Liang Yusheng

Chen Wentong (5 April 1924 – 22 January 2009), better known by his pen name Liang Yusheng, was a Chinese writer. Credited as the pioneer of the "New School" (新派) of the ''wuxia'' genre in the 20th century, Chen was one of the best known ''wuxia'' writers in the later half of the century, alongside Jin Yong and Gu Long.

Life

Chen was born in a family of scholars in Mengshan County, Guangxi Province, China. He was well-versed in ancient Chinese classics and '' duilian'' and could recite the ''Three Hundred Tang Poems'' by the age of seven. He started writing poems when he was attending Guilin High School in Guangxi. He was tutored by Jian Youwen, who specialised in the history of the Taiping Rebellion, and Rao Zongyi, who was well read in poetry, humanities, art and the history of Dunhuang. Chen learnt history and literature from both of them. Later, he was accepted into Guangzhou's Lingnan University, and he graduated in 1948 with a degree in economics. In 1949, he settled in Hong Kong and became an editor for the newspaper ''Ta Kung Pao'' and a member of its executive committee through a recommendation. The following year, he worked as a copyeditor for another newspaper, ''Sin Wun Pao''.

In 1954, Chen made a breakthrough in his career when he wrote his first wuxia novel ''Longhu Dou Jinghua'' to entertain readers in the light of an ongoing contest between two martial arts schools, which was the talk of the town that year. This marked the start of a "new school" of the wuxia genre, with Chen as a pioneer alongside other writers such as Jin Yong and Gu Long. He included "yu" in his pen name "Liang Yusheng" to honour Gong Baiyu, another wuxia writer before him. Over his career, Chen wrote a total of 35 wuxia novels, of which ''Baifa Monü Zhuan'' and '' Yunhai Yugong Yuan'' are some of the better known ones. Many of his novels have been adapted into television series and films. As Chen was interested in history and literature, he also wrote columns, critiques and essays under different names, including "Liang Hueru" and "Fong Yuning".

Chen retired to Sydney, Australia, with his family in the 1980s. In August 2004, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Arts by his ''alma mater'', Lingnan University (which has moved to Hong Kong), for his contributions to the development of literature.

In 2005, Tsui Hark adapted Chen's novel ''Qijian Xia Tianshan'' into the film ''Seven Swords'' and its derived television series counterpart, ''Seven Swordsmen''. The 1993 film ''The Bride with White Hair'' is also an adaptation of Chen's ''Baifa Monü Zhuan''.

After suffering a stroke during a visit to Hong Kong in 2007, Chen died in Sydney on 22 January 2009 of natural causes.

Style of writing

The opening of Chen's novels are always marked with a poem, which indicated his interest in poetry. The protagonists of his novels are also talented in several aspects, versatile, and interested in literature. Chen also infuses historical elements into his stories, a style which was later followed by other wuxia writers such as Jin Yong. Unlike many other writers, Chen does not regard Shaolin and Wudang as the major orthodox sects in the ''jianghu'' (martial artists' community). Instead, he features the Mount Heaven Sect as the leading school, particularly in the novels set in the Ming and Qing dynasties.梁羽生 (Liang Yusheng)
Chinese Wusia Knight Errant. Retrieved 6 January 2010.

Works

Adaptations

* ''Seven Swordsman Leave Tianshan'' 七劍下天山 (1959)
* ''The Jade Bow'' 雲海玉弓緣 (1966)
* ''Chronicles of the Shadow Swordsman'' 萍蹤俠影錄 (1977)
* ''To Kill the Big Villain in Mt. Tai'' 泰山屠龍 (1980)
* '' White Hair Devil Lady'' 白发魔女传 (1980)
* ''The Spy in the Palace'' 飛鳳潛龍 (1981)
* ''Jade Bow Connections'' 雲海玉弓緣 (1984)
* ''Chronicles of the Shadow Swordsman'' 萍蹤俠影錄 (1985)
* ''The Romance of the White Hair Maiden (1986 TV series)''
* '' Revenge of Swordsmanship'' 還劍奇情 (1986)
* ''The Bride with White Hair'' 白发魔女传(1993)
* ''The Bride with White Hair 2'' 白发魔女传2(1993)
* '' The Romance of the White Hair Maiden (1995 TV series)''
* ''Legend of the White Hair Brides'' 塞外奇侠 (1996 TV series)
* '' Romance of the White Haired Maiden (TV series)'' 白发魔女 (1999)
* '' Heroic Legend'' 萍踪侠影 (2003)
* ''Seven Swords'' 七剑 (2005)
* ''Seven Swordsmen'' 七剑下天山 (2006)
* ''Vagabond Vigilante'' (2006)
* ''Paladins in Troubled Times'' 大唐游侠传 (2008)
* '' The Patriotic Knights'' 侠骨丹心 (2010)
* ''Tracking Knights Phantom'' (2011)
* ''The Bride with White Hair (TV series)'' 新白发魔女传 (2012)
* ''The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom'' 白发魔女传之明月天国 (2014)
* ''The Seven Swords (movie trilogies) (2018-2020)
* ''The White Haired Witch'' 白发魔女外传 (2020)
* ''The First Sword of Wudang'' 武当一剑 (2021)

See also

* Jin Yong
* Gu Long

References

External links

Liang Yusheng



The Wanderer Chronicles (萍踪侠影录)
– Read a chapter-by-chapter English summary of Liang Yusheng's ''Pingzong Xiaying Lu'' (via WuxiaSociety2 – formerly known as Wuxiamania)

Seven Swords Novel Translation
English summary translation of ''Qijian Xia Tianshan'' (updated 27 August 2007) done by Yenchin of Wuxiasociety.org
*

Liang Yusheng (HKMDB database)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liang, Yusheng

1926 births
2009 deaths
Hong Kong novelists
Wuxia writers
People from Wuzhou
Alumni of Lingnan University (Hong Kong)
Writers from Guangxi
Chinese male novelists