The Cold Gleam Sword Bathed in Blood

Name: The Cold Gleam Sword Bathed in Blood
ISBN: 9787503483738

Bai Yu (Gong Zhuxin)China Culture and History Press · ChinaOct 2024

4.2

Word count: 203K words
Chapters: 24
ISBN: 9787503483738

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Summary

A monumental work of sweeping vision, delightful to scholar and general reader alike; a rare masterpiece restored to the world. Republican-era wuxia fiction is a brilliant chapter in the history of Chinese literature and culture. With the aim of promoting traditional Chinese culture and recovering and organizing Republican-era literary classics, our press is issuing on a large scale the Republican Wuxia Fiction Collection by the ten great wuxia novelists of the North and South. Bai Yu is a major Republican-era wuxia writer whose works are imbued with a spirit of justice and embody the socially satirical school of wuxia, and are much loved by readers. The Bai Yu Volume of the Republican Wuxia Fiction Collection comprises 20 of his works. This book is one of them.

Editor's review

This book belongs to the Bai Yu Volume of the Republican Wuxia Fiction Collection published by Chinese Literature and History Press, which gathers twenty of Bai Yu's works; this is one of them. Bai Yu was a major Republican-era wuxia writer, ranked among the Five Great Masters of the Northern School of wuxia fiction alongside Zheng Zhengyin, Huanzhulouzhu, Wang Dulu, and Zhu Zhenmu; his writing is imbued with a spirit of justice and embodies the socially satirical school of wuxia, distinguished within old-school wuxia by its realistic concern. The collection, taking the promotion of traditional Chinese culture and the recovery and organization of Republican-era literary classics as its starting point, presents on a large scale the representative works of the ten great wuxia novelists of the North and South, and holds considerable documentary value for readers who wish to understand the landscape of Republican-era wuxia systematically. As for the reading experience, Bai Yu's prose retains the texture of Republican-era vernacular Chinese; the plot advances according to the logic of social manners, and the characters mostly struggle between moral duty and expediency, so that the reading offers not only flashing blades but also a cool-eyed irony toward human feelings and worldly affairs. This book serves well as one of the entry points into Bai Yu's world, and equally well for reading alongside other works in the same volume to observe the themes the author returns to across different stories. One caveat: the narrative pace of Republican-era old-school wuxia differs markedly from today's genre fiction, and readers would do well to adjust their expectations and read slowly and attentively.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers and collectors seeking to systematically collect the Republican Wuxia Fiction Collection
Researchers interested in the socially satirical school of wuxia and in the ideological substance of literary works
Literature lovers patient with Republican-era vernacular narrative and fond of slow reading
Readers hoping to gain an overall picture of the ten great wuxia novelists of the North and South

Not a good fit for

Genre-fiction readers seeking tight plotting and a fast reading experience
Younger readers unaccustomed to Republican-era vernacular expression
Readers who want only a single famous work and have no interest in the collection's context

Reading tips

Begin with the collection's general preface or the publisher's note to understand Bai Yu's place in Republican-era wuxia before turning to the text.
As you read, note the characters' choices between moral duty and expediency, and savor where the so-called social irony lands.
If time is limited, proceed chapter by chapter, pausing every few chapters to sort out the relationships among characters.
After finishing, compare with other Bai Yu works in the same volume to observe the themes he returns to.

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
我的生平
初版自序
叙略
第一章初踏江湖
第二章小贼孩
第三章半只胳膊一条命
第四章寻仇人来
第五章江边决斗
第六章剑夺争锋
第七章抟沙女侠怒斗师兄
第八章烙铁疗毒
第九章弹指翁寻贼赠药
第十章恩怨分明
第十一章峨眉派卷土重来
第十二章弹指翁只身驰援
第十三章搜敌觅伴
第十四章抟沙女侠彷徨歧路
第十五章男女三骑客
第十六章陈元照误缀柳叶青
第十七章林边诱战
附录
后记
整理后记

FAQ

Is this book Bai Yu's representative work?

According to the publication materials, this book is one of the twenty works in the Bai Yu Volume of the Republican Wuxia Fiction Collection, part of the press's systematic organization of Bai Yu's writings. Whether it is the author's best-known representative work the materials do not say; readers may treat it as one entry point for understanding Bai Yu's style.

What is the "socially satirical school" of wuxia?

This is a summary of the distinctive character of Bai Yu's writing. His works blend observation and irony concerning social manners and human feelings into the wuxia framework; his characters often struggle between moral duty and expediency, and the stories are not confined to spectacle of combat. How exactly this book embodies it, readers must judge for themselves in the reading.

Why is this collection worth attention?

According to the publisher's note, the collection takes the promotion of traditional Chinese culture and the recovery and organization of Republican-era literary classics as its starting point, and presents on a large scale the works of the ten great wuxia novelists of the North and South. For readers studying Republican-era popular literature or wishing to read old-school wuxia systematically, such organized editions provide a relatively complete textual foundation.

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About the author

Bai Yu (Gong Zhuxin) Author · China · 1899–1966

Bai Yu (1899–1966), originally named Gong Wanxuan and later Gong Zhuxin, was a prominent Republican-era Chinese writer of martial arts fiction. His ancestral home was Dong'e, Shandong, and he was born in Machang, Tianjin. In his early years he received guidance from Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren and engaged in new literature writing before turning to martial arts fiction; he rose to fame in 1938 with The Twelve Money Darts. His works combine martial arts fiction with social fiction, and his representative works also include Stealing Boxing, Records of Martial World Strife, The Joint Escort Chronicle, and Blood-Washed Cold Light Sword. He is counted among the "Five Masters of Northern School Martial Arts Fiction." Bai Yu's novels emphasize social observation and character portrayal and hold a place in Republican-era popular literature. In his later years he turned to the study of oracle bones and epigraphy. Public information on the details of his life is limited; the collection contains 77 works, mostly on martial arts, social, and folk themes.