Song of Painting
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Summary
Li Zhonghua, a scholar in Yanjing, covets Wang Mojie's authentic painting Moonlit Shadow over a Secluded Mountain. While raising money to buy it, he accidentally kills a bookkeeper and a bookshop owner and is forced to flee into the jianghu. On the road he meets Song Qi, the "Masked Bear," and Hao Jiaojiao, the "Rakshasa Demon Mother," and her daughter, learning several peerless martial arts. He is also framed by Yan Lei, "Turning Heaven Palm" of the Yan Family Fort, imprisoned in a dungeon, and rescued with the help of Zou Qi, "Ghost's Bane." Drawn into contests over martial treasures such as the "Five-Color Golden Mother" and the "Internal Energy Boxing Manual," he becomes acquainted with beauties including Feng Lifen and He Manyun, encounters orthodox and evil factions such as the "Two Tyrants of Jinling" and the "Two Dwarfs of Qingcheng," and survives adventures including a desperate battle at Yuhua Terrace, peril on the Qinhuai River, and an encounter with immortals in a remote gorge. His martial arts grow ever closer to perfection...
Editor's review
Danqing Yin uses an authentic work by Wang Mojie as a thread to weave traditional taste in painting and calligraphy together with jianghu grudges into a long martial-arts story. The author, Wuling Qiaozi, continues the narrative technique of old-school Republican-era wuxia. The plot moves densely, from accidental killing and flight, instruction by extraordinary figures, escape from a dungeon, and contests over rare treasures, with one turn following another in close succession, giving the reading experience the rhythm of a storyteller's measured narration. Character relationships are intricate, and orthodox and evil forces enter the stage in turn. Yan Lei's framing, Zou Qi's help, and the companionship of close female confidantes form important supports for the protagonist Li Zhonghua's transformation from scholar to knight-errant, and add a layer of human warmth and coldness beneath the main line of treasure seeking. Passages such as the encounter with immortals in a remote gorge and the martial arts reaching perfection carry a distinctly old-school legendary flavor, and the book is suitable for nostalgic reading as genre literature. One caution: the book focuses on plot and the construction of a jianghu world, and does not dwell deeply on painting and calligraphy connoisseurship itself, so readers expecting artistic scholarship may feel some disappointment. Overall, this is a wuxia work suited to leisurely chapter-by-chapter reading.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who enjoy old-school Republican-era wuxia and prefer traditional chapter-based narration
- Those with nostalgic interest in classic wuxia formulas such as treasure seeking, revenge, and extraordinary encounters
- Casual readers who want to follow a tightly plotted long novel in fragmented time
- Readers intrigued by the combination of refined taste in painting and calligraphy with jianghu grudges
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting rigorous knowledge of painting and calligraphy connoisseurship or artistic scholarship
- Readers who prefer modernist narration and pure literature with psychological depth
- Readers who find multiple character lines and densely introduced factions difficult
Reading tips
- First sort out the thread of Li Zhonghua's identity transformation from scholar to knight-errant, then pay attention to the order in which the various factions appear.
- When characters are introduced in clusters, note names and sect affiliations as you go to avoid confusion later in the plot.
- Use passages such as the desperate battle at Yuhua Terrace and the peril on the Qinhuai River as pacing markers; reading in segments leaves more aftertaste.
