Historical Figures and Martial Arts Figures (Jin Yong's Speech)

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Historical Figures and Martial Arts Figures (Jin Yong's Speech) [Copy link]

　In 1994, I came to Taipei to attend a talk with Mr. Yang Zhao and Mr. Zhan Hongzhi (co-organized by Renjian and Yuanliu Publishing). The content of the talk was quite rich and it was the most impressive of the cities I have visited. The audience was very knowledgeable and the questions were very in-depth. It was a pleasure to meet friends in Taipei.
　　Seeing this scene here today, it was like heroes from all walks of life came here to participate in a martial arts conference. In fact, I don’t really like giving speeches. When I was running Ming Pao, if I had an opinion, I would write an editorial. However, this has a disadvantage, that is, one person talks to himself, without being driven, and thinks he is right, but in fact he doesn’t know whether he is right or not. So I don’t like giving speeches, but I like dialogue.
　　The Ukiyo-e edition of the China Times has opened the "Jin Yong Teahouse". In the early days, it was originally intended to be called "Jin Yong Studies", but I was not worthy of the four words "Jin Yong Studies". First, my novels cannot be regarded as academic, so Jin Yong studies are not valid. But it is called "Jin Yong Teahouse". Readers who are interested can sit down and chat. Criticism, scolding, and praise are all fine. Today, the "Jin Yong Teahouse" is open. Everyone sitting here is welcome to make comments if you are dissatisfied with me or my novels.
　　My novels have always written about characters, and history has always been my interest, so the topic is "Historical Figures and Martial Arts Figures". Everyone who comes to listen to the lecture must be interested in the characters in my novels.
　　Many people have asked me before, which historical figures do I like the most? If I were allowed to choose, which historical figure would I most want to be? If I were allowed to choose, which historical figure would I most want to be? In fact, the most comfortable person in Chinese history was Emperor Qianlong. He was born an emperor, and there was no problem of fighting for the throne. He did not commit any murder or arson. He lived a comfortable life as a peaceful emperor and established a large territory for China. He was rich and prosperous until his death, and there was no family tragedy. This life was very complete.
　　Westerners have different cultural backgrounds. Everyone knows the story of the epic "Iliad": the Greeks went to attack Troy for a beautiful woman named Helen. Helen has now become a synonym for beauty in Western society. In Greek mythology, there are three goddesses, one is Juno, the wife of the Greek god, one is Athena, the patron saint of Athens, and one is Venus, the goddess of love. The three of them always think that they are the most beautiful, so they ask the prince of Troy to judge who is the most beautiful? This assessment and election is bribed, which is of course unfair. This kind of election culture is not only the worst, but also the most backward. Juno bribed the prince to give him the most gold and wealth in the world; Athena wanted to give him the greatest wisdom in the world and become the smartest person; Venus said that she could give him the most beautiful woman in the world as his lover. The prince thought, he is already a king, with a lot of wealth, what can a smart man do? So he decided to give the golden apple to Venus, hoping to get the most beautiful woman in the world - he got Helen.
　　If you return this question to yourself, what choice will you and I make? There are many people who want to choose the richest or the smartest, but those who choose the most beautiful may hope to get the woman they love the most. The woman you love does not have to be the most beautiful, and the most beautiful may not be the best lover. Westerners think very differently from Chinese people. If you ask me what kind of person I want to be, I always hope that I am very smart and can solve many problems in life.
　　Philosophers in the world summarize life, and in the end they always find that life is actually very painful and there are many problems that cannot be solved. Sakyamuni said that birth, aging, illness and death are all painful. Buddhists also mentioned "meeting with enemies and those you hate". A person you don't like always follows you around like a shadow and you can't separate from him. This is a kind of pain. There is also "parting with loved ones". Being separated from your close ones is also painful. There is also "not getting what you want". You always can't get what you want. You want to study a certain subject but you can't understand it. You want to take the entrance exam to a certain university but you can't get in. You want to make a lot of money in business but you can't make it. You want to develop well but you can't succeed. In short, there are many things in the world that you can't get what you want, and because you can't get what you want, you have pain.
