''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' is a 2008 Chinese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title. The series was produced by

Chinese Entertainment Shanghai Tangren Media Co. Ltd. (), formerly known as Chinese Entertainment Shanghai Limited (), is a Chinese entertainment and media company established in 1998 that provides investment, production and publishment of films, TV series, and cartoons. It ...

, and stars Hu Ge, Ariel Lin,

Justin Yuan Yuan Hong (, born 23 August 1982), also known as Justin Yuan, is a Chinese actor. Biography Yuan was born in Wuhan, Hubei. He graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy in 2001. Career Yuan first gained attention with his role as Yang Kang in '' T ...

and

Cecilia Liu Liu Shishi (; born 10 March 1987), also known as Cecilia Liu, is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Long Kui in the television series ''Chinese Paladin 3'' and Ruoxi in the Chinese time-travel drama ''Scarlet Heart'' and '' Imperial Doc ...

. The series was first broadcast on KMTV-1 in China in July 2008, This is the version with the most plot changes.

Cast

* Hu Ge as Guo Jing * Ariel Lin as Huang Rong *

as Yang Kang *

Mu Nianci Mu Nianci is a character in the wuxia novel ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). She is the romantic interest of the antagonist, Yang Kang, and the mother of Yang Guo, the protagonist in the sequel novel, ''The Return of t ...

* Wu Yujuan as Li Ping * Ren Tianye as Guo Xiaotian * Kathy Chow as Bao Xiruo * Weng Jiaming as Yang Tiexin * Guo Liang as Wanyan Honglie * Anthony Wong as

Huang Yaoshi Huang Yaoshi is a fictional character in the wuxia novel ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' and its sequel, ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'', by Jin Yong. He is one of the Five Greats of the '' wulin'' (martial artists' community) during the ...

Bryan Leung Bryan Leung Kar-yan (Chinese: , born 20 January 1948) is a Hong Kong film and television actor and film director who has played roles in numerous acclaimed martial arts films. He is affectionately known as "Beardy" due to his trademark facial ...

Hong Qigong Hong Qi, better known as Hong Qigong,The "gōng" (), which means "grandfather", is not part of his name. His apprentices, followers and younger generations call him "Qīgōng" (; "Grandpa Qi") to show their respect for him as an elder and their ...

Elvis Tsui Elvis Tsui Kam-kong (born October 12, 1961) is a Hong Kong actor and artist. Tsui is primarily known for his roles in erotic films and martial arts films, where he's more often cast as villains. Some of the famous characters he has portrayed repe ...

Ouyang Feng Ouyang Feng is a fictional character in the wuxia novel ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' and its sequel, ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'', by Jin Yong. He is the "Western Venom" of the Five Greats of the '' wulin'' (martial artists' commun ...

* Li Yu as Zhou Botong * Xiao Rongsheng as

Yideng ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' is a wuxia novel by Chinese writer 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 w ...

* Zhao Yi as

Qiu Chuji Qiu Chuji (10 February 1148– 21 August 1227), courtesy name Tongmi (通密), also known by his Taoist name Master Changchun, was the disciple of Wang Chongyang and a renowned Taoist master. He is known for meeting Genghis Khan near the Hindu K ...

* Deng Limin as Ke Zhen'e * Jin Liang as Zhu Cong * Guo Ming'er as Han Baoju * Han Zhi as Nan Xiren * Chen Gang as Zhan A'sheng * Wang Zhenquan as Quan Jinfa * He Sirong as Han Xiaoying * Kong Wei as Mei Chaofeng * Wang Yunchao as Chen Xuanfeng * Ba Yin as Temüjin (Genghis Khan) * Xu Shengnan as Tolui * Tan Jianchang as

Jebe Jebe (or Jebei, mn, Зэв, ''Zev''; birth name: Jirqo'adai (Modern Mongolian: Zurgadai), mn, Зургаадай, ) (death: approximately 1224) was one of the most prominent Noyans (generals) of Genghis Khan. He belonged to the Besud clan, p ...

* Xie Na as Huazheng * Li Yuan as Jochi * Yu Jinsheng as Ögedei * Bai Quanbao as Chagatai * Yan Hongzhi as

Jamukha Jamukha ( mn, Жамуха; ) was a Mongol military and political leader and the chief rival to Temüjin (later Genghis Khan) in the unification of the Mongol tribes. Biography Jamukha was born in the Jadaran, a sub-tribe of the Khamag Mongol co ...

* Wang Xiaochen as Feng Heng * Yang Yi as Ma Yu * Ji Qilin as Wang Chongyang * Yang Guang as Wang Chuyi * Xu Xiaoming as Hao Datong * Liu Jianwei as Tan Chuduan * Gong Zhixi as Liu Chuxuan * Qiu Zi as

Sun Bu'er Sun Bu'er (Sun Pu-erh, ), one of the Taoist Seven Masters of Quanzhen, lived c. 1119–1182 C.E. in the Shandong province of China. She was a beautiful, intelligent, wealthy woman, married with three children. Her family name was Sun and her f ...

