Originally Posted by White_Tiger  So I see my crazy friend has started to infect the minds of the west with her little obsession... Okay, some quick keynotes. Wuxia novels are GREAT. They have entertaining plots, lovable characters and cool action scenes. Some (like 2%, say?) actually have depth and theme as well. But I do think it's one of those things that you can't quite translate. People have attempted, but they will only be as good as, say, Lord of the Rings in Chinese (which I assure you, is HORRIBLE! It's going to make Tolkien turn in his grave). It's due to the culture difference. Like you can never quite find matching words for Elves, rangers, wizards, lords, sire, etc in Chinese, you can never find words to match Jiang Hu, Qi (or Chi as most people call it), Shi Jie, Shi Xiong etc in English. So translation is futile. That's why movies are much better for the western world. They are much more visual...
Now onto some common misunderstandings. First of all, Wuxia doesn't qualify as fantasy because there is ABSOLUTELY NO MAGIC involved (unless you are born in the days of the Empire reading stuff written by this guy named Ping Jiang Bu Xiao Sheng or Huan Zhu Lou Zhu (( excuse me for their impossibly long names, but it's not my fault)). ) All the wonderful things, like walking on water, flying up a wall, poking at people with fingers and then they can't move (did you actually see that in Hero or Crouching Tiger? I bet most of you didn't get that). They are all explained "scientifically". It's quote on quote because that science is fantastic (like all those WEIRD things CHinese people came up with). Walking on water and flying up a wall is actually a form of martical arts (I am absolutely certain it's true to a degree. I have seen people who can walk on walls ((not spiderman kind of walking on walls. just walking on walls as if it is normal)).). I have also seen people (or rather, this one person) who can do hand stand on only two fingers. Fallenstar would know, since that old monk did live in her hometown. And poking people to make them unable to move is also martial arts (sort of). It's actually acupuncture, done with fingers rather than needles. (And I suppose that is fictional. It's not that effective, it's more like your chiropractor kind of thing in reality). A lot of this stuff are real. Like in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, the Wu Dang sect. It still exists today, and people in that sect still practice martial arts. And they are good at it. And Shaolin Monastery really exists too. They are a very OLD monastery establishment. And they have lots and lots of cool martial arts.
Hmmm.... what else? Oh yes, recommandations. The most famous and wonderful Wuxia writer is obviously Louis Cha (Jin Yong). Every single Chinese knows him, and I am NOT exaggerating. He wrote a total of 12 full length novels, of which 6 are longer than LOTR. And ignore Fallenstar and whatever she said about The Return of the Condor Heroes. It's certainly NOT his best. His critically best is named The Deer and the Caldron. It has been translated to English by this bored person in Oxford (I think the same department that translated The Romance of the Three Kingdoms), and the book is selling on Amazon and your local Chinese book store. I don't know if any library has them. My local one certainly doesn't, but you can try your luck. His other critically acclaimed best are State of Divinity and Demi Gods, semi devils. There are some translations on various websites. (Don't have the URL, so go search for Jin Yong or Louis Cha on google and you should find it.) But, I must warn you, the translations are HORRIBLE. They are done by amateur writers who have way too much time on their hands. Personally, I think even I can do better. It looks like an Babelfish tranlsation to me. Hmmmmm, that's about it.
Finally, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, while is a fun film, is actually not that great of a book. The only reason that it was made into a movie because it was the only one short enough. (As I said, most famous Wuxia works are longer than LOTR. So.....) Hero and the House of Flying Daggers are even worse. Because they are not realizations of novels. I don't know which idiot did the script, but I do know it's bad. Hero is viciously attacked for its crudity and lack of plot in China. House of Flying Daggers is just a film to showcase some really hot stars together. So no. If you would really like to watch some Wuxia series. TVBS of Hong Kong had done some admirably beautiful pieces. If you are not Chinese, it's rather hard for you to find them to begin with. And if you do find them, there is a 50-50 percent chance that they come with English subtitles. The series The Legend of the Condor Heroes made in 83 had excellent acting, but poor special effects and cinematography. My favourite is the series Demi gods, semi devils made in 97. Excellent everything. The same series made by CCTV (that's the mainland people) in 2003 has excellent everything as well. And prettier actresses.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.... I think I just talked too much. Excuse me. But I do love this topic dearly. Feel free to ask questions. I probably know more than you ever want to know. Yes, I know, I have a head full of useless information.
Cheers. Cya soon. |