　　We know that the Buddhist solution is to gain wisdom. After gaining wisdom, these painful things can be solved because you have seen through the inevitability of pain in life. Wisdom is different from cleverness. Cleverness can solve small problems, but wisdom can solve big problems. If you really can't get what you want, don't ask for it. If you don't ask for it, there will be no pain. The Chinese say "When a person has no desires, his character will be noble". If a person does not pursue something obsessively, his character will naturally be noble. If he wants to fight for it, he will naturally have to make sacrifices. When he reaches the state of not pursuing anything, his character will be noble and free. To reach this state, of course, one must have great wisdom. In the past, some people also asked me which two people in Chinese history I wanted to be. I said I wanted to be Fan Li and Zhang Liang, two smart people who established great achievements, but later retired after success, were not greedy, and did not become a high-ranking official. They lived a carefree life with their beautiful wives. Such people are rare.
　　Zhang Liang is great, but some friends think Fan Li is more amazing because he took the most beautiful woman away. After he stopped being an official, he became Tao Zhugong and made a fortune in business. It sounds like an ideal life. But this idea is actually very selfish. All desires are satisfied, but it does not help others. Fan Li did not contribute much except helping the Yue Kingdom to destroy the Wu Kingdom. Zhang Liang also helped Liu to establish the Han Dynasty. Maybe these two wise people are basically very successful, but their contributions are different. Speaking of martial arts, I think martial arts novels should be renamed chivalrous novels. Although there are martial arts and fighting, in fact, the most important thing about martial arts novels that I really like is not the martial arts, but the chivalrous spirit. The chivalrous spirit in the characters, chivalry and righteousness.
　　It is popular in Taiwan to worship Guan Gong. There is no doubt that Guan Gong is a martial arts master, but he is really worshipped because he is loyal. Therefore, the folk society calls him Guan Gong, and his status is as high as that of the emperor. Loyalty is a very important virtue in Chinese society. Foreigners talk about love with relatives and friends, while Chinese people talk about love and righteousness. Therefore, you must have both love and righteousness. It is not enough to have love alone. It doesn't matter if the business negotiation fails. The "righteousness" between each other is still there. As the saying goes, "If the deal fails, the benevolence and righteousness still exist." In martial arts novels, no matter what the situation is, this "righteousness" is always maintained. For historical figures or martial arts characters, "righteousness" is a very important standard for criticism. Foreigners asked me, "What is the definition of a knight?" Because foreigners always think that the so-called "knight" only needs to be loyal to a church or an organization, so the morality is perfect, but the Chinese "knight" includes helping others without any purpose, and may even sacrifice themselves.
　　In the martial arts novels I wrote, there are some who think they are the best in martial arts, but they are bent on finding someone to fight and beat someone to death. Such people are not chivalrous or not, they just want to gain reputation and status first. Fighting with others to compete for the best in the world is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is not necessarily a good thing either. Some people seek revenge for their friends, which is not bad to satisfy their own revenge psychology, but it is not a good thing either. In my opinion, the truly chivalrous behavior is that there is no benefit for oneself, and one may even sacrifice one's life for the country and the people. This is the style of the "greatest chivalrous".

