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Xu Qing (character)
Xu Qing, nicknamed "Mountain Rat" or "Mountain-Boring Rat" (穿山鼠), because he can quickly traverse mountain caves, is a fictional Song dynasty knight-errant from the 19th-century Chinese novels ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants'' and ''The Five Younger Gallants''. Xu Qing is the third sworn brother of the "Five Rats", whose other members are Lu Fang, Han Zhang, Jiang Ping and Bai Yutang. Originally a blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ..., Xu Qing is a buffoonish character in the novel — crude, simple-minded, gluttonous and often sleepyheaded. However, he is also righteous, brave and very loyal to his brothers. Xu Qing is also muscular and a relatively good fighter. He eventually becomes a Rank 6 Commandant (校尉) under Judge Bao. The Sev ...
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Wuxia
( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted for such diverse art forms as Chinese opera, manhua, television dramas, films, and video games. It forms part of popular culture in many Chinese-speaking communities around the world. The word "" is a compound composed of the elements (, literally "martial", "military", or "armed") and (, literally "chivalrous", "vigilante" or "hero"). A martial artist who follows the code of is often referred to as a (, literally "follower of ") or (, literally "wandering "). In some translations, the martial artist is referred to as a "swordsman" or "swordswoman" even though they may not necessarily wield a sword. The heroes in wuxia fiction typically do not serve a lord, wield military power, or belong to the aristocratic class. They often origina ...
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Han Zhang
Han Zhang is a fictional Song dynasty knight-errant from the 19th-century Chinese novels ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants'' and ''The Five Younger Gallants''. Nicknamed "Earth Rat" or "Earth-Piercing Rat" () for his expertise in land mines, he has a military background. Han Zhang, along with sworn brothers Lu Fang, Xu Qing, Jiang Ping and Bai Yutang are known as the "Five Rats". Han is ranked second in age, and probably is the second best fighter after Bai Yutang, because he not only carries a broadsword but also poisonous darts. Relatively introverted, Han prefers to act alone and is the last of the "Five Rats" to surrender to the government. Portrayal in film and television * Ku Wen-chung in '' King Cat'' (1967) * Chiang Nan in ''Justice Pao'' (1974–75) * Ching Chu in ''Cat vs Rat'' (1982) * Yu Tai-ping in ''House of Traps'' (1982) * Wu Yuan-chun in ''Justice Pao'' (1993–94) * Mark Cheng in ''The Invincible Constable'' (1993) * Yu An-shun in ''The Seven Heroes and ...
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The Seven Heroes And Five Gallants Characters
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic p ...
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Judge Bao
Judge Bao (or Justice Bao (包青天)) stories in literature and performing arts are some of the most popular in traditional Chinese crime fiction ( ''gong'an'' fiction). All stories involve the Song dynasty minister Bao Zheng who solves, judges and sentences criminal cases. Literary tradition Plays from the Yuan and Ming dynasties In the Yuan Dynasty, many plays (in the forms of '' qu'' and ''zaju'') have featured Bao Zheng as the central character. These plays include: * '' Judge Bao Cleverly Investigates the Circle of Chalk'' (包待制智勘灰闌記) by Li Qianfu * ''Judge Bao Thrice Investigates the Butterfly Dream'' (包待制三勘蝴蝶夢) by Guan Hanqing * ''Judge Bao Cleverly Executes Court Official Lu'' (包待制智斬魯齋郎) by Guan Hanqing * ''Judge Bao Sells Rice at Chenzhou'' (包待制陳州糶米) * ''Ding-ding Dong-dong: The Ghost of the Pot'' (玎玎璫璫盆兒鬼) * ''Judge Bao Cleverly Investigates the Flower of the Back Courtyard'' (包待制智勘後� ...
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Nine-rank System
The nine-rank system, also known as the nine-grade controller system, was used to categorize and classify government officials in Imperial China. Created in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms, it was used until the Song dynasty, and similar ranking systems were also present in the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty. Prior to the nine-rank system, official positions were denoted by their salary paid in number of bushels of grain. For example, during the Han dynasty, the highest-ranking officials were classed as ''wandan'' (萬石), meaning ten thousand bushels, and were paid 350 bushels of grain per month. The lowest ranking petty subofficials were paid in pecks, worth less than 100 bushels per year. A similar system was also used in Korea. In Japan, the Twelve Level Cap and Rank System was adopted in 603 during the reign of Empress Suiko. History Background The Nine-rank system was a reorganization of the Han dynasty practice of recommending noteworthy locals for pol ...
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Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, grilles, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, tools, agricultural implements, decorative and religious items, cooking utensils, and weapons. There was an historical distinction between the heavy work of the blacksmith and the more delicate operation of a whitesmith, who usually worked in Goldsmith, gold, Silversmith, silver, pewter, or the finishing steps of fine steel. The place where a blacksmith works is called variously a smithy, a forge or a blacksmith's shop. While there are many people who work with metal such as farriers, wheelwrights, and Armourer, armorers, in former times the blacksmith had a general knowledge of how to make and repair many things, from the most complex of weapons and armor to simple things ...
