武侠

Enter the Pugilistic World

Ever since I started watching TV, I was drawn into the world of ‘qing gong’, mysterious ancient scrolls, and of course, the chivalrous prodigal who roams the world alone.
I think I can faithfully say, the only drama serials that I watched were these.
(My mum likes those police-robbers serials, she’s now into Korean dramas!!)

The place where one can roam freely, if you possess a skill or two.
Where you go into a random inn and tell the waiter gallantly, ‘Get me two simple dishes and a bottle of wine.’ Then you put down some pieces of silver or coins after your meal and just walk out.
Along the streets, you see these common folks marketing, touting you to buy some buns or rouge/hair pins for your lady. Well, since the handsome prodigal has yet to find his true love, he dismisses the seller and walks out the city gates, continuing his travels.

The above scene of course, takes place in the noon, or he would have asked the waiter if there is a spare room in the inn, or he could just sleep a night in the shed, etc.
I can go on forever but I won’t.

Jin Yong, Gu Long, SF writer Ni Kwan
I love their books. There was a time where I spent many sleeping hours awake, just to finish that one more book.

I like Gu Long’s style. 1-liner which says so much. The lonesome hero all women love.

I like Jin Yong’s epic, sometimes I find myself referring to past chapters to get my concept of chronicles right. And his detailed descriptions. I am embarrassed to say I tried some of the martial arts movements myself. Ha. And I cried terribly when Xiao Feng accidentally killed Ah Bi, his only love.

Ni Kwan …. Mainly SF novelist, but I like his ideas a lot. And they have a similar feel to wuxia novels.

(I must remember to bring some books back when I go home for the New Year)

Why am I writing about this out of the blue?
I don’t know.
But I know I am trying to remember what I like. I have lost so much of my feelings I feel empty. I need them back. To be myself. So… Let’s continue my recalling….

在这个鸟不生蛋，狗不拉屎的地方。
In this place where birds do not lay eggs and dogs do not shit.

This is Gu Long.
This is the only line I can remember accurately now.
His stories are unlike Jin Yong.
I’m not literature expert; I’m just writing what I feel.
His is about the prodigal, his life, his struggles, his loves. The details are foggy. It is situated somewhere in ancient China, yet it is ‘modern’. You can feel that it relates.
That is a tint of sadness, a clutching of the heart, an aftertaste after the book. Even till now. It must have been 8 or 10 years ago when I read them.
‘When one is in the pugilistic world, one is unable to decide.’
人在江湖，身不由己。

萧十一朗，陆小凤，小鱼儿，西门吹雪

Jin Yong: you will get drawn into the whole epic when you start reading. But I didn’t get the same feeling as when I read Gu Long. Because it is so detailed, you know it is so far away from you. I still like his novels, love the characters, their brotherhood, and I hope to meet someone like Xiao Feng (Haha), but it’s like ….. so far away.

My favourite title: 天龙八部 * 萧峰 *

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Strangely, I don’t recall any English books that I particularly loved. Maybe I hadn’t really read them since I graduated from primary school. Or maybe I simply don’t relate very well to Nancy Drew or stuff like that.

I learnt Cantonese through them. Gu Long and Ni Kwan especially. And Tin Ha (Feng Yun) by Ma Rong Cheng. I was also very into Tin Ha when I was in secondary school. I even bought a book full of Tin Ha illustrations, and actually contemplated buying the whole set of comics as well as novels. The set of novels costs about $250 then. I didn’t have the money to buy them. And the comics are still continuing. I guess the novels too. But I stopped reading them after I entered University.

In between, the fire for animation started burning in me, I watched them on and off, but I plunged myself in when I was in University. Haha, I even wrote a paper about it with my buddy. Remember? Fuzzy?? My Japanese sort of got better with watching anime I suppose.

East West
I speak with Chinese accent. There was a time when a taxi driver thought I was from Taiwan. I was 18.
But I’m not very good at it now. And I have poor knowledge of Chinese history, and (insert a western country, e.g. US) history, or even Japanese history. In fact I’m very bad at all background information. ASEAN, OPEC, ASEM, UN, Great 6? 7? or 8??? whatever. I’m an ignorant fool. Urgh… There’s so much to know. And so much I want to know.

Initially I wanted to write a lot. But now I can’t. I’m suddenly having this identity crisis now…..