Woon Swee Oan
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Woon Swee Oan (born Woon Liang Giok in January 1954), also known as Wen Rui'an, is a Hong Kong-based
Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...
poet and writer of
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 f ...
novels. Some of his best known works include '' Jingyan Yi Qiang'', '' Buyi Shenxiang'', and '' Si Da Ming Bu'', which have been adapted into television series '' The Four'' and '' Face to Fate'', and the film '' The Four'', among others.


Life

Woon was born in Bidor Town,
Batang Padang District The Batang Padang District ( ms, Daerah Batang Padang) is a district in Perak, Malaysia. This district is administered by a local council, namely, the Tapah District Council, based in Tapah. The major towns of Batang Padang are Bidor, Tapah and ...
,
Perak State Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...
, Malaya in 1954 in a
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
family with ancestry from Mei County,
Guangdong Province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
, China. In 1959, at a young age, he started reading from his family's collection of books and wrote his first short story. In 1961, he started attending primary school, and was accompanied by his elder sister because he was shy and afraid. However, soon after entering school, he became very active and outspoken in class, and was selected as the model student of the year in 1963. Throughout his years in primary to senior high school, Woon published articles in various magazines and defeated an opponent a year older than him in a debating competition when he was in secondary two. He also wrote a romantic novel titled ''Ouran'' (偶然; ''By Coincidence''). Between 1971 and 1972, Woon studied
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...
and
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
. During this time, he met Fang E'zhen (), who became his partner for 16 years. He also started writing for various Taiwanese magazines and published his debut
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 f ...
novel in the Hong Kong magazine ''Wuxia Chunqiu'' (). In 1973, he established a poetry society and published his first novel in the series '' Si Da Ming Bu'' (四大名捕; ''The Four Great Constables''). At the end of the year, he travelled to Taiwan to further his studies at the
National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...
. In 1976, Woon and Fang E'zhen established the Shenzhou Poetry Society () in Taiwan. However, not long later, they were accused of "promoting communism" by the Taiwanese government and detained for three months; the society was disbanded. They were sent back to Malaysia later, but were subsequently forced to move to Hong Kong due to the Malaysian government's strong stance against communism. In 1981, after moving to Hong Kong, Woon published the wuxia novel series '' Shenzhou Qixia'' (神州奇俠; ''Hero of Shenzhou'') in the newspaper ''
Ming Pao ''Ming Pao'' () is a Chinese-language newspaper published by Media Chinese International in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, ''Ming Pao'' established four overseas branches in North America; each provides independent reporting on local news and colle ...
''. In the second half of 1983, ATV recruited Woon to be one of their writers. In the same year, Woon's works were published by Bok Yik (), a sub-company under
TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...
. His wuxia novels were later re-released by a Taiwanese publisher, Wansheng (). Woon's novel series '' Si Da Ming Bu'' and '' Buyi Shenxiang'' () were also adapted by ATV into television series. In 1988, Taiwan's CTV released a television series based on Woon's novel series ''Si Da Ming Bu''. Woon also wrote wuxia serials in the Taiwanese newspapers ''
China Times The ''China Times'' (, abbr. ) is a daily Chinese-language newspaper published in Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pa ...
'' and ''
United Daily News ''United Daily News'' (UDN; ) is a newspaper published in Taiwan. It is considered to support the pan-Blue Coalition in its editorials. History UDN was founded in 1951 by Wang Tiwu as a merger of three newspapers, ''Popular Daily'' (全民 ...
''. At the end of the year, Woon started his own magazine company in Hong Kong to promote his "new school" of wuxia stories. From 1990 to 1998, Woon ventured into the mainland Chinese market and spent most of his time in China. His most recent works such as ''Da Laohu'' (), ''Bu Laoshu'' () and ''Yuanhou Yue'' () were published by Crown House Publishing () in Hong Kong.


List of works

* '' Si Da Ming Bu'' series () ** ''Si Da Ming Bu Hui Jingshi'' () ** ''Si Da Ming Bu Da Duijue'' () ** ''Si Da Ming Bu Chao Xin Pai'' () ** ''Si Da Ming Bu Da Laohu'' () ** ''Si Da Ming Bu Zhen Guandong'' () ** ''Si Da Ming Bu Zhan Tianwang'' () ** ''Nishui Han'' () * '' Buyi Shenxiang'' series () ** ''Sharen De Xintiao'' () ** ''Yemengse'' () ** ''Tianwei'' () ** ''Laiyao'er'' () ** ''Luohua Jianying'' () ** ''Daoba Ji'' () * '' Shenzhou Qixia'' series () ** ''Shenzhou Qixia'' () *** ''Jianqi Changjiang'' () *** ''Liangguang Haojie'' () *** ''Jiangshan Ruhua'' () *** ''Yingxiong Haohan'' () *** ''Chuangdang Jianghu'' () *** ''Shenzhou Wudi'' () *** ''Jimo Gaoshou'' () *** ''Tianxia Youxue'' () ** ''Xuehe Che'' () *** ''Da Zongshi'' () *** ''Xiaoyao You'' () *** ''Yangsheng Zhu'' () *** ''Ren Shijian'' () ** ''Daxia Chuanqi'' () ** ''Tangfang Yizhan'' () * ''Shuo Yingxiong, Shei Shi Yingxiong'' series () ** ''Wenrou De Dao'' () ** ''Yinu Bajian'' () ** ''Jingyan Yi Qiang'' () ** ''Shangxin Xiaojian'' () ** ''Chaotian Yigun'' () ** ''Qunlong Zhi Shou'' () ** ''Tianxia Youdi'' () ** ''Tianxia Wudi'' () ** ''Tianxia Diyi'' () ** ''Tiandi'' () * ''Xiandai'' series () ** ''Sha Le Ni Hao Ma?'' () ** ''Qing Jie Furen Yiyong'' () ** ''Qing Ni Dongshou Wan Yidian'' () ** ''Zhanseng Yu He Ping'' () ** ''Da Bu Liang De Dahuoji'' () ** ''Sharen Zhe Tang Zhan'' () ** ''Zao Hen'' () * ''Dao'' () * ''Zha'' () * ''Rufang'' () * ''Shaqin'' () * ''Jieju'' () * ''Duanliao'' () * ''Liaoduan'' () * ''Jidao'' () * ''Da Cisha'' () * ''Xijiang Yue'' () * ''Xue Zai Shao'' () * ''Nü Shenbu'' () * ''Mishen Yin'' () * ''Luoye Xinya'' () * ''Tanzhi Xiangsi'' () * ''Shashou Shanzai'' () * ''Renxing Lian'ou'' () * ''Mashang Shangma'' () * ''Zhulian De Suiyue'' () * ''Shashou De Cibei'' () * ''Wanshang De Xiaoshi'' () * ''