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Bai Yutang
Bai Yutang, nicknamed "Sleek Rat" or "Brocade-Coated Rat" (錦毛鼠), is a fictional Song dynasty knight-errant from the 19th-century Chinese novel ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants''. Handsome, brave, clever and charismatic, Bai Yutang is the youngest sworn brother and the best fighter of the "Five Rats", whose other members are Lu Fang, Han Zhang, Xu Qing, and Jiang Ping. Though very righteous, he is also cruel, arrogant, reckless and stubborn. After fellow knight-errant Zhan Zhao receives the title "Imperial Cat" from the emperor, Bai Yutang becomes jealous and hurries off to the capital Kaifeng to challenge him. Using his extraordinary martial arts skills to intrude into respectively the government headquarters of Prefect Bao, the residence of Imperial Tutor Pang, and even the imperial palace, he performs a number of spectacular acts and crimes. He also succeeds in capturing Zhan in a trap, but is in turn captured by his sworn brother Jiang Ping, after which he reluct ...
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Jiang Ping (character)
Jiang Ping, courtesy name Zechang, is a fictional Song dynasty knight-errant from the 19th-century Chinese novels ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants'' and ''The Five Younger Gallants''. Nicknamed "River Rat" or "River-Overturning Rat" () for his amazing swimming and freediving skills, he is able to stay underwater seemingly forever. He is the fourth sworn brother of the "Five Rats", whose other members are Lu Fang, Han Zhang, Xu Qing and Bai Yutang Bai Yutang, nicknamed "Sleek Rat" or "Brocade-Coated Rat" (錦毛鼠), is a fictional Song dynasty knight-errant from the 19th-century Chinese novel ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants''. Handsome, brave, clever and charismatic, Bai Yutang is .... Highly witty, Jiang Ping is one of the most colorful characters in the original novel. He is scrawny, and his appearance more of a sick patient than a fighter, yet he often outsmarts opponents with clever tricks, disguises or lies. Researcher Susan Blader considers him the only "g ...
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Lu Fang (character)
Lu Fang is a fictional Song dynasty hero from the 19th-century Chinese novels ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants'' and ''The Five Younger Gallants''. He is nicknamed "Sky Rat" or "Sky-Penetrating Rat" (鑽天鼠) for his mast-climbing skills. Lu Fang owns an estate on Hollow Island (陷空島), where he and his younger sworn brothers Han Zhang, Xu Qing, Jiang Ping, and Bai Yutang — collectively known as the "Five Rats" — are based. As their leader, Lu Fang is magnanimous, respectful, patriotic and heroic. He is also very protective over his sworn brothers, especially Bai Yutang, and can come off as sentimental or nagging at times. Lu Fang eventually becomes a Rank 6 Commandant (校尉) under Judge Bao. Background Lu Fang's father had been a rich but generous squire on Hollow Island, whose estate Lu Fang inherited. Hollow Island is located in the middle of the Song River (松江, possibly today's Suzhou Creek in Shanghai), where his men catch fish. Once, when a boat's ...
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The Five Younger Gallants
''The Five Younger Gallants'' (小五義) is an 1890 Chinese novel and the best known sequel to the hugely popular 1879 novel ''The Tale of Loyal Heroes and Righteous Gallants'' (republished as ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants'' in 1889). It is followed a year later by ''Sequel to the Five Younger Gallants'' (續小五義). Both sequels were published by Shi Duo (石鐸) who owned the Beijing publisher Wenguang lou (文光樓). The editor was a "Captivated-Wind Daoist" (風迷道人). It's unknown whether he was the same person as "Captivated Daoist" (入迷道人), an editor of the 1879 novel. All three novels claim authorship by the famed storyteller Shi Yukun. During the last decade of the 19th century, the first sequel was reprinted 9 times, 7 in Shanghai and 1 each in Beijing and Chongqing. Authorship controversy While scholars generally agree that Shi Yukun was the genius behind the original novel (even though he most likely died before 1879), how much he contributed to ' ...
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The Seven Heroes And Five Gallants
''The Tale of Loyal Heroes and Righteous Gallants'' (忠烈俠義傳), also known by its 1883 reprint title ''The Three Heroes and Five Gallants'' (三俠五義), is an 1879 Chinese novel based on storyteller Shi Yukun's oral performances. The novel was later revised by philologist Yu Yue and republished in 1889 under the title ''The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants'' (七俠五義), with the story essentially unaltered. Set in 11th-century Song dynasty, the story detailed the rise of legendary judge Bao Zheng to high office, and how a group of '' youxia'' (knights-errant)—each with exceptional martial talent and selfless heroism—helped him fight crimes, oppression, corruption and rebellion. It was one of the first novels to merge the ''gong'an'' (court-case fiction) and the ''wuxia'' (chivalric fiction) genres. Praised for its humorous narration and vivid characterizations, the novel has enjoyed huge readership: it spawned two dozen sequels by 1924 (according to Lu Xun) an ...
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