First, the wildness, rebellion and strangeness of Jianghu culture.
Jianghu in the sociological sense is a relatively independent society, which is born out of and different from the mainstream society. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with the collapse of the slavery ceremony, the status of the gentry class lost, and folk discourse became active, forming the original Jianghu culture. Therefore, rivers and lakes are wild first. The so-called "country, the city's minister, the minister of the wild" (Mencius). This wildness runs through the Jianghu culture from beginning to end. With the rise, establishment and perfection of feudal autocracy, rivers and lakes and mainstream society also have a process from differentiation to opposition and finally complete independence. It can be said that it is a large shadow cast by towering temples. As big as the temple, even because the angle of projection is far greater than the temple. The second is rebellion. Since breaking away from the mainstream society, Jianghu culture has shown class contradictions and opposition between officials and people. In the Han dynasty, refugees got together to be thieves, and in the Ming and Qing dynasties, party religion flourished, and rivers and lakes staged live dramas from time to time. This rebellion eased and sharpened with the extension of feudal autocracy and totalitarianism, but it was not a departure from the whole cultural value system, but a rebellion against the local social order and a repair of the whole cultural value system, such as "balancing the rich and the poor", "upholding justice for heaven" and "opposing corrupt officials and not opposing the emperor". Third, it's strange. The opposition to the mainstream society has kept the Jianghu in a position of being suppressed and demonized, which reached its extreme after the rise of social parties and sects in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Rivers and lakes have their own independent discourse system-incision, and non-insiders don't know the three flavors; It has its own value system, which is different from and permeates the mainstream social ideology. Coupled with the witch culture, divination theology has fallen from the temple to the folk, with three religions and nine streams, five elements and eight merits, adding a strange color to the rivers and lakes. This is the objective and real Jianghu we are facing, but it is not a new martial arts novel, especially the Jianghu world in Jin Yong's martial arts novels.
Second, from realism, legend to symbol
It is worth noting that strictly speaking, realistic works that objectively reflect the Jianghu society are rare, which is different from classical martial arts works. There are also many realistic works in classical martial arts works. Historical records such as "The Ranger Biography" and "The Assassin Biography" are not worth mentioning. Even in scripts, parodies, historical novels, and literati notes, such as legendary works such as Water Margin and Tang Dynasty, the description of wildness and rebellion in Jianghu is quite realistic. Even the legendary works such as Nie Yinniang, Red Line and Kunlun Slave in the Tang Dynasty still have a solid realistic foundation, from which we can see the historical background of Pan Zhen's separatist regime, which is similar to other countries and assassins. Chivalrous case-solving novels in the late Qing Dynasty, such as Three Chivalrous Men and Five Righteousness, Stone Case, and Biography of Heroes of Children, are all the products of folk discourse, mainstream discourse, or a combination of the two. In short, they are just looking for a way to compromise under the opposition between reality and mainstream society, and their sense of reality is quite strong.
The new martial arts novels rose in overseas colonies and the Chinese world where capitalism was commercialized. In order to attract readers, dilute the realistic class opposition in Jianghu, and strengthen the legendary and bizarre colors in Jianghu, so as to stimulate people's ever-changing fashion and taste in commercial society. From the text, this legend is different from the historical legend of historical novels. It is far from the classics of Shan Hai Jing and Strange Stories from a Lonely Studio, but it is interlinked with the supernatural novels The Journey to the West and Romance of the Gods. Close to the legendary swordsman by Bu Xiaosheng in Pingjiang and The Legend of the Swordsman in Shushan by the landlord. From this we can see that the rivers and lakes have changed from villages, alleys and green forests to fairy mountains and fairy islands. It seems that they are not rivers and lakes but overseas western classics and wild southern classics. What's more, the rivers and lakes have expanded from the earth to space, and martial arts and science fiction reflect each other. Martial arts is a bottom-up skill for people in Jianghu to survive, and it is also a super illusion that realism is a cold weapon, turning fists into magic weapons, acupuncture in the air and fighting against the wind. This bizarre river and lake is actually an unconscious tortuous reflection of the commercial society. Unconsciously, such works are of low quality and can only be used as disposable consumer goods. The secrecy of the real Jianghu society undoubtedly provides the writer with imagination space, and its strangeness and legend naturally have the credibility of "let's talk about it" to a certain extent. Therefore, it can also be said that such works, for commercial purposes, consciously amplify the secrecy of Jianghu society. Its wide audience may only have the research significance of literary sociology.
However, we can't treat Jin Yong like this. Yes, Jin Yong's novels also wrote many absurd legends. As a reporter, we must first consider the number of readers, and legends naturally become an indispensable seasoning. But as a cultural person, he is not satisfied with making a fuss only on the legendary level. He is well versed in history and traditional culture, has a thorough understanding of human nature in commercial society, and has insight into the spirit of modern people. His martial arts novels are covered with a layer of things, and his bizarre legends have risen to the symbolic level. Even we can't simply aim at martial arts novels.