hkn

◎ "Tens of millions of people follow my random thoughts and find it very interesting..." Q: Among the martial arts characters you created, who is your incarnation? A: There is no incarnation of myself in my novels. The characters in the novels are just to satisfy my imagination. I would speculate if I were this person, how would I react? If I have this martial arts, how would I deal with this person? There are some personalities that I hope to have. He is very good at martial arts. When people retaliate against him, he does not remember the grudge or take revenge. He always has the attitude of "forget it". Q: Your martial arts works are full of chivalry, but the endings are mostly retired from the world. What is your specific view on retiring from the world? A: Retiring from the world may only be applicable to ancient society. It may be unreasonable from a modern point of view, but martial arts characters have no other way out if they do not retire from the world. If you are very good at martial arts, it may be more satisfactory to unite a group of people to overthrow the previous dynasty and become the emperor yourself. However, like Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he absorbed and united some people who thought the Yuan Dynasty was not good, overthrew the previous dynasty together, and then became the emperor himself. However, he was not a good emperor, so other people who were dissatisfied simply let him mess around and did not participate. There was no end to participating, because every uprising was for the benefit of the people, which was a very fair reason. Once he successfully established a dynasty, he turned around and oppressed the people. How could an emperor do this? These people were not happy with it, and after helping to solve the problem, they had to leave and say goodbye. Q: In your novels, the male protagonist always has a lot of female protagonists who love him, just like in Qiong Yao's novels, there are a lot of boys who love a female protagonist. What is your view on love? In addition, in your novels, the personality of the female protagonist is not as complete as that of the male protagonist. Do you feel regretful? Have you ever considered using a female hero as the protagonist in your novel? A: I am a man, so I cannot understand all the female psychology. If I make a heroine the protagonist, I have to imagine what she might do. This is not easy. When writing about men, they will naturally have those reactions, which is relatively simple. If you want to fight with others, you don’t have to comb your hair and put on makeup before going out. Q: How do you write a martial arts novel? How do you choose the material and conceive? The structure of your novels is dense and complex. I often forget the beginning when I read the end, but the beginning and the end echo each other and are cleverly arranged. Have you ever conducted sand table simulations and rehearsed carefully? A: I write a paragraph a day when I write novels, and some of them take two or three years. Sometimes I forget whether I have explained the beginning when I write the end, and sometimes there is no foreshadowing, so I make up for it later. Anyway, when readers read it, it is all filled in. Q: In your novels, you have made a deep study of chess, martial arts, medicine, and Buddhism, which is amazing. In real life, how do you create such profound skills? A: When writing a novel, you can write down what you know and not write what you don't know. It's not like teaching. If students ask you questions, you can't say you don't know. Martial arts novels are completely controlled by the author. If you don't know, the characters in the book don't know either! When writing a novel, you can slowly check. If there is something you can't find, just change the disease or the medicine. Q: Can I ask why you stopped writing? A: I don't have the motivation to write novels now. In the past, it was for newspaper sales, but now the newspaper is gone. Writing novels is very hard and painful, especially when you have to write a paragraph every day in serials. If you want to travel abroad, you either write several paragraphs first and leave them, or take them abroad. You stay up all night and write desperately, and send them back by express mail early in the morning. The psychological pressure is very high. In the future, I also hope to have enough time to write novels again, and write the kind that is very entertaining. I am happy to write them and share my experiences. I think about it myself, and tens of thousands of people follow my thoughts. It's very interesting. ◎ "A true historical novel may allow Wei Xiaobao to marry seven wives, but it cannot allow Wei Xiaobao to fight against Russia..." Q: Why do you think the Song Dynasty was China's heyday? Is a country that overemphasizes writing and despises martial arts sufficient to be the basis for a peaceful and prosperous era? A: The Song Dynasty was China's most prosperous era. At that time, capitalism began to sprout and the entire productivity flourished. Whether it was production, technology, culture, or art, it was the highest in the world. Russia and the United States had not yet developed, and Britain, France, and Germany were still far behind the Song Dynasty. Every era has its advantages and disadvantages and should be comprehensively reviewed. Its civil service system and examination system were sound, and the people were stable, but its national defense was not strong, so it was often invaded. Q: What is your evaluation of Emperor Kangxi? Is he the best emperor in China? And what is your opinion of Confucius? A: Among the Chinese emperors, I have a very high evaluation of Kangxi. He was not only open-minded, but also very studious. He also studied foreign knowledge. In addition, I