The Kunlun Sword

Name: The Kunlun Sword
ISBN: 9787503485077

Zheng ZhengyinChina Culture and History Press · ChinaNov 2024

3.4

Word count: 240K words
Chapters: 38
ISBN: 9787503485077

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Summary

A monumental work for all tastes; a rare masterpiece returns. Republican-era wuxia fiction is a brilliant facet of Chinese literary and cultural history. Guided by our mission to promote traditional Chinese culture and to recover and organize Republican-era literary classics, we present on a large scale the Republican Wuxia Fiction Collection, featuring the ten leading wuxia writers of the Republican North and South. Zheng Zhengyin was a major Republican-era wuxia writer. His works are imbued with a spirit of justice, distinguished by martial-arts realism, and much loved by readers. The Zheng Zhengyin Volume of the Republican Wuxia Fiction Collection comprises 83 of his works. This book is one of them.

Editor's review

Kunlun Sword also comes from the Zheng Zhengyin Volume; its title carries a clean, austere air, and its content continues the author's forte for realistic combat writing and chivalric narrative. Unlike the approach that pursues bizarre mechanisms or mystical internal power, Zheng Zhengyin places greater emphasis on characters' choices in concrete situations and on the rules and sense of proportion behind martial skill. This approach gives the work a solid texture that still reads well today, and lets readers glimpse how Republican-era wuxia embedded ideals of justice within popular entertainment. The significance of this reissue lies in bringing once-hard-to-find old-school texts back into view: wuxia fans can complete the genealogy, and literary scholars can examine the narrative conventions of popular fiction. When reading, pay attention to dialogue and the way conflicts are resolved, for there the author's understanding of jianghu ethics often resides. Best read slowly and savored, not skimmed.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who love old-school wuxia and the tradition of realistic combat writing
Collectors interested in the recovery and reissue of Republican-era literature
Readers curious about the rules and sense of proportion in traditional chivalric narrative
Teachers and researchers of modern popular literature courses

Not a good fit for

Readers used to fast-paced modern narrative and craving strong plot twists
Readers interested only in xianxia fantasy or high-concept settings
First-time readers unfamiliar with Republican-era vernacular expression

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and the publisher's note to grasp the book's place in the Zheng Zhengyin Volume.
Read in chapter order; slow down during longer dialogues to appreciate the character relationships.
Note the combat descriptions and the way conflicts are handled to appreciate the realistic appeal of old-school wuxia.
After reading, briefly record character relationships and key events for comparison with other works in the volume.

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
郑证因论
第一回义救忠良三侠邀援寻旧友
第二回防仇备战银丸巧打满天星
第三回雪山二丑午夜探庄试身手
第四回逞强较反铁蚨一击警双魔
第五回法谕再颁联袂轻舟挥义剑
第六回网罗密布金刀宝刃闯兰州
第七回群雄仗义夜闯兰州
第八回缇骑捕良吏
第九回草上飞猖狂兰州城
第十回拒救援群雄铩羽
第十一回昆仑剑客三传铁蚨令
第十二回再入兰州将军夜审
第十三回单剑斩二丑
第十四回程万里金环扬威
第十五回苦肉计闯重伏
第十六回挫伏兵围突脱困
第十七回强项吏脱身魔手
第十八回龙形八掌剑斩七指魔
第十九回哑道人救麒麟创强敌
第二十回玄门一剑
第二十一回惊逢古剑受窘怀嫌
第二十二回老鸦滩耕耘抑壮志
第二十三回冒险入苗山
第二十四回白云洞苗家结良友
第二十五回救苗女鞭打金钱豹
第二十六回传鞭授艺隐患潜伏
第二十七回二苗女出山游鹿寨
第二十八回恶奸商诈骗苗民
第二十九回官商勾结暴打小洞主
第三十回佟天慧愤回老鸦滩
第三十一回老父垂危祸从天降
第三十二回惨受毒刑囚禁囹圄
第三十三回二苗女惩贪雪愤
第三十四回冤情难伸群苗烧鹿寨
第三十五回乱石山设伏败官兵
第三十六回争生存退居黑松谷

FAQ

Should Kunlun Sword and The Swan Fright of the Frontier be read in order?

Both are independent stories within the Zheng Zhengyin Volume, with no required order. You may start with either, finish one before the other, or alternate to compare how the author handles narrative in different works.

Is the wuxia setting realistic or fantastical?

According to the publication materials, Zheng Zhengyin's works are known for martial-arts realism and lean realistic rather than fantastical or xianxia. Readers can expect concrete action descriptions and jianghu rules rather than mystical superpowers.

Why does this collection concentrate on reissuing Republican-era wuxia?

The publisher's mission is to promote traditional Chinese culture and to recover and organize Republican-era literary classics, presenting on a large scale the collection of the ten leading wuxia writers of the Republican North and South. Such reissues help preserve popular literary texts and facilitate reading and research.

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About the author

Zheng Zhengyin Author · China · 1900–1960

Zheng Zhengyin (1900–1960), originally named Zheng Rupei and a native of Tianjin, was one of the "Five Masters of the Northern School" of old-style martial arts fiction in the Republican era. In his early years he studied Taijiquan under Xu Yusheng and was skilled with the nine-ring broadsword; he also served as martial-arts adviser to Bai Yu and ghostwrote the latter's Mu Ye Xiong Feng. From 1937 he devoted himself to writing wuxia fiction. His representative work is The Eagle-Claw King (Yingzhua Wang), in twenty-two volumes, and he also wrote the "Iron Lion King" series and Bashan Swordsman. Over his lifetime he produced more than eighty wuxia novels and was known as a writer of the "secret-society and martial-arts school." His works focus on sect and gang conflicts and on combat techniques, with meticulous attention to martial-arts moves, forming a distinctive path within Republican-era wuxia and influencing later writers of the genre.