practioners appear to circumvent gravity as if they were on the moon.
  • Use of nèijìn (內勁) or nèilì (内力), which is the ability to control mystical inner energy (qi) and direct it for attack, defense, healing, or to attain superhuman stamina. The effect of using qi often resembles psychokinesis or psychometabolism. In wuxia stories, blades and even arrows can be caught in mid attack, any object can be destroyed by hand, items can be pushed, pulled, picked up, or thrown to any location regardless of weight, shape, or size; a spinning sword makes a shield or flying platform, and qi can be formed into a visible object and sent into a person, which causes that person to be healed.
  • Use of zhǎng fēng (T: 掌風 S: 掌风) or palm power, which is the ability to cause explosions by throwing out your palms in an elaborate manner. Single, large explosions or multiple, small explosions are possible. Sometimes the target is disintegrated.
  • Use of diǎnxué (T: 點穴 S: 点穴) through dim mak (點脈), chin na (擒拿), or other related techniques for killing, paralyzing, poisoning, or controling opponents by hitting or seizing their acupressure points (xué 穴) with a finger, knuckle, elbow or weapon. Real life martial artists train in these seizing and paralyzing techniques. Their effectiveness is greatly exaggerated in wuxia stories.
  • Use of Taoist magic. This is rare, but some swordsmen are taoists.

These skills are usually described as being attainable by anyone who is prepared to devote themselves to diligent study and practice. The details of the most powerful skills are often to be found in scrolls and manuals known as mìjí (秘笈). Some skills can be taught by those who know them in mere minutes, simply by walking another through the particular movements of the technique. In some stories, specific techniques can be learned by spending several years either in seclusion with a master or cloistered with the Buddhist monks at a Shaolin temple.

Jiang Hu: "The World of Martial Arts"

Jiang Hu (江湖) (Cantonese: Gong Woo), literally means "rivers and lakes" and is translated as "The World of Martial Arts" or "the martial (arts) world". The Jiang Hu is comprised of swordsmen gathered in wulin (武林). Wulin are sects, clans, or schools of martial arts learning.

The Jiang Hu is a "shared world" alternate universe, and only people that belong to it can experience it. Once one enters the Jiang Hu, one can never really leave, because one knows that it exists. As a result of entering the Jiang Hu, one becomes entwined in, and a part of, the never-ending and ever-changing plots and relationships between its other members. The best wuxia writers draw a vivid picture of the intricate relationships of honor, loyalty, love and hatred between individuals and between communities within this milieu.

Films

The earliest wuxia films date back to the 1920s. Films created by King Hu and Shaw Studio featured sophisticated action choreography using wire and trampoline assisted acrobatics combined with sped up camera techniques. The storylines in the early films were loosely adapted from existing literature.

Cheng Pei-Pei and Jimmy Wang-Yu were two of the biggest stars in the days of Shaw Studio and King Hu. Cantonese screen idol Connie Chan Po-chu grew up starring in wuxia films and was famous for her male roles. Jet Li is a more recent star of wuxia films, having appeared in the Swordsman series and Hero amongst others. Yuen Woo Ping was a choreographer who achieved fame by crafting stunning action-sequences in films of the genre. Mainland Chinese director Zhang Yimou's foray into wuxia films was distinguished by the imaginative use of vivid colours and breathtaking background settings.

Wuxia was introduced to the Hollywood studios in 2000 by Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Following Ang Lee's footsteps, Zhang Yimou made Hero targeted for the international market in 2003, and House of Flying Daggers in 2004. American audiences are also being introduced to wuxia through Asian-television stations in larger cities, which feature well-produced miniseries such as Warriors of the Yang Clan and Paradise, often with English subtitles. With complex, almost soap-opera storylines, lavish sets and costumes, and veteran actors in pivotal roles, these tales can appeal to a variety of audiences.

Significant wuxia films include:

Books

Wuxia novels constitute a highly popular genre of their own in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Wuxia novels, especially by eminent authors like Jinyong and Gu Long, have a devoted following. Important wuxia novelists include:

See also

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