Of course, Jin Yong did not consciously write legends from the symbolic level from the beginning, but inherited the number of historical novels and wrote legends with history. Compared with painting, it is meticulous rather than freehand brushwork; Compared with calligraphy, it is regular script rather than running script, not cursive script. The influence of Water Margin can be seen in the early Shu Jian Yi An Lu, and the names of more than a dozen heads of the Red Cross Society are all imitations of Water Margin. The chivalrous world is real, the martial arts are mortal, and the extension of the story is not big, which is very practical. Originally, the contradiction between the Red Flower Club and Qianlong was promising. Whether Qianlong became emperor as a Han Chinese or as a Manchu is such a big problem for Honghuahui. In fact, it shows the weakness and sadness of the Red Flower Club's "anti-Qing and regaining sight" justice. If the Book of Sword and Revenge is just Jin Yong's hidden talent, and inadvertently touches such a theme with cultural symbolic significance, then the second book "Sword with royal blood" intentionally strengthens the author's interest. Yuan Chengzhi traveled all over the country and saw the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng and Manchu contending for this title. The Ming Dynasty was full of "dangerous roads, bad Great Wall in troubled times", but what I didn't expect was that Li Zicheng "prospered the Lord and made the people suffer". In contrast, the Manchu ruling group seemed so far-sighted and talented. His historical thought is quite profound. The third part of Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain is about the different attitudes of four descendants of Hu, Miao, Tian and Fan towards power, treasure, friendship and hatred. How did the heroes and chivalrous men materialize and degenerate into "Jianghu people" because of the treasure? The fourth "Legend of the Condor Heroes" takes ethnic disputes as the historical background. In the case of national crisis, the pure and inaction Quanzhen believers, the humblest beggars' gangs, and unruly figures who have no post and no power have actually shouldered the national justice. Such a story may not conform to the historical truth, but it has the historical truth. It is not only a bitter mockery of the vegetarian meal of the dead bodies of senior officials in past dynasties, but also a warm praise of "a married man is more important than the country" (Zhang Pu's "Five Tombs"). And The Condor Heroes is obviously an ode to human nature. Yuan Haowen's poem "Qiu Yan" runs through the book and becomes a real theme divorced from ethnic disputes. "What is love in the world?" Neo-Confucianism in Song Dynasty, on the one hand, is like an ancient tomb school, and on the other hand, it is difficult to get rid of the poison of human nature like a love flower. Lust not only produced Li Mochou, Gongsun Zhi and Qiu thousands of feet, but also interpreted Yang Guo, Little Dragon Girl and Guo Xiang. In The Condor Heroes, the symbolic meaning of Jin Yong's novels began to increase. Since then, I have become more and more conscious and more handy. "White Horse Whistling in the West Wind" continued "Ask the world, what is love?" However, the Yuanyang Dao is like a prequel or abbreviation of "Eternal Dragon Slayer", and the big secret hidden in the Dao is just the word "the benevolent is invincible". "Liancheng Tactics" talks about what is priceless: gold and silver jewelry, floating power or chivalrous friendship. Tian Ba Long Bu obviously reveals and dispels the human desire for suffering. The legendary swordsman is a complete political fable; The whole article of Duke of Lushan is full of the spirit of cultural criticism. These works are romantic in form and legendary in content, but their essence is deeper realism (symbol).
Perhaps, we can draw the conclusion that Jin Yong is not interested in the Jianghu in the sociological sense, and has no intention of making a biography for it. He is more interested in the development of human nature in history, culture and modern society. What he wants to write is actually the focus of pure literature, but he borrowed a legendary robe to get close to the reading psychology of the public. In this respect, he is similar to Pu Songling's "Liaozhai", which is more wonderful than records and more symbolic than legends. So we read his "full of absurd remarks", but we felt that it was "reasonable". Jianghu gangs are no longer affiliated with political parties, but like political factions, economic groups and cultural units in mainstream society, as well as bizarre and absurd people and their behaviors (weird) in Jianghu. In fact, they are not fairy monsters, but a reflection of all kinds of human nature, especially abnormal and morbid personality, growing up in modern commercial society and semi-colonial soil. A chivalrous man can be regarded as a scholar such as Qu Yuan, Jia Yi, Tao Qian, Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Shi, Xin Qiji, Xu Wei, Li Zhi and Gong Zizhen. As for the exaggerated description of the warrior, it is "the combination of man and sword", and the skill is like a man, and it has also been given personalized characteristics. If you lose martial arts, you will become a cripple, which is more like a symbolic prophecy. Guo Jing and Feng Xiaochun's simple and strong characters can be seen from a set of "Eighteen Palm of Dragon". A set of fascinating palms can only be made by Yang Guo, who has been miserable all his life; Ren Woxing's star attraction method is easy to remind people of his slogan of "unifying the rivers and lakes"; Mu Tong in Tianshan simply practiced "eight wastes and six rivers"; In the hands of black wind evil spirits, Jiuyin Zhen Jing can only be cultivated into a violent and vicious Jiuyin white bone claw; Yin Zhi's strange swordsmanship to ward off evil spirits is naturally the specialty of Yue Buqun and others. In particular, a set of internal training is more like Confucian moral introspection, Taoist life-saving truth and Buddhist experience. The depth of its level is the embodiment of personality strength.
Therefore, it can be said that Jin Yong's works have changed the rivers and lakes in the sociological sense, also changed the rivers and lakes in the legendary level, and constructed a new cultural significance of rivers and lakes, thus finally changing the status of martial arts novels that are not elegant. To paraphrase the writer Alai, his novels are a game space, an emotional space and an ideological space.