Ode to Gallantry

Ode to Gallantry

Cover of a 1980 edition of the novel.
Author	Jin Yong
Original title	俠客行
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Chinese
Genre	Wuxia
Publisher	Ming Pao
Publication date	1965
Media type	Print

Ode to Gallantry is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It was first serialised in Hong Kong from 11 June 1966 to 19 April 1967 in the newspaper Ming Pao. The novel shares the same Chinese title as a poem by the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai, which was used as its epigraph.

The plot revolves around a case of mistaken identity between a pair of identical twins. In the afterword, Jin Yong acknowledges that the story resembles some of the works of William Shakespeare (cf. Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors).

The protagonist, who refers to himself as "Gouzazhong" (狗雜種; literally "mongrel dog", a colloquialism for "bastard"), first appears as a young beggar roaming the streets of Kaifeng in search of his lost mother. He witnesses a fight between several jianghu figures and meets the Shi couple and members of the Snowy Mountain Sect (雪山派). An accident causes him to be taken away by Xie Yanke, an eccentric martial artist, to his secluded home on Motian Cliff. Xie Yanke, who is frequently bothered by Gouzazhong, decides to teach him martial arts. Gouzazhong learns qi cultivation techniques under Xie Yanke's tutelage for six years, but is unaware that Xie actually harbours ill intentions and has been teaching him the wrong methods, in the hope that he will sustain internal wounds and eventually die.

At the same time, the leader of the Changle Sect, Shi Zhongyu, mysteriously disappears. The greater part of the novel deals with the complications that arise as Gouzhazhong is mistaken for Shi Zhongyu, not only by members of the sect (for ulterior motives), by also by Shi Zhongyu's parents, the Shi couple, Shi Zhongyu's lover Ding Dang, and members of the Snowy Mountain Sect. Although the two bear a splitting resemblance, their characters cannot be more different: Gouzhazhong is simple, honest and clever, while Shi Zhongyu, the son of the Shi couple, has a bad reputation for being a lewd and sly womaniser. Gouzhazhong acquires consummate combat skills in the process. He is hounded by members of the Snowy Mountain Sect who mistake him for Shi Zhongyu, who molested Axiu, the granddaughter of the Snowy Mountain Sect's leader. He acquires Axiu as his girlfriend after various incidents, during which the misunderstandings are gradually resolved.