Zhou Botong
| Zhou Botong | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Jin Yong |
| Appearances |
The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes |
| Personal information | |
| Nickname(s) | "Old Imp" (老頑童), "Central Imp" (中頑童) |
| Gender | Male |
| Romantic interest(s) | Liu Ying |
| Children | Unnamed son (killed by Qiu Qianren) |
| Sworn siblings |
Wang Chongyang, Guo Jing |
| Affiliations | |
| Organisations | Quanzhen Sect |
| Teachers |
Unofficial teachers: Wang Chongyang, Xiaolongnü |
| Students |
Official students: Yelü Qi Unofficial students: Guo Jing, Xiaolongnü |
| Skills and abilities | |
| Neigong |
Quanzhen-style neigong, Nine Yin Manual skills |
| Unarmed combat skills | Technique of Ambidexterity, Seventy-two Styles Vacant Fist, Quanzhen Skills |
| Weapons | Jade bees |
| Zhou Botong | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 周伯通 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 周伯通 | ||||||||||
|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Zhōu Bótōng |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | Zau1 Baak3-tung1 |
Zhou Botong is a fictional character in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes and its sequel, The Return of the Condor Heroes, both of which are written by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). He is nicknamed "Old Imp" (老頑童) in the first novel and becomes the "Central Imp" (中頑童) of the Five Greats at the end of the second novel to replace "Central Divine" Wang Chongyang. His most notable trait is his childish and mischievous personality. He enjoys playing pranks and games like an immature child, and constantly seeks fun and entertainment even at an old age.
Zhou Botong is the junior of Wang Chongyang, the founder of Quanzhen Sect. He is the most senior of all Quanzhen members after Wang Chongyang's death. However, Zhou Botong neither accepts any apprentices nor remains in Quanzhen most of the time. Instead, he roams the jianghu to derive entertainment from anything of interest to him, including fights and toys. Despite so, he still maintains respect for Wang Chongyang and abides by Quanzhen's rules.
Zhou Botong had a romantic affair with Duan Zhixing's concubine, Liu Ying, but broke up with her after heeding his senior's advice. However, Liu Ying was already pregnant with his child and gave birth to a son later. The infant was mortally wounded by a masked assailant (later revealed to be Qiu Qianren) and died from his injuries. Duan Zhixing, who had the ability to save the boy, refused to do so. Zhou Botong was unaware that he had a son until he meets Liu Ying (renamed to Yinggu) several years later.
After Wang Chongyang's death, Zhou Botong followed the former's dying wish and concealed the coveted Nine Yin Manual. He met Huang Yaoshi and his wife, Feng Heng, along the way. Huang Yaoshi tricked Zhou Botong into allowing his wife to read the manual after winning Zhou by cheating in a game of stone-throwing. Zhou Botong let Feng Heng read the second volume of the book and she memorised the text after reading it once.
Feng Heng lied to Zhou Botong that the manual was actually a copy of a book of childish rites and claimed that she knew the text by heart. She recited it verbatim to him without looking. Zhou Botong believed her and destroyed the second volume of the manual in anger before leaving. Some time later, Zhou Botong realised that he had been fooled so he returned to Peach Blossom Island to confront Huang Yaoshi and demand an explanation. Feng Heng had died recently after giving birth to Huang Yaoshi's daughter, and Huang Yaoshi was still feeling sore. The two of them had a heated quarrel, in which Zhou Botong taunted Huang Yaoshi by saying that he could now practise martial arts better without distraction from his wife. Huang Yaoshi turned furious and fought with Zhou Botong but neither of them was able to defeat his opponent. Huang Yaoshi then sealed off all exit routes from the island so Zhou Botong was effectively imprisoned on the island for the next 15 years. Zhou Botong found a cave and settled there.
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Wikipedia