Mr. Louis Cha Leung-yung, a renouned writer and newsman, died at the age of 94 in Hong Kong yesterday.　　Tributes from various sectors have since been pouring in, giving the life of this literary giant extremely high evaluations from different perspectives.

Mr. Cha's penname is Jin Yong.　　Jin Yong and his wuxia (martial arts) novels are probably the most popular and influential man and literary works among contemporary Chinese communities all over the world.　　The great popularity of Jin Yong's wuxia novels lies in that they depict characters vividly against historical backdrops, are rich in plot and written with ease and grace.　　Even some of those who are afraid of reading would be reluctant to put it down at mealtimes once they have gotten hold of a copy of The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.

With many works to his credit, Mr. Cha's fame is widespread globally.　　His greatest achievement should have been in two aspects.　　One was to have created the new-style wuxia novels in modern times, and the second to have made contributions to the spread of Chinese culture.

Before Mr. Cha and another late master wuxia novelist Mr. Chen Wentong (pennamed Liang Yusheng), modern wuxia novels had remained just as demotic leisure-time readings.　　Their contents were limited to learning martial arts in mountains or throwing flying swords, and hence they could hardly have had an appeal to refined taste.　　But in the works of Mr. Cha and Mr. Chen, there are not only martial arts and chivalrous swordsmen/women, affections and loves, but also blended-in Chinese history and cultures as well as knowledges of [Chinese] poems and paintings.　　So much so that they enable readers to comprehend the overall national interests and even the philosophy of how to well bear oneself, and as such they have greatly upgraded the level and status of wuxia novels.　　Today, the works of Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng have not only entered the palace hall of literature becoming books of the best-selling [in market] and the most borrowed from libraries, but also become a "subject of study" per se.　　There are quite a few people who have obtained their doctorate degrees by studying Jin Yong works of in the "Jin studies".

In the spread of Chinese culture, a best example is that years ago when Hong Kong students going to study abroad, they would put no other Chinese-language books but a copy of The Legend of The Condor Heroes in their luggage.　　Having arrived in their destinations, they would keep asking their families to mail them wuxia novels by Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng.　　There are many channels to spread Chinese culture.　　A large number of descriptions in Jin Yong works, including those about China's famous mountains and great waters, schools of martial arts, family affections and human relations and even clothes, food and drinks, could be said as "popularised versions" of traditional Chinese culture.　　Young people might likely shrug it off when asked to read Chinese history, geography and poems, yet they could talk with great familiarity about the sword duel on top of Huashan Mountain, the general assembly of Kung Fu masters at the Bright Summit and even the "secret in history" about a secret instruction naming his 14th son as his successor by Emperor Kangxi hidden behind the "Open and Aboveboard" plaque in the Palace of the Soul.　　Such episodes [in the novels] are inevitably played up, but at least certain names of people and places as well as the events have been driven home [to the young people].　　Jin Yong works have produced the effects orthodox history books and classics cannot produce.　　 As a wuxia novel master to promote the spread of traditional Chinese culture was Mr. Louis Cha Leung-yung's contribution in his lifetime.　　Nevertheless, what is the most respect- and praise-worthy in the whole lifetime of this "great chivalrous swordsman" hailed by millions of readers more lies in that he was a genuine man of letters and intellectual who was a patriot, pursued learning and knowledge in his whole lifetime and was upright and straightforward. (To be continued)

　　　　31 October 2018