Dragon Tongue Sword

Name: Dragon Tongue Sword
ISBN: 9787503483776

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

3.8

Word count: 132K words
Chapters: 12
ISBN: 9787503483776

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Summary

A masterpiece of its age, celebrated by scholars and general readers alike; a rare work now returned to print. Republican-era wuxia fiction is a brilliant chapter in the history of Chinese literature and culture. In the spirit of promoting traditional Chinese culture and recovering and organizing the classics of Republican-era literature, our press is publishing on a large scale the Collected Wuxia Fiction of the Republican Era, featuring the ten leading wuxia writers of north and south. Bai Yu was a major Republican-era wuxia writer whose works are imbued with a spirit of justice and embody the hallmarks of the social-satire school of wuxia, and are much loved by readers. The Bai Yu Volume of the Collected Wuxia Fiction of the Republican Era contains twenty of his works. This is one of them.

Editor's review

Dragon-Tongue Sword also belongs to the Bai Yu Volume of the Collected Wuxia Fiction of the Republican Era published by China Wenshi Press, and offers another entry point into Bai Yu’s “social-satire school” of wuxia. Bai Yu’s wuxia is not content with elaborate scenes of flashing blades; it often embeds an examination of human nature and society within the jianghu framework, where a sense of justice coexists with cool satire, so that the reading offers both the pleasure of legend and the weight of worldly observation. As one of the twenty Bai Yu works, this volume draws on the editorial conventions of the whole collection and is thus easy for readers to place within the broader map of Republican-era wuxia. For readers new to Bai Yu, it can serve as a stylistic sample; for those with some reading behind them, it is well suited to being read alongside other works in the same volume, to observe changes in subject matter and technique. Readers would do well to slow down and note the barbs aimed at human feeling and social manners in the gaps of the narrative, which often linger longer in the mind than the plot itself.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Wuxia readers who want to sample Bai Yu’s work and understand his style
Readers interested in the publishing and organization of Republican-era popular literature
Literary enthusiasts who enjoy reading social allegory into tales of legend
Readers who need Republican-era wuxia texts as teaching or research material

Not a good fit for

Readers accustomed to modern vernacular who lack patience for old-style expression
Casual readers expecting dense martial-arts action and fast-paced reversals
Readers with little overall interest in Republican-era wuxia

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and the publisher’s note to establish the book’s place in the collection before reading the text.
Annotate satirical passages as you go, then review them after finishing to trace Bai Yu’s critical perspective.
Skip unfamiliar old terms at first to keep the reading flowing, and deal with them in a second pass.
Read alongside another volume in the same collection to compare characterization and narrative rhythm.

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
第一章乱柴沟剧贼劫镖
第二章铁算盘妙计寻仇
第三章余公明善后赴援
第四章飞毛腿失函惹祸
第五章群雄败走
第六章怪龙岭高僧赐宝
第七章青阳镇奇人示警
第八章郑州城盗狱劫牢
附录
整理后记

FAQ

Is Dragon-Tongue Sword a standalone story or part of a series?

This book is one of the twenty works in the Bai Yu Volume of the Collected Wuxia Fiction of the Republican Era, and from the publication information it appears as a single volume. The story itself can be read independently, without first reading other Bai Yu works; but reading it within the whole collection makes its stylistic position easier to see.

Does reading this book require background knowledge of Republican-era literature?

Not necessarily. A background in Republican-era popular literature makes it easier to understand its linguistic habits and satirical technique, but ordinary readers can enter the story directly. It is advisable to read the publisher’s note first to understand the features of Bai Yu’s “social-satire school” of wuxia, and then read the text, for a fuller understanding.

What is the relationship between this book and A Wild Goose of Lake Tai · The Yellow Flower Calamity?

Both belong to the Bai Yu Volume of the Collected Wuxia Fiction of the Republican Era published by China Wenshi Press, and are different works by the same author under the same editorial project. Their contents are independent, and either can be chosen as an introduction; to understand Bai Yu systematically, the two can be read together to compare subject matter and technique.

Is this book suitable as an introductory reading for understanding Republican-era wuxia?

Yes. Its length and subject matter make it suitable as a sample of a single Bai Yu work, giving an initial sense of the linguistic texture and social-satire features of Republican-era wuxia. To build an overall understanding, it is better to read it alongside works by other writers in the collection and relevant chapters of literary history.

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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.