admire Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty very much. He had a very good demeanor. Before he died, he wrote a will saying that he had done many wrong things in his life and that he was truly sorry and apologized to the people of the country. This kind of demeanor is rare. If a disaster such as an earthquake or flood occurred, he would write an article to announce it to the people of the country, saying that he was punished by God because he did not do well, and that he felt very sorry and criticized himself. The emperors in the past were saints and never did anything wrong. It was always others who were wrong. In addition, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty was also very good and treated the people with great generosity. Confucius is a model for all ages, and he teaches everyone. Every Chinese has his teachings in their lives, especially his "self-restraint and restoration of propriety". Self-restraint means being able to restrain one's excessive desires, and propriety has a wide range, including systems, culture, laws, etc. French philosopher Rousseau wrote a book called "Freedom and Organization". The biggest difficulty in the 18th and 19th centuries was that individuals wanted to develop individualism and fight for freedom, but there was a country behind them. If they fought too hard for personal freedom, the organization and the country would be powerless. Therefore, freedom and organization should have limits and should not be exceeded. We should not allow the power of the state to expand infinitely and ignore the freedom of the people. In this way, the country will become chaotic. Confucius's "self-restraint and restoration of propriety" is the self-restraint of personal freedom. Only when the norms and systems of the state are established and contradictions are resolved can stability be achieved. More than 2,000 years ago, Confucius had the idea of starting with "benevolence" in everything. He was a very remarkable person. Q: What is the biggest difference between historical novels and martial arts novels? Is there anything to learn from the historical novels of Mr. Gao Yang, a famous historical novelist? If you write "Red Top Merchant", how would you interpret it? A: I like Mr. Gao Yang's novels very much. Historical novels have a basic scope and are limited by historical events. There are more restrictions and less room for imagination. For example, "The Deer and the Cauldron" is more like a historical novel, but a real historical novel may let Wei Xiaobao marry seven wives, but it cannot create Wei Xiaobao fighting with Russia. Q: What is your evaluation of Cao Cao and Wu Zetian? A: From a historical perspective, these two people are great people. Cao Cao once proudly said that if it weren't for me, the people would have suffered a lot in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the emperors would have dominated the country. It was me who made people's lives easier. This is true. At that time, the heroes occupied different places. Businessmen had to cross the checkpoints on the hills. If the customs collected money endlessly, how could the people bear it? Once unified, they could travel unimpeded all the way, and the economy would naturally develop. It contributed to the Chinese economy. However, once he occupied a city, he ordered the massacre of the city. It was too cruel and unnecessary. If he hadn't done these things, he would have unified China long ago. Q: What do you think of Mr. Su Dongpo? A: Su Dongpo was good at everything. He was first-class in calligraphy, painting, poetry, lyrics, articles, and character. He was also talented. What's more enviable is that even his father and brother were first-class writers. Such opportunities are hard to come by. Q: Do you have an "idol" or someone you admire? A: In history, I admire Yue Fei very much. He fought against foreign enemies for the country and sacrificed his own interests, but was wrongly killed in the end. I also admire Sima Qian and Sima Guang. Q: Is Huang Rong suitable to live in this era? Will she take the joint entrance examination? A: If Huang Rong takes the joint entrance examination, I suspect she will cheat. She is very smart and learns physics and mathematics very quickly. Of course, she doesn't need to cheat, but her personality requires perfection. If there is a question that she can't do, she will definitely find a way to cheat, and the cheating teacher can't catch her. Q: Among the female characters in your novels, who do you most want to be your wife? A: Many men think that women should not be too capable, so if Huang Rong is a wife, everyone is afraid and there will be no action, so I don't like Huang Rong to be my wife the most. Q: What do you think of Wei Xiaobao? Why does Wei Xiaobao seem warm and affectionate in the first half, but promiscuous and evil in the second half? A: This is a necessity for a man to grow up. Generally speaking, men are worse at love as they get older. On the one hand, they are experienced, and on the other hand, they have more material conditions and power, so the chances of bullying women will also increase. Q: How did you create the character of Yue Buqun? Is it related to the life around you? Can you analyze it from a psychological perspective? A: I imagined Yue Buqun step by step. What is his personality, age, character traits, motivation, and what he wants to achieve? Based on his talents and personality, what means will he take to achieve his goals? How will he solve problems when he encounters difficulties? The psychology of a person like Yue Buqun may happen to many people, but most people are not as good at martial arts as him, and their efforts are not as profound as his. I especially emphasized his foresight. In fact, in life, he is very good at martial arts.People who use