The Book and the Sword

The Book and the Sword

Chapter 10 of The Book and the Sword, from page 6 of the 5 August 1955 issue of the Hong Kong newspaper New Evening Post.
Author	Jin Yong
Original title	書劍恩仇錄
Translator	Graham Earnshaw
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Chinese
Genre	Wuxia, historical fiction
Publisher	The New Evening Post, Oxford University Press
Publication date	8 February 1955
Published in English	2005
Media type	Print
ISBN

The Book and the Sword is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It was first serialised between 8 February 1955 and 5 September 1956 in the Hong Kong newspaper The New Evening Post.

Set in the Qing dynasty during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–1796), the novel follows the quest of the Red Flower Society, a secret organisation aiming to overthrow the Qing government, and their entanglements with an Islamic tribe in northwestern China. The "book" in the title refers to a Qur'an that was stolen from the tribe while the "sword" refers to a sword given to the protagonist, Chen Jialuo, by his first romantic interest, Huoqingtong. Historical figures such as the Qianlong Emperor, Zhaohui (兆惠), Heshen, Zheng Xie and Fuk'anggan also make appearances or are mentioned by name in the novel. One of the female protagonists, Princess Fragrance, is loosely based on the Qianlong Emperor's Fragrant Concubine.

This novel was Jin Yong's debut, and it quickly established him as one of the new masters of the wuxia genre. Alternative English titles of the novel include Book and Sword: Gratitude and Revenge and The Romance of the Book and Sword.

The Red Flower Society is a secret society aiming to overthrow the Manchu-led Qing Empire and restore Han Chinese rule in China. It is headed by 15 leaders with Chen Jialuo as their chief. The fourth leader, Wen Tailai, is ambushed and arrested on the order of the Qianlong Emperor because he knows a secret about the emperor, and the emperor wants to silence him.

The main plot follows the society's repeated attempts to rescue Wen Tailai, and is intertwined with two or more extensive subplots. The heroes encounter some Islamic tribesmen, who are pursuing a convoy of mercenaries who have robbed them of their holy artefact, a Qur'an. Chen Jialuo aids the tribesmen in defeating the mercenaries and recovers the holy book. He earns the respect and admiration of Huoqingtong, the daughter of the tribe's leader. Throughout the story, some of the heroes eventually find their future spouses after braving danger together: Xu Tianhong and Yu Yutong marry Zhou Qi and Li Yuanzhi respectively.