Essay on Jin Yong's Legends of the Condor Heroes 1: Loyalty, Betrayal & Martial Arts

Jin Yong is the author of the book by the Title "Legends of the Condor Heroes 1" (the publisher is Maclehose Press in 2018)

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Legends of the Condor Heroes is one of the great Chinese books that were written in the mid twenty century. The main themes ruining across the book is the theme of loyalty and betrayal experienced in the martial schools as well as the fall and rise of dynasties. Actually, the author discussed in details about three martial arts that were used in the fighting and wars that the main characters involved in. Legends of the Condor Heroes 1 has nine chapters and a range of characters which are divided into different categories. The main characters used in the developed of the nine chapters of the book are Guo Jing, Yang Kang and Lotus Kang. The second category of characters is referred to like the song patriots, and it has seven characters who include Ironheart Yang, Charity Bao, Skyfury Gao, Lily Li, Qu San, Mu Yi, and Mercy Mu. Other characters are found in categories such as the five greats, song imperial traitors, the seven freaks of the south, the Quanzhen Taoist Sect, the Mongolians, the Jin Empire and the followers of the Sixth Prince Wanyan Hongile.

The setting of the story is the southern Song Dynasty in, and it is during the beginning of the period when the Jurchen tribe invaded China. The Jurchen had strong soldiers known as the Jin soldiers, and the people of the southern dynasty devoted themselves to ensure that they protected their kingdom. The theme of loyalty is built through the friendship that existed between two young men who are Skyfury Guo and Ironheart Yang. The bond between the two men was very deep such that they swore to be bothered to each other and perform their activities. Guo and Yang were also involved in the fight against the Jin empire soldiers during the invasion in China. The friendship of the two men was also further strengthened when they swore that their friendship would be extended to their children. In other words, Yang said to Guo that "if our children are boys, they will be sworn, brothers. If they are girls, they will be sworn sisters, and if we have one boy and one girl, they shall be married" (Jin, and Holmwood 34). This statements symbolized that the friendship between the two men was genuine, and they were loyal to each other. Additionally, they had experienced several instances of triumph, such as witnessing Jin soldiers being killed by master Eternal Spring.

It is important to note that the dream of Guo and Young to have their sons live like brothers never came true during the boys' tender age. Guo was killed in the battle before his son was born while the Jin soldiers abducted Ironheart alongside his father before also before his son was born.as a result Yang Kang who is Ironheart Yang, the son grew in the Jin Empire and precisely in the king's palace after his mother Charity was married to Wanyan Hongile. On the other hand, Guo Jing, Guo's son grew at Mongolia with his mother and his family kingsmen. He grew in hardship; however, he became a responsible young man because he was groomed by Genghis Khan, a respectable man in society.

The southern kingdom had risen to some point after it falls after the Jin Empire captured it. After charity was lied to by Yang Lie that her husband had been killed in the battle, she was desperate. Yang lie was, in fact, Wanyan Hongile who happened to be a prince in the palace of Jin. Yang lie liked the beauty of charity very much and even devoted himself to taking care of her. Yang Lie went to the extent of devoting himself promising Charity that he would avenge for her husband. "Just live it to me. As for avenging their deaths, the traitor justice Duan is the government official" these were words said by Yang lie to charity to make her worry less for her husband's death (Jin, and Holmwood 51). It is clear that the prince had fallen for a foreign woman.

After Yang Kang grew up, he betrayed the Jin Empire by deciding to fight them back to regain the kingdom of his father. In other words, he used the martial arts that he had learned in the through the guidance of his stepfather Wanyan Hongile. On the other hand, Guo Jing grew as a strong boy who ended up being a strong soldier of the Mongolian empire. Actually, there was a time he saved the life of Jebe was a prominent Mongolian General. In general, the two boys grew to be heroes and soldiers to their family and also their kingdom, just like their fathers.

Part 2

Reading and analyzing the "Legends of the Condor Heroes 1" story has been a good experience. It involved analyzing the contents of the story which is quite extensive. First of all the analysis of the story related to the concepts that we have learnt in the case. For instance, I was able to apply in the knowledge in the previous classes in the identification of the themes of the story. I also discussed the story with some of my classmates, who helped me to discuss the theme of loyalty and betrayal in a more detailed manner. Earlier during the semester, the lecturer taught us about the skimming techniques. I applied these techniques to identify the main points from the extensive story.

This story is related to the problems experienced in our present-day world in several ways. First, the story portrays strong friendship ties between young men. In the present world, there are many friendship ties among people that have enabled them to achieve several things in life, such as starting businesses, community service, as well as developing talents. Moreover, there are situations where the friendship bonds are stronger than sibling bonds. In other words, there people who are loyal to their friends and they end up treating them more than family. The story also speaks about betrayal, which has become very common in modern life betrayals are being experienced from a family level, friendships, in churches, businesses as well as in the political arena. In the story, it is mentioned that Yang Kang betrayed the Jin Empire even after he grew up in the Jin palace, and he was treated like a prince. Their many circumstances where children betray their parents and wives betray their husbands to take over the business and inherit their property.

While reading "Legends of the Condor Heroes 1," different emotions arouse in me. For instance, emotions of sadness arose after I read about the struggles, war, and the killings that Guo and Ironheart had to undergo in the hands of the Jin soldiers. It was even more sorrowful after Guo was killed before the birth of his son while Ironheart was abducted then the wife was lied to that her husband was killed during the war. Additionally, feelings of sympathy and pity also arouse in me. I pitied Li and charity after the death of their husbands because they had to raise their sons by themselves. To be specific, I felt sympathy for Li because she was not remarried and had to raise her son in hardship at Mongolia. I remember life became very hard for my family after our dad died in the battle that was in Vietnam some years back. My mother was very devastated. On the other, there are feelings of joy and happiness after Yang Kang fought against the Jin Empire, and he regained his father's kingdom.

The story enabled me to understand the structure of the Chinese communities and also the importance of learning martial arts. The martial arts skills are very important when an individual is fighting the enemy. Additionally, I changed my perspective about the Chinese people, and I learned that they value their families a lot. The work was written in a logical order, and it is easy to follow. Actually, I recommend my classmates to read the work to understand the Chinese culture and the martial arts.

Work cited

Jin, Yong, and Anna Holmwood. Legends Of The Condor Heroes. 1st ed., Maclehose Press, 2018, pp. 1-328.