The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber
One of earliest editions of book 9 of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber
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| Author | Jin Yong |
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| Original title | 倚天屠龍記 |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Chinese |
| Series | Condor Trilogy |
| Genre | Wuxia |
| Publisher | Ming Pao |
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Publication date
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6 July 1961 |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 51068759 |
| Preceded by | The Return of the Condor Heroes |
| The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 倚天屠龍記 | ||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 倚天屠龙记 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Story of the Heaven Reliant and Dragon Slayer | ||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Yǐ Tiān Tú Lóng Jì |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | Ji2 Tin1 Tou4 Lung4 Gei3 |
The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, also translated as The Sword and the Knife, is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It is the third instalment in the Condor Trilogy, and is preceded by The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes. It was first serialised from 6 July 1961 to 2 September 1963 in the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao.
Jin Yong revised the novel in 1979 with a number of amendments and additions. A second revision was published in early 2005, incorporating later thoughts and a lengthier conclusion. It also introduced many changes to the plot and cleared up some ambiguities in the second edition, such as the origin of the Nine Yang Manual. As is typical of some of his other novels, Jin Yong included elements of Chinese history in the story, including introducing historical figures such as Zhu Yuanzhang, Chen Youliang, Chang Yuchun, Zhang Sanfeng, and organisations such as the Ming Cult. The political clash between the Han Chinese and Mongols is also prominently featured in the plot.
Set in the late Yuan dynasty, the story revolves around a pair of priceless and extremely powerful weapons, the Heaven Reliant Sword (倚天劍) and Dragon Slaying Saber (屠龍刀), which are coveted by many martial artists in the jianghu. Either or both of them are thought to allow their wielder to rule the wulin (martial artists' community), according to a widely circulated mantra which goes, "Honoured by the wulin, the precious Saber slays the Dragon. It commands the world. Who dares to disobey? If the Heaven Reliant does not appear, who can challenge it?" (武林至尊，寶刀屠龍，號令天下，莫敢不從！倚天不出，誰與爭鋒？). The origins of this mantra are not known at the beginning of the story.
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