- After finishing, compare the book with common motifs in old-school wuxia and consider its choices in treasure-seeking narrative.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 第一章 弥天大祸，亡命江湖
- 第二章 螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后
- 第三章 罗刹鬼母，茅山双剑
- 第四章 涧泉施毒，蛇雀之报
- 第五章 崂山三鹰，燕堡疑云
- 第六章 包藏祸心，罪恶滔天
- 第七章 燕堡魅影，螭龙化龙
- 第八章 脱胎换骨，重见天日
- 第九章 飞猿绝技，山魈木客
- 第十章 双怪铩羽，二霸授首
- 第十一章 雨花台魅，秦淮河月
- 第十二章 险做波臣，绝壑二猿
- 第十三章 洞中矮仙，重睹天日
- 第十四章 托庇翼下，汝虞我诈
- 第十五章 雾中惊魂，金凤令箭
- 第十六章 历数奇珍，贪欲萌生
- 第十七章 天绝施威，铁笛断指
- 第十八章 气傲赌约，剑下逃生
- 第十九章 剑锋逞威，柔能克刚
- 第二十章 毒烟飞弩，猿形怪人
- 第二十一章 天绝剑寒，铁笛断指
- 第二十二章 巫山天险，巧取豪夺
- 第二十三章 白帝城楼，伊人重逢
- 第二十四章 玉颜乍睹，枪神亡魂
- 第二十五章 天变地动，人蛇恶斗
- 第二十六章 貌合神离，误失良机
- 第二十七章 乌江险阻，愁绪万千
- 第二十八章 惊鸿一瞥，放鹤疑阻
- 第二十九章 镇宁道上，怪事丛生
- 第三十章 盘根错节，釜底抽薪；声东击西，疑兵迭伏
- 第三十一章 大观楼前，紫衣无影；飞龙镖局，诡奇云谲
- 第三十二章 碧鸡祠后，惊险迭生；小人异利，凶终隙末
- 第三十三章 口蜜腹剑，笑里藏刀；夜郎自大，自取其辱
- 第三十四章 借刀杀人，浮云翳日
- 第三十五章 浸润大白，青霜剑影
- 第三十六章 如鬼如蜮，讳张为幻
- 第三十七章 杀人如麻，三塔魔影
- 第三十八章 回心向善，秘笈做饵
- 第三十九章 千里跋涉，赤红玉螭
- 第四十章 黑林歼凶，天崩地裂
- 第四十二章 栋折榱崩，穷途末路
- 第四十二章 绝学秘筵，付之一焚
- 第四十三章 丹青重获，人面已非
- 第四十四章 金谷施毒，西山移尸
- 第四十五章 灭口杜患，投桃报李
- 第四十六章 乱象未戢，千里追踪
- 第四十七章 世外桃源，遗士投艰
- 第四十八章 密林遇险，藏身洞穴
- 第四十九章 缓兵之计，巨憝就歼
FAQ
I have never read old-school wuxia. Can I read this book directly?
Yes. The plot lines are relatively clear, and the protagonist's experiences provide the main driving force for reading. However, old-school wuxia introduces many characters densely and interweaves factions, so on a first reading you may want to slow down and pay attention to names and sect affiliations; by the middle it will become much smoother.
Is the title Danqing Yin closely related to the painting and calligraphy content in the book?
The title is introduced through Wang Mojie's authentic work Moonlit Shadow over a Secluded Mountain, but this painting mainly serves as a thread that drives the plot. The book's center of gravity remains jianghu grudges and martial adventures, and painting and calligraphy connoisseurship itself receives limited attention, so it should not be approached as an art-themed work.
Does the protagonist Li Zhonghua's character change over the course of the book?
There is a clear trajectory of growth. At the beginning he covets the authentic work, accidentally kills others, and is forced to flee. Thereafter, through instruction in martial arts, framing, escape, and the companionship of female confidantes, he gradually changes, with his martial arts and temperament advancing together. This is a character line worth watching in the book.
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About the author
Wuling Qiaozi
Author · Chinese · 1910
Wuling Qiaozi, whose real name was Xiong Renqi, was a native of Hunan and a Taiwanese writer of martial arts fiction. He served in the military in his early years, rising to the rank of army colonel, before turning to the writing of wuxia novels. He rose to fame in 1960 with Ten Years of a Lone Sword in the Vast Sea and Snow Flying over the Baqiao Bridge, and is regarded as one of the representatives of Taiwan's "novelty school" of wuxia. His writing career produced fifteen works, including, besides his early hits, Zhu Yi Hua Liu, Blood Dyeing the Autumn Hills and Sunset Red, Rainbow Shadow in the Blue Sky, The Record of Starry Illusions, Calamity of the Heavenly River, Lone Shadow in the Setting Sun and the West Wind, and The Dragon-Slaying Saber. His novels mix classical and vernacular language and feature novel plots, giving him a certain influence in the development of Taiwanese wuxia. Public information on his early life and the background of his writing is limited.