* Li Jie as Ouyang Ke * Wang Jianguo as Qiu Qianren / Qiu Qianzhang * Liu Yiqin as Yinggu * Yang Yifan as Lu Chengfeng * Ying Jun as Lu Guanying * Wang Shasha as Shagu * Zhang Bojun as Lu Youjiao * Song Yang as Yin Zhiping * Zhang Lei as Wanyan Hongxi * Yu Zikuan as Wanyan Jin (Emperor Zhangzong) * An Ruiyun as

Ala ad-Din Muhammad II Ala ad-Din Muhammad II (Persian: علاءالدین محمد خوارزمشاه; full name: ''Ala ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Abul-Fath Muhammad Sanjar ibn Tekish'') was the Shah of the Khwarazmian Empire from 1200 to 1220. His ancestor was Anushtegin Ghar ...

* Lou Yejiang as Xie Bin * Huang Wei as Jiancheng * Xue Jian as Weicheng * He Yan as Si Jiji * Lu Yong as Duan Tiande * Xu Ming as Sha Tongtian * Laopi as Peng Lianhu * Guo Qiming as Liang Ziweng * Du Hongjun as Hou Tonghai * Xiao Bing as Zhang San * Li Qingxiang as Lingzhi Shangren

Soundtrack

* ''Yingxiong Mo'' (英雄寞; ''Lonesome Heroes'') by

Ronald Cheng Ronald Cheng Chung-kei (born 9 March 1972) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Life and career Ronald Cheng was born in Hong Kong. Originally intending to work behind the scenes as a songwriter and a producer, Cheng did odd jobs at his father (Dire ...

* ''Wuyun Ran'' (乌云然; ''Dark Clouds'') by Hu Ge * ''Yingxiong Dao'' (英雄道; ''Path of a Hero'') by

William So William So Wing Hong (; born 24 September 1967) is a Hong Kong actor and a Cantopop singer. He began his musical career by participating the New Talent Singing Awards in 1985 and won the competition as the first runner up to Alex To. His perfor ...

* ''Wo Zhineng Aini'' (我只能爱你; ''I Can Only Love You'') by Peng Qing

Production

Hu Ge was involved in a car accident on 29 August 2006 while travelling from

Hengdian Hengdian may refer to: * Hengdian, Zhejiang, a town in Dongyang, Zhejiang, China * Hengdian World Studios, film studio in Hengdian, Dongyang, Zhejiang, China * Hengdian East Railway Station, railway station on the Shijiazhuang–Wuhan High-Speed Ra ...

to Shanghai on the highway, resulting in the shooting of the series being delayed due to recovery from his injuries. During the shooting delay due to Hu Ge's recovery from the accident, the filmmakers started a new project ''

The Fairies of Liaozhai ''The Fairies of Liaozhai'' is a Chinese television series adapted from Pu Songling's collection of supernatural stories titled ''Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio''. The series is produced by Chinese Entertainment Shanghai and stars Nicky Wu, ...

'' (2007) to keep the crew members occupied while waiting to resume work on ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes''.

Sun Xing Sun Xing (born October 16, 1963) is a Hong Kong actor and Mandopop singer born in Guangzhou, China. He shot to fame in the 1990s by portraying heroes in a number of Taiwanese ''wuxia'' TV dramas. Later he mostly appeared in comedies. Biography S ...

was originally cast as Hong Qigong but was later replaced by Bryan Leung due to the delay resulting from Hu Ge's recovery, which made Sun decide to move on, causing legal conflict. Sun filmed some scenes prior to his replacement, and those scenes were reshot again later with Leung taking over Sun's role. Segments from '' The Young Warriors'' (2006) were reused for the flashback scene depicting Yang Zaixing's death. The Song military costumes were originally made for ''The Young Warriors'' (2006). The Mongol military costumes were later reused in '' A Weaver on the Horizon'' (2010).

Reception

The series was generally well received in China, despite courting some controversy by changing certain portions of the novel for aesthetic purposes to reach modern audiences. Some antagonists, such as Yang Kang and Wanyan Honglie, also deviate from their counterparts in the novel, to the point that they are portrayed in a more positive light. Other significant deviations from the original story include: greater drama in the rivalry between Guo Jing and Yang Kang; the Yangs' troubled relationship with each other before they acknowledge themselves as family and Yang Kang's desire for vengeance after his parents' deaths; Yang Kang meeting his newborn son and raising the child with Mu Nianci months before his death; Yang Kang's final repentance before letting Ouyang Feng kill him. This resulted in criticism from the audience, who said that the series resembled a ''Chiung Yao'' drama where there are often unnecessary and exaggerated conflicts inserted into the storyline.

References

External links

*
''The Legend of the Condor Heroes''
on

Sina.com Sina Corporation (, "new wave") is a Chinese technology company. Sina operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, Sina Mobile, Sina Online, and Sinanet. Sina has over 100 million registered users worldwide. Sina was recognized by '' South ...

*
''The Legend of the Condor Heroes''
on Sohu *
''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' official page
on Chinese Entertainment Shanghai's website *

on TTV's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Legend Of The Condor Heroes, The 2008 Chinese television series debuts 2008 Chinese television series endings Television shows based on The Legend of the Condor Heroes Television series set in the Southern Song Television series set in the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) Television series set in the Mongol Empire Chinese wuxia television series Television series by Tangren Media Depictions of Genghis Khan on television Television shows set in Hangzhou Mandarin-language television shows