The Tale of the Orchid Chivalrous Thief

Name: The Tale of the Orchid Chivalrous Thief
ISBN: 9787520529389

张个侬China Culture and History Press · ChinaSep 2024

3.5

Word count: 134K words
Chapters: 28
ISBN: 9787520529389

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Summary

This book is a collection of novellas of martial arts fiction, comprising two works, The Legend of the Orchid Thief-Errant and The Tournament at Mount Wutai. Both were written by Zhang Genong, whose pen name was Fengchousheng and who often signed his works "Dantu Zhang Zhujun Genong." He was a widely read and learned author of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly school, and whether in social novels, martial arts fiction, detective fiction, or historical fiction, he wrote with interest and fresh ideas, especially excelling in martial arts fiction. Few of his works survive, yet once read they are hard to put down.

Editor's review

This volume collects two novellas of martial arts fiction by Zhang Genong, offering a concentrated view of Republican-era Mandarin Duck and Butterfly school wuxia. The author, whose pen name was Fengchousheng and who often signed himself "Dantu Zhang Zhujun Genong," wrote in the social, martial arts, detective, and historical genres, and excelled especially in wuxia. This edited edition lets readers glimpse the distinctive character of Republican-era wuxia narrative, poised between legend and social observation. The Legend of the Orchid Thief-Errant takes a thief-errant as its subject, combining jianghu spirit with marketplace flavor; The Tournament at Mount Wutai centers on a ring tournament and moves at a brisk pace. Zhang Genong's wuxia writing does not pursue combat spectacle for its own sake but skillfully weaves human feeling and social manners into the plot, reading with fresh interest. For readers concerned with Republican-era popular literature, the origins of wuxia fiction, and the writing genealogy of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly school, this book offers rare primary texts. Read it within the development of Republican-era wuxia to appreciate its continuity with, and difference from, the later new-school wuxia of Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Republican-era popular literature and the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly school
Wuxia fans who want to understand the early forms of Republican-era martial arts fiction
Scholars and graduate students working on modern popular fiction
Readers who enjoy short wuxia stories and want a light reading experience

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer the grand, long-form narratives of modern new-school wuxia
Readers expecting rigorous historical research or scholarly annotation
Readers with low tolerance for Republican-era vernacular style

Reading tips

Read The Legend of the Orchid Thief-Errant first, then The Tournament at Mount Wutai, to sense the author's shifts in technique across different subjects.
While reading, note the depictions of marketplace life and human feeling to appreciate how Republican-era wuxia blends with fiction of social manners.
If you are unfamiliar with the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly school, learn its basic background before entering the text.
Read the two works in separate sittings, pausing after each to compare their narrative pace and characterization.

About the publisher

China Culture and History Press China · Founded in 1980

China Culture and History Press has long devoted itself to modern and contemporary literature and culture-and-history reading matter, with publishing directions centered on classic works, social novels, prose and miscellaneous writings, and Eastern philosophy, alongside culture-and-history periodicals such as Zongheng. Among the more than 1,500 titles in the collection, representative books include Zhang Henshui's Ti Xiao Yin Yuan, Lu Xun's Complete Classic Works (10 volumes) and Wild Grass, and Lao She's Four Generations Under One Roof series and the boxed set of Lao She's Classic Works (10 volumes), while its author resources are concentrated on figures such as Zhang Henshui, Lu Xun, Lao She and Sima Qian. Its publishing character lies in solid editorial work on culture-and-history source texts and in issuing famous authors' works in sets, balancing the readability of individual texts with the systematic presentation of complete collections for focused reading and collecting. Beyond these directions, public information on the press's contemporary original publishing is limited, so it is not elaborated here.

版权信息
一枝兰盗侠演义
第一回是非混淆千载沉冤狱黑白分明重演一枝兰
第二回桃花山剪径服众寇汉阳县画地分雁行
第三回归元寺长老识英雄黄鹤楼品茗逢文士
第四回武昌府英雄报仇仙桃镇镖客留宾
第五回笑里藏刀杰士中计生喜泄机豪客设策
第六回监利县城楼逢侠士襄阳府古庙会淫僧
第七回海潮寺一枝兰被获施家坪双尾蝎救友
第八回一枝兰偷富济贫两头蛇弃旧迎新
第九回观音堂一枝兰入赘五台山张伯卿投师
第十回除恶贼歇马桃花山结诸贤攻取安庆城
第十一回两僧人惊急送消息众弟兄乔装伴经商
第十二回劫法场救出陶四杰上饭店戏弄张三观
第十三回除恶霸存心公益显神通借刀杀人
五台山打擂
第一回谈技击偶忆首事编稗官作成闲文
第二回陶家堡英雄三探庄迎宾栈豪杰两落店
第三回急救人主仆中途拆散因访案兄弟半路相逢
第四回助拿贼英雄获宝刀解贼人山寇劫钦犯
第五回冤家路窄巧遇仇人良朋施勇途救难友
第六回破贼巢贼人望影逃雪奇冤奇事跟踪出
第七回官欤盗欤真伪莫辨贞耶淫耶黑白谁知
第八回诛仇全节千古景仰杀尼毁庵百世流芳
第九回青州驿再遇仇人黑水湖初逢侠女
第十回济南府英雄入狱曲阜县侠义设计
第十一回被囚英雄狱中染恙延医豪杰衙前卖头
第十二回遭辱寻师商设擂台雪耻兴戎约期比武

FAQ

Which two works are collected in this book?

This book collects two novellas of martial arts fiction by Zhang Genong: The Legend of the Orchid Thief-Errant and The Tournament at Mount Wutai. Both take martial arts as their subject but differ in narrative focus—the former centers on a thief-errant's legend, the latter on a ring tournament.

What kind of writer was Zhang Genong?

Zhang Genong's pen name was Fengchousheng, and he often signed himself "Dantu Zhang Zhujun Genong." He was a writer of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly school. He wrote social novels, martial arts fiction, detective fiction, and historical fiction, and excelled especially in martial arts fiction. Few of his works survive, but his style is full of fresh ideas and hard to put down.

Do I need background knowledge of Republican-era literature to read this book?

It is not strictly necessary, but some background in Republican-era popular literature makes it easier to understand its narrative habits and language style. Ordinary readers can start directly with the stories, while researchers can read it in the context of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly school and the development of Republican-era wuxia.

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About the author

张个侬 Author · Chinese

Zhang Genong was a writer of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School during the Republican era. A native of Dantu in Jiangsu (present-day Zhenjiang), he wrote under such pen names as Feng Chousheng, Feng Shisheng, and Zhuobi Shanren. Public information about his birth and death dates and early life is limited, but his surviving works show that he ranged across social, martial arts, detective, and historical fiction with ease, achieving his greatest success in martial arts novels. His representative works include Sh Potian Jinglu (Stone-Breaking Record), Guan Dong Qixia Zhuan (Tales of Strange Heroes of the Northeast), and the Four Great Swordsmen series. This library holds 41 of his works, most of them martial arts novels, including multiple installments of Stone-Breaking Record. His writing occupies a place in the history of Republican-era martial arts fiction, with intricate plots and diverse subjects that offer valuable texts for the study of popular literature of the period.