The Legend of the Condor Heroes

The Legend of the Condor Heroes

One of the earliest 1960s editions; volume 1 of the series
Author	Jin Yong
Original title	射鵰英雄傳
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Chinese
Series	Condor Trilogy
Genre	Wuxia
Publisher	Hong Kong Commercial Daily
Publication date	1 January 1957
Media type	Print
Followed by	The Return of the Condor Heroes

The Legend of Condor Heroes (chin. 射鵰英雄傳) is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It is the first part of the Condor Trilogy, and is followed by The Return of the Condor Heroes and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. It was first serialised between 1 January 1957 and 19 May 1959 in the Hong Kong Commercial Daily. Jin Yong revised the novel twice, first in the 1970s and later in the 2000s.

The english title is a mistranslation. The correct translation must be: "Eagle Shooting Heroes" or "Archery Heroes". The condor is a pure american bird of prey with two species: the Andean condor and the Californian condor.

The story is set in the Song dynasty and at the beginning of the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty's invasion of northern China. The first part of the novel revolves around the friendship of two men, Yang Tiexin and Guo Xiaotian, who became heroes in their own right as they fought the Jin invaders. The bond between the duo is so strong that they pledge to each other that their unborn children will become either be sworn siblings (if both are of the same sex) or a married couple (if they are of opposite sexes).

The story focuses on the trials and tribulations of their sons after Guo Xiaotian's death and Yang Tiexin's disappearance. Guo Xiaotian's son, Guo Jing, grows up in Mongolia under the care of Genghis Khan. Yang Tiexin's son, Yang Kang, on the other hand, grows up in Jin as a powerful Jurchen prince's son. Guo Jing is mentored by the "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan" in martial arts but he is a slow learner and only manages to master part of the skills he was taught. However, he improves his skills after receiving advice from Ma Yu of the Quanzhen Sect. Yang Kang is tutored by Qiu Chuji, who is also from Quanzhen, but he secretly learns the evil "Nine Yin White Bone Claw" from Mei Chaofeng, a disciple of Huang Rong's father.