Huang Rong is a fictional female protagonist in the
wuxia
( , literally "martial arts and chivalry") is a genre of Chinese literature, Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fantasy literature, its popularity ha ...
novel ''
The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' by
Jin Yong
Louis Cha Leung-yung (; 10 March 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (), was a Hong Kong wuxia novelist and co-founder of '' Ming Pao.'' Cha authored 15 novels between 1955 and 1972 and became one of the most pop ...
. She also appears as a supporting character in the sequel, ''
The Return of the Condor Heroes''.
In ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes''
Huang Rong was born to
Huang Yaoshi and Feng Heng. Her mother died shortly after she was born and her father raised her all by himself on
Peach Blossom Island. She was an intelligent child and quick learner, so her father imparted her with all his skills and knowledge. She flees from home after a quarrel with her father and disguises herself as a beggar by donning filthy rags.
Huang Rong meets
Guo Jing for the first time in an inn while she was arguing with a waiter. Guo Jing feels sorry for her and decides to pay for her meal. Huang Rong finds him interesting and she orders all kinds of fine cuisine and shares with him. Guo Jing even gives her some gold ingots he received from
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
. When she asks, he offers her his prized
Ferghana horse, a rare Central Asian breed. Since then, Huang Rong is attracted to Guo Jing as she sees that he is a simple, honest and innocent young lad.
Guo Jing and Huang Rong embark on adventure together even though Guo's teachers, the "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan", dislike Huang and oppose Guo's decision to be with her. They meet
Hong Qigong, who teaches Guo Jing the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms () to repay Huang Rong's favours of preparing fine cuisine for him every day during the brief period of time he spent with them.
Hong Qigong initially refuses to teach Huang Rong any skills when he learns that she is the daughter of his friendly rival, Huang Yaoshi. However, he starts to like her for her adorable nature, and especially after she and Guo Jing saved him from
Ouyang Feng. He fought with Ouyang Feng and won but was bitten by the latter's poisonous serpent, and lost all his
inner energy while purging the venom from his body. He teaches Huang Rong his Dog Beating Staff Technique after deciding to pass on his position as the chief of the
Beggars' Gang to her.
Huang Rong plays a significant role in
Yang Kang's death although she does not kill him directly. Yang Kang attacks her with a palm strike in an attempt to prevent her from revealing the truth behind the murders he committed. However, instead, he hits the spikes on the soft armour she is wearing. The armour was incidentally stained with venom from a rare snake bred by Ouyang Feng and the poison seeps through Yang Kang's wounds into his body and kills him eventually.
Towards the end of the novel, on the summit of
Mount Hua
Mount Hua () is a mountain located near the city of Huayin in Shaanxi Province, about east of Xi'an. It is the "Western Mountain" of the Five Great Mountains of China and has a long history of religious significance. Originally classified as ...
, Huang Yaoshi finally consents to his daughter's marriage to Guo Jing.
In ''The Return of the Condor Heroes''
Guo Jing and Huang Rong play supporting roles in the character development of the protagonist
Yang Guo
Yang Guo, courtesy name Gaizhi, is the fictional protagonist of the wuxia novel '' The Return of the Condor Heroes'' by Jin Yong.
Birth and heritage
Yang Guo traces his lineage to Yang Zaixing, a Song general who participated in the Jin–So ...
in the sequel. The couple have three children (Guo Fu, Guo Xiang, and Guo Polu) and have also accepted the brothers Wu Xiuwen and Wu Dunru as their students.
During their first meeting with Yang Guo, Guo Jing accepts the boy immediately and wants to raise him like a son and groom him to become a young hero. However, Huang Rong has reservations over her husband's decision. She feels that Yang Guo bears an uncanny resemblance to his late father in his attitude and behaviour, and does not fully trust the boy. Yang was taught only literary arts and
Confucian values
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
during the brief period of time he spent with the couple. This prejudice was reinforced when Huang always place the blame on Yang Guo whenever her daughter did something wrong to him, notably shown when she supports Guo Fu for slicing off Yang Guo's arm due to her believing that Yang Guo kidnapped her daughter and used her life to exchange for an antidote to a poison he suffers from due to an earlier incident with Gongsun Zhi (until she knows the truth and became regretful for blaming him).
