''Datang Youxia Zhuan'' is a ''

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted ...

'' novel by

Liang Yusheng Chen Wentong (5 April 1924 – 22 January 2009), better known by his pen name Liang Yusheng, was a Chinese writer. Credited as the pioneer of the "New School" (新派) of the ''wuxia'' genre in the 20th century, Chen was one of the best known ...

. It was first serialised between 1 January 1963 and 14 June 1964 in the Hong Kong newspaper ''

Ta Kung Pao ''Ta Kung Pao'' (; formerly ''L'Impartial'') is the oldest active Chinese language newspaper in China. Founded in Tianjin in 1902, the paper is state-owned, controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central Government after the Chinese Civil War ...

''. The novel is the first part of a trilogy, and is followed by '' Longfeng Baochai Yuan'' and '' Huijian Xinmo''.

Plot

The novel is set in the Tianbao era (742–756) of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. The emperor appoints the incompetent Yang Guozhong as

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

because his cousin, Yang Yuhuan, is the emperor's favourite concubine. Nepotism and cronyism prevail as Yang Guozhong places his relatives and supporters in high-ranking posts in the Tang government, which becomes increasingly corrupt over time. The power-hungry barbarian

An Lushan An Lushan (; 20th day of the 1st month 19 February 703 – 29 January 757) was a general in the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion. An Lushan was of Sogdian and Göktürk origin,Yang, Zhijiu, "An Lush ...

wins the emperor's trust through flattery and gets promoted to the position of ''

jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", "legate ...

'' (military governor) of

Fanyang Ji or Jicheng was an ancient city in northern China, which has become the longest continuously inhabited section of modern Beijing. Historical mention of Ji dates to the founding of the Zhou dynasty in about 1045BC. Archaeological finds in sout ...

. An Lushan wields great power in his hands and secretly builds up his military forces in preparation for a rebellion. In the ''wulin'' (martial artists' community), the outlaw leaders Dou Lingkan and Wang Botong compete fiercely for the position of chief of the ''wulin''. Dou Lingkan and his brothers have the support of Duan Guizhang, a renowned swordsman who is also Dou's brother-in-law. On the other hand, Wang Botong cooperates with An Lushan to achieve his goal, recruits several followers, and sends his children to be trained by martial arts experts. Duan Guizhang maintains a close friendship with Shi Yiru, a former bureaucrat. Their wives give birth to a boy, Duan Keye, and a girl, Shi Ruomei, respectively. An Lushan sends his men to bring Duan Guizhang to meet him but Duan was not in then, so Shi Yiru went in his place and ends up being held hostage in An's residence. Duan Guizhang and Tie Mole, Dou Lingkan's godson, go to rescue him. They fail and Shi Yiru dies while Duan Guizhang is seriously injured. They are saved from An Lushan's men by Nan Jiyun and Huangfu Song. Kongkong'er, one of Wang Botong's henchmen, shows up and steals the baby Duan Keye in order to force Duan Guizhang not to side with Dou Lingkan. Dou Lingkan is killed by Wang Botong's daughter, Wang Yanyu, in a fight and loses his title as the chief of the ''wulin''. Tie Mole escapes with Nan Jiyun's help when the Dou family is destroyed and he vows to avenge his godfather. Duan Guizhang sends Tie Mole to learn martial arts from a reclusive master. Seven years later, after Tie Mole has achieved a certain level of prowess in martial arts, he returns to the ''wulin'' but finds himself stranded in the chaos of the

An Shi Rebellion The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general office ...

. Tie Mole embarks on a series of adventures. He undermines the support for An Lushan's rebel forces by capturing Wang Botong's stronghold, exposes the truth behind a 20-year-long mystery, and helps to clear Huangfu Song's name. At the same time, he also finds himself entangled in a love triangle with Wang Yanyu and Han Zhifen. He saves Emperor Xuanzong and flees with the imperial forces after the capital cities

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyan ...

and

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin ...

fell to An Lushan's rebel armies. He is also involved in the incident at Mawei courier station, when the discontented Tang soldiers blamed Yang Guozhong for their plight, killed him, and demanded that Emperor Xuanzong execute Yang Yuhuan. The

Battle of Suiyang The siege of Suiyang () during the An Lushan Rebellion was a campaign for the city of Suiyang by the rebel Yan army against the loyalist forces of the Tang army. Although the battle was ultimately won by the Yan army, it suffered a major loss ...

is featured in the later chapters and many heroes, including Nan Jiyun, sacrifice themselves to defend the city from An Lushan's forces. Tie Mole, Han Zhifen and the other survivors continue their legacy by recruiting heroes to assist the Tang government in suppressing the rebellion.

Characters

Adaptations

In 2008 the novel was adapted into a Chinese television series titled ''

Paladins in Troubled Times The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, where ...

'' by producer

Zhang Jizhong Zhang Jizhong (born May 23, 1951) is a Chinese film producer, director, teacher, and writer. He is known as one of the more prominent television producers in China. His best known productions include the CCTV adaptations of the Four Great Class ...

. It starred

Victor Huang Victor Huang Wei-de (, born 21 October 1971) is a Taiwanese actor and singer. Biography Huang started his career as a singer. In 2000 he joined Phoenix Talent Company (鳳凰藝能) and acted in many television dramas produced by Chinese Televis ...

, Shen Xiaohai,

He Zhuoyan He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

, Liu Tianyue, TAE and Lu Chen.

References

* {{Liang Yusheng's Wuxia novels 1964 novels Novels by Liang Yusheng Novels set in the Tang dynasty