Shaolin Swordsmen

张个侬May 2025

3.3

Word count: 59K words
Chapters: 12

Summary

To raise travel funds, Yuan Shih-min performs martial arts on the streets of Xiushui and punishes local thugs. He later meets the old mule driver Xi Zheng, is won over by his insight and skill, and becomes his apprentice in martial arts, gradually growing into a swordsman. Fa Zi-qiu, having shown his prowess years earlier when he killed a mad dog, is taken as a disciple by the monk Ci-yun and trained in swordsmanship. But on a New Year's visit he incurs the enmity of the Wudang swordsman Bai Da-you over a trivial matter. Later Fa Zi-qiu meets the widow Zhang Gu-shi, who tearfully recounts how her son Zhang Pei-de vanished and her daughter-in-law ran off, and he resolves with Qin Er-you and Ke Rong-qing to help. Meanwhile the Taishan Daoist Jin Bu-yun is drawn into the affair as well; he was once a chivalrous swordsman living in seclusion under an assumed name after making enemies. As the investigation deepens, many clues point to Shen San-you, and in the course of his pursuit Jin Bu-yun discovers a link to the Hunan bandit Wang Da-heng, behind whom a larger conspiracy seems to lurk.

Editor's review

The novel follows two character lines—Yuan Shih-min's apprenticeship in martial arts and Fa Zi-qiu's growth as a swordsman—unfolding the apprenticeship, enmity and chivalric adventure typical of old-school wuxia. Yuan Shih-min's punishing of thugs and winning over of the old mule driver Xi Zheng have the brisk appeal of folk legend; Fa Zi-qiu's enmity with the Wudang swordsman Bai Da-you, sparked by a trivial matter, plants the seed of later conflict. After Zhang Gu-shi tearfully tells of her son Zhang Pei-de's disappearance and her daughter-in-law's flight, Fa Zi-qiu, Qin Er-you and Ke Rong-qing step in to help, and the Taishan Daoist Jin Bu-yun is drawn in too; the clues gradually point to Shen San-you and lead to the Hunan bandit Wang Da-heng. The pleasure of reading lies in watching small incidents snowball into a major jianghu case, and in seeing how different sects, escorts and Daoists form ad hoc alliances while investigating.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy Republican-era wuxia and apprenticeship-growth stories
Readers fond of folk-legend episodes of street performance and punishing the wicked
Readers who want to enter Zhang Ge-nong's wuxia series in order
Those interested in old-school investigation and jianghu-alliance narratives

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer the fast-paced thrills of modern web fiction
Those impatient with large casts and scattered clues
Readers who want only a single-protagonist growth story

Reading tips

Follow Yuan Shih-min's and Fa Zi-qiu's two growth lines separately, then watch how they merge into the same case.
At Zhang Gu-shi's tearful account, note the three threads: the disappearance, the daughter-in-law's flight, and the bandits.
Note that the cause of the feud with Bai Da-you is small but is a key seed of later conflict.
If the cast feels large, first grasp the relationships among Fa Zi-qiu, Jin Bu-yun, Qin Er-you and Ke Rong-qing.

版权信息
自序
第一回惩流氓，壮士卖解戏行客，老叟逞技
第二回谈哲理，头头是道练武艺，针针见血
第三回拜师父，壮士得真传杀疯犬，老衲收弟子
第四回因小事，忽然结深仇行远道，蓦地遇剑客
第五回两剑客，初次决雌雄三侠士，荒郊闻野哭
第六回施诱惑，兄妹通奸恋情侣，夫妻反目
第七回求灵签，贤母哭令儿读书信，道士诧奇事
第八回不幸重重，人亡财又失消息沉沉，音杳耗亦无
第九回遇高人，奇士成剑侠移疾病，乞丐起沉疴
第十回苦肉计，名捕赚巨盗不忍心，剑客救巨魁

FAQ

Whose growth does the book mainly portray?

The book has two growth lines: Yuan Shih-min performs on the streets of Xiushui to raise travel funds, punishes thugs, and later becomes the apprentice of the old mule driver Xi Zheng to learn martial arts; Fa Zi-qiu, having shown his prowess years earlier by killing a mad dog, is taken as a disciple by the monk Ci-yun to learn swordsmanship. After their separate growth, both are drawn into the investigation of Zhang Pei-de's disappearance.

Why do Fa Zi-qiu and Bai Da-you become enemies?

Sources indicate that on a New Year's visit Fa Zi-qiu incurs the enmity of the Wudang swordsman Bai Da-you over a trivial matter. The cause seems minor, but it becomes an important seed of later jianghu conflict and also affects the sequel Wudang Swordsmen, in which Bai Da-you's brother is suspected of framing Fa Zi-qiu.

What is Jin Bu-yun's identity in the book?

Jin Bu-yun is a Taishan Daoist who was once a chivalrous swordsman and went into seclusion under an assumed name after making enemies. He is drawn into the investigation of Zhang Pei-de's disappearance and, in the course of his pursuit, discovers a link to the Hunan bandit Wang Da-heng, behind whom a larger conspiracy seems to lurk.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

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.