A Biography of Jin Yong

Name: A Biography of Jin Yong
ISBN: 9787213054389

Fu GuoyongZhejiang People's Publishing House · ChinaOct 2014

4.0

Word count: 254K words
Chapters: 31
ISBN: 9787213054389

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Summary

Jin Yong has seemingly become a myth of our age. Some call him a "sage of chivalry in the literary world," others hail him as Hong Kong's "lighthouse of conscience," while still others dismiss him entirely. The Jin Yong of media and public imagination is a god upon an altar. This is the first biography of Jin Yong written at eye level, in which the author, with an objective and rational measure and on the basis of abundant, reliable historical sources, portrays a real man: an outstanding wuxia novelist, a newspaper magnate, and a much-debated social activist. Drawing on firsthand archival materials for the first time, the book uncovers rare and precious documents and corrects many errors concerning Jin Yong's life. Its first edition in 2003 drew wide attention. The revised edition released a decade later, enriched with original materials and vivid details, offers insight not only into Jin Yong's life as a journalist, writer, and businessman, but also, through his fate, a deeper understanding of the upheavals and transformations of the twentieth century.

Editor's review

Jin Yong: A Biography is the fruit of years of painstaking research by the scholar Fu Guoyong, who applies a rigorous historical method to the life of the master of martial-arts fiction. Unlike the anecdote collections and fan-perspective biographies common on the market, this book's greatest value lies in its solid documentary foundation and its calm, restrained observation. As a historian, Fu Guoyong is adept at examining individual destiny against the backdrop of a larger era; he places Jin Yong's life within the grand panorama of twentieth-century China's dramatic transformations and probes how his multiple identities—journalist, political figure, social activist, and literary creator—interwove and collided.

The book not only traces in detail Jin Yong's legendary course from a boy in Haining and a student at Chongqing's Central Political School to a staff member at Shanghai's Ta Kung Pao and then founder of Hong Kong's Ming Pao, but also offers an in-depth reading of the hidden connections between his fiction and the intellectual currents and personal circumstances of his time. For readers who wish to go beyond the single label of "martial-arts author" and truly understand Jin Yong as a complex, profound modern intellectual, this book offers a rare perspective. Its intertextual analysis of Ming Pao editorials and the martial-arts novels especially shows how Jin Yong wielded his pen as a sword, seeking balance between commercial success and cultural responsibility. Reading this book is like opening a deep dialogue across history: it offers not idle after-dinner talk but a serious inquiry into the inner world of a cultural giant.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with a deep interest in Jin Yong's life and the historical context of his era
Researchers concerned with the spiritual journeys and fates of twentieth-century Chinese intellectuals
Literature lovers dissatisfied with the martial-arts stories alone who wish to understand the roots of Jin Yong's creative thought
Readers interested in media history, the spirit of the journalist, and the transformations of Hong Kong society

Not a good fit for

Entertainment-oriented readers seeking only plot analysis of the martial-arts novels or behind-the-scenes anecdotes
Readers expecting a light, sentimental, or novelized biographical style

Reading tips

Reading alongside Jin Yong's martial-arts works and his Ming Pao editorials is recommended, to sense how his ideal of "the greatest chivalry is for the nation" finds different expression in reality and in fiction.
Note the many letters, archives, and reminiscences of contemporaries cited in the book; these details build the biography's credibility and sense of history.
The book may be read against other Jin Yong biographies or memoirs to discern the diverse faces presented from different standpoints and form a more three-dimensional understanding.

About the publisher

Zhejiang People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1951

Zhejiang People's Publishing House is a comprehensive publisher known for its social science, history and foreign literature titles, covering philosophy, politics, law, economics, culture and history. Among the books in the library catalogue, its foreign literature list includes Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country and The Old Capital in well-known translations, as well as Wuthering Heights; its history list is represented by Dangnian Mingyue's Ming Dynasty series, and its politics list by Zhejiang New Discourse. Authors represented include Yasunari Kawabata, Ye Weiqu, Tang Yuemei, Dangnian Mingyue, Emily Brontë and René Wellek, with Wellek's Theory of Literature (newly revised edition) among its titles in literary theory. Beyond these areas, the press also publishes works on literary appreciation and social culture, giving it a profile that combines classic translations, popular history and academic works. As publicly available information is limited, other details are not covered here.

版权信息
引言
第一篇生逢乱世
第一章海宁袁花
第二章乱世求学
第三章初入报界
第二篇南下香港
第四章 “南来白手少年行”
第五章 “金庸”出世
第六章电影编剧
第三篇创立《明报》
第七章《明报》初创
第八章《明报》崛起
第九章查良镛社评
第十章明报集团
第十一章字条治报
第四篇两岸三地
第十二章台湾之行
第十三章永远的故乡
第十四章数十年来家园
第十五章三次婚姻
第十六章人生如棋
第五篇是耶非耶
第十七章出售《明报》
第十八章是耶非耶
结束语 “金庸神话”
一、俗与雅
二、知识分子与权力
三、入世与出世
参考文献
后记

FAQ

What is the greatest distinction of this book compared with other Jin Yong biographies on the market?

Its greatest distinction is the historian identity of the author, Fu Guoyong, who conducts verification and writing with a rigorous historical method, focusing on placing Jin Yong within a grand historical context and analyzing the multiple roles—journalist, social commentator, and novelist—and their inner tensions, with greater academic rigor and intellectual depth.

Does the book analyze Jin Yong's martial-arts fiction at length?

The book has dedicated chapters analyzing his fiction, but it does not discuss the texts in isolation; rather, it closely links them to his circumstances at the time, his experience running a newspaper, and his social observations, revealing the profound connection between the "martial-arts world" and "real-world concerns" from a distinctive angle.

Is the book demanding to read? Does it require much historical background?

The writing is clear and the narrative fluent, so general readers can read it smoothly. However, some knowledge of modern Chinese history—especially Hong Kong's social and media history—will enable a deeper understanding of the many historical contexts and personal relationships involved, yielding a richer reading experience.

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About the author

Fu Guoyong Author · Chinese · 1967–2025

Fu Guoyong (1967–2025) was a historian, independent writer and education scholar from Yueqing, Zhejiang. He long focused on modern Chinese history, the history of public opinion over the past century, and questions concerning intellectuals, and his writing spans finance, history, culture, biography and travel. Among the eleven of his works held in the library, The Principles of Finance: Collected Remarks of Chen Guangfu examines the ideas and statements of a modern banker; Merchants of the Republic: 1912–1949 looks at the circumstances and choices of Republican-era merchants; Protagonists and Supporting Roles and The Confidence of Men of Letters focus on the roles and spiritual temperament of modern figures; Misunderstandings Deep in History and In Search of a Lost Tradition reflect his concern with distinguishing historical facts and recovering tradition; Discovering Nianbadu (Revised and Expanded Edition) has the character of a local cultural inquiry; and The Collected Works of Fu Guoyong (8 volumes) presents his multi-field writing in a more concentrated form. His prose attends to historical sources and human detail, combining research with readability, and has found readers in the fields of modern history and the history of public opinion. Public information is limited, so his biographical details should not be elaborated upon.