tricks and schemes can be found everywhere. ◎ "If dogma is not applicable, it is like having no moves. If there is no fixed belief, what happens is solved with practical methods..." Q: You may be a historical figure in the eyes of the next generation. How do you view your position? What attitude should be taken between historical figures and politics? A: Chinese traditional historical figures are inseparable from politics. Sima Qian wrote biographies in "Records of the Grand Historian", with characters as the protagonists, ranking first in the world. No one was earlier than "Records of the Grand Historian". Later "Biographies of Greek and Roman Celebrities" also took individuals as the main body, but much later. China's overall social habits attach great importance to politics. In addition to political figures, other characters in history books are placed in a relatively unimportant position. For example, "Biographies of Confucian Scholars", "Biographies of Women", and "Biographies of Traitors" are mainly about people, but they are not as important as political figures. As for whether I can become a historical figure, it is not important. I just hope that one or two hundred years later, there will still be people who like to read my books and I can still have a place. Q: Please explain the realm of "no moves are better than moves". A: In fact, the whole society still has dogmatism. There is a certain doctrine for everything. People like to say "Mao Zedong said so", "Sun Yat-sen said so", "Marx said so". These tricks are already fixed. In fact, society is ever-changing. Many things are beyond the imagination of the ancients. For example, modern technology of computer network, I am afraid that even Lenin and Sun Yat-sen could not think of it! Dogma is not applicable, just like no tricks, no fixed beliefs, whatever happens, just use practical methods to solve it. Another example is in a duel, see what tricks the opponent has, find out his shortcomings, and stab him to death with a sword, this is no tricks. Q: How do the martial arts characters in your novels make money and live? A: Some martial arts characters make money as bodyguards, which is relatively low-class. Some sects are landlords, such as Wudang Sect, and can live on their own, but some sects are relatively poor, such as Linghu Chong of Huashan Sect. If the master does not give him money, he can't even afford to buy wine. Generally speaking, most of these knights are poor. Because economic activities are not the main theme of martial arts novels, they are often omitted. Q: Have you ever found someone in real life who has the same temperament or personality as the one in martial arts novels? A: I don't think so, because the characters in novels are exaggerated. In fact, there are no such lovely women or men. Those are unrealistic. Q: Most of the women in novels are beautiful, but Cheng Lingsu is the only one who has a very different personality. What is the motivation for creating her? A: A lovely woman is not necessarily beautiful. Beauty is born by parents, not by one's own efforts. But beautiful people are not necessarily good. In my novels, good women are also beautiful. Of course, they are born with this, but this kind of thing doesn't happen often. Too good looks may be a disadvantage. If you rely on your beauty, you will not follow the rules and do things excessively. Others will indulge her, which is not good for her. Cheng Lingsu is very lovely, smart, loyal and rare. You can't judge a person by appearance. Appearance and character have nothing to do with each other. Q: Why is Yang Guo not suitable for real society, but Linghu Chong is? A: Yang Guo is a completely uncompromising person, while Linghu Chong is more indifferent and casual. He doesn't care too much about problems in society. He is more free and easy, and he doesn't have to do everything this way. Q: Why would Huang Rong, such a proud girl, fall in love with a silly boy like Guo Jing? A: Love has a compensatory effect. Often you like someone, but his personality is very different from yours. Huang Rong is so smart, and seeing Guo Jing is so honest, you will feel the preciousness of each other's personality. Q: Do you watch movies and TV shows that have been adapted? Who do you think plays the most vivid role? A: My novels have been adapted a lot, and the screenwriters like to make changes. I am not very satisfied after reading them. I think the novels are long, so it's okay to delete them, but it's best not to add them. However, movies and TV like to add something, such as letting Huang Yaoshi raise a cat in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". It is understandable to raise dogs in Chinese tradition, but it is rare to raise cats. Q: Will personal emotions be mixed in the historical figures in the novels, and will the ones I like be written better and the ones I don't like be written worse? A: This is inevitable. The historical figures are added to increase the authenticity. Anyway, with historical figures as a foil, readers will feel that the novel story is more reliable, but it also adds a lot of personal imagination. Question: The love between Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu is not tolerated by reality. In addition to retreating from the world, are there any other ways for lovers to stay together? Answer: The personalities of these two people are difficult to reconcile with the feudal society of the Song Dynasty. If they don't retreat from the world, it will turn the world upside down and there will be more problems in the martial arts world.If we don't retreat from the world, the world will be turned upside down and there will be more problems in the world.If we don't retreat from the world, the world will be turned upside down and there will be more problems in the world.