Huang Rong is responsible for the split of Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo many times. Huang Rong's attitude towards Yang Guo changes over time as her husband shows high regard for the boy and especially after Yang Guo selflessly saved their family from danger again and again. At one point, she fears for Guo Fu's life, after her daughter sliced off Yang Guo's arm in a heated quarrel, but Yang Guo forgives Guo Fu and saves her life later. Huang Rong only fully trusts Yang Guo after he saved Guo Xiang from the Mongols in a later chapter.
Huang Rong joins her husband in defending
Xiangyang
Xiangyang is the second-largest prefecture-level city by population in northwestern Hubei province, China. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River (Hanshui), Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city n ...
and provides him with all the support to resist the Mongol invaders. They eventually defeated the Mongols and prolonged Xiangyang's existence as a Song territory for another 13 years before it finally fell to
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...
's army prior to the events of the sequel ''The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber''.
In ''The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber''
In ''
The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber
''The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber'', also translated as ''The Sword and the Knife'', is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong, Jin Yong (Louis Cha) and the third part of the ''Condor Trilogy'', preceded by ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' and ''The Re ...
'', it is revealed that the couple realise that the eventual
fall of Xiangyang is inevitable, so they wrote their knowledge of martial arts and military strategy on scrolls and hid them separately in the blades of the Heaven Reliant Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber, in the hope that future generations would inherit their legacy. Huang Rong was killed along with the rest of her family (excluding Guo Xiang) after Xiangyang fell to the Mongols.
Character description
Huang Rong is described as a young beggar dressed in filthy clothing during her first appearance in ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes''. Her face is stained with mud and her clothes are covered in dust. When Guo Jing agrees to meet her on the riverbank, she looks completely different from her earlier image, now that she is clean and dressed in beautiful clothes. Her appearance is described as "with skin whiter than snow, charm unrivalled by any, and a presence so stunning, one would almost blush from staring at her too intently". Guo Jing is taken aback by her new look.
Martial arts and skills
Huang Yaoshi
Huang Rong learnt most of her martial arts and skills from her father. Guo Jing is unable to fully grasp all these skills. Some of them are listed below.
* Peach Flower Fallen Hero Palm (), known in later editions as Falling Flower Divine Sword Palm ().
* Divine Flicking Finger () is a technique of channelling a large amount of
inner energy into a finger and releasing it with a precise amount of strength and control. It is used to propel objects towards enemies with force and accuracy.
* Jade Flute Swordplay () is a type of swordplay that focuses on attacking an opponent's
acupuncture point
Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...
s.
Hong Qigong
Huang Rong meets Hong Qigong while out on adventure with Guo Jing. Hong Qigong teaches them his skills to repay Huang Rong's favours of preparing fine cuisine for him. The skills Huang Rong learnt from Hong Qigong are as follows:
* Carefree Fist () was created by Hong Qigong in his younger days. It requires flexibility and smoothness as its name "carefree" implies.
* Rain of Petals () is a skill created by Hong Qigong to counter Ouyang Ke and his snakes. It involves using sewing needles as dart-like throwing weapons.
*
Dog Beating Staff Technique () is a skill known only to the
Beggars' Gang's chief. This technique is one of the best among all pole weapons skills for its ever-changing styles and movements. Hong Qigong teaches Huang Rong when he decides to pass on his position as chief to her. Huang Rong teaches Lu Youjiao this skill later when she names him her successor.
Nine Yin Manual
The ''Nine Yin Manual'' is the most coveted martial arts manual of its time because of the incredible inner energy cultivation techniques and extraordinary skills it records.
Guo Jing shares with Huang Rong after memorising and learning the skills in the book. Mastering the manual's skills allows both of them to maximise the potential of the various skills they had learnt earlier.
cnnovels.net
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Miscellaneous skills and knowledge
Huang Rong acquired most of her knowledge of geography, medicine, strategy, mathematics, music, literature, etc. from her father. She also inherited her mother's eidetic memory
Eidetic memory ( ), also known as photographic memory and total recall, is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision—at least for a brief period of time—after seeing it only onceThe terms ''eidetic memory'' and ''photogr ...
.
She is also versed in the art of laying formations, such as the Eight Trigrams Formation
Baguazhen ( Chinese: 八卦陣; pinyin: ''bāguàzhèn)''; lit. 'eight trigrams (military) formation') or Bagua Formation, also known as Jiujun (九軍; lit. 'Nine armies') or Jiugong Baguazhen (九宮八卦陣; pinyin: ''Jiǔgōng bāguàzhèn' ...
, to counter enemies' advances. She uses her powers to make huge rocks and boulders form an array and maze to confuse enemies and force them to retreat.
Huang Rong is an excellent cook. She prepared several fine dishes for Hong Qigong to ask him to teach Guo Jing martial arts. Hong Qigong has a penchant for fine cuisine and could not resist the temptation that he has no choice but to keep his promise and teach Guo Jing.
In other media
Notable actresses who have portrayed Huang Rong in films and television series include Yung Siu-yee (1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...
), Michelle Yim
Michelle Yim Wai-ling (; born September 2, 1955), better known by her stage name ''Mai Suet'' (), is a Hong Kong actress and elder sister of former actress Sidney Yim Wai-ming also known by stage name ''Suet Lei'' (). She graduated from and S ...
(1976), Barbara Yung
Barbara Yung Mei-ling (, 7 May 1959 – 14 May 1985) was a famous Hong Kong actress during the early 1980s. Yung died of suicide by gas inhalation at the age of 26, during the peak of her career. Her most popular acting role was Huang Rong in ...
(1983), Susanna Au-yeung
Susanna Au-yeung (; 6 December 1953 – 9 July 2017) was a Hong Kong actress.
Born Chan Kit Ying (), Au-yeung began acting in the 1960s and retired in 1993, ostensibly because she was chosen as a backup for actresses who decided to leave their rol ...
(1983), Idy Chan
Idy Chan Yuk Lin (born 25 March 1960) is a popular Hong Kong TV actress, especially during the 1980s and was named as one of the Five Beauties of TVB.
Career
She joined showbiz in 1977. She is most famous for her portrayal of three of the char ...
(1988), Athena Chu (1994), Bonnie Ngai (1995), Zhou Xun
Zhou Xun ( zh, s=周迅, born 18 October 1974) is a Chinese actress and singer. Zhou rose to prominence with the film '' Suzhou River'' (2000), followed by films such as '' Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress'' (2002), '' Perhaps Love'' (2005 ...
(2003), Kong Lin
The Cemetery of Confucius () is a cemetery of the Kong clan (the descendants of Confucius) in Confucius' hometown Qufu in eastern Shandong province. Confucius himself and some of his disciples are buried there, as well as many thousands of his d ...
(2006), Ariel Lin (2008), Yang Mingna (2014), Li Yitong (2017), Lin Yanrou (2021), Gong Beibi (2022), and Bao Shangen (2024).
Huang Rong is a main character in the 2000 role-playing video game
Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
''Shachou Eiyuuden: The Eagle Shooting Heroes'', released by Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...
for the PlayStation
is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
.
Family tree
Notes
References
* Tan, Xianmao (2005)
Huang Rong: The Most Intelligent, Clever and Adorable Woman
In ''Rankings of Jin Yong's Characters''. Chinese Agricultural Press.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huang, Rong
Literary characters introduced in 1957
Jin Yong characters
The Legend of the Condor Heroes
The Return of the Condor Heroes
Condor Trilogy
Fictional female warriors
Fictional wushu practitioners
Fictional beggars
Fictional Song dynasty people
Fictional characters from Zhejiang
Fictional stick-fighters