Yang Kang
| Yang Kang | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Jin Yong |
| Appearances | The Legend of the Condor Heroes |
| Personal information | |
| Alias(es) | Wanyan Kang (完顏康) |
| Gender | Male |
| Family | Yang Tiexin (father), Bao Xiruo (mother), Wanyan Honglie (stepfather) |
| Romantic interest(s) | Mu Nianci |
| Children | Yang Guo |
| Sworn siblings | Guo Jing |
| Affiliations | |
| Organisations | Indirect affiliations: Quanzhen Sect |
| Teachers |
Official teachers: Qiu Chuji Unofficial teachers: Mei Chaofeng |
| Skills and abilities | |
| Unarmed combat skills | Nine Yin White Bone Claw, Heart Shattering Palm, Quanzhen skills |
| Armed combat skills | Quanzhen skills |
| Yang Kang | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 楊康 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 杨康 | ||||||||||
|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Yáng Kāng |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | Joeng4 Hong1 |
Yang Kang is the fictional antagonist in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). He also serves as a foil to Guo Jing, the protagonist.
Yang Kang's hometown is in Niu Family Village. His father, Yang Tiexin, was originally from Shandong but moved to Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou) after the Jurchen-led Jin Empire conquered the northern part of the Han Chinese-predominant Song Empire. Yang Tiexin met Bao Xiruo in the neighbouring town, Hongmei Village, and married her. Two years after their marriage, Yang Tiexin was apparently killed when soldiers raided the village. Bao Xiruo was heavily pregnant with Yang Kang then, and was rescued by Wanyan Honglie, the sixth prince of the Jin Empire. She gave birth to Yang Kang, who was raised as a Jurchen noble and adopted his foster father's family name, "Wanyan". He was initially known as "Wanyan Kang" before his real identity is revealed.
Yang's given name, "Kang", is the complementary of his sworn brother's "Jing". Together, their given names form "Jingkang" (靖康). Their fathers and Qiu Chuji named them as such to remind them of the Jingkang Incident and to be loyal to their native land, the Song Empire. Yang Kang is also a descendant of Yang Zaixing, a Song general who participated in the Jin–Song Wars.
Yang Kang discovers his true heritage when Yang Tiexin, who was supposedly killed many years ago, suddenly reappears in front of Bao Xiruo. Bao Xiruo tries to explain to her son that Yang Tiexin is his father. However, Yang Kang refuses to acknowledge Yang Tiexin as his father. To him, Wanyan Honglie is a fatherly figure who showers love and care on him and provides him with everything he wants. In fact, Wanyan Honglie is responsible for the deaths of Yang Kang's parents: Yang Tiexin and Bao Xiruo commit suicide after being cornered by Wanyan Honglie and his men.
When Yang Kang finally meets his sworn brother, Guo Jing, the latter attempts to persuade him to take the Song Empire's side. Although Yang Kang initially agreed to join the Song Empire, he changes his mind later after witnessing how the Han Chinese society of the Song Empire is plagued by problems such as political corruption, internal conflict, and cowardice in the face of Jurchen aggression. Disgusted, Yang Kang succumbs to the temptation of being a Jurchen noble and denounces his ethnicity again. He collaborates with the Jurchens to exploit his own race (the Han Chinese) and pretends to have acknowledged his ethnicity. At one point, he attempts to kill Guo Jing by stabbing him with a dagger when Guo tries to persuade him to revert again. He murders Ouyang Ke so that he can take the latter's place as Ouyang Feng's apprentice. Yang Kang is also responsible for the deaths of five of the "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan", and for framing Guo Jing for the murder of Ouyang Ke.
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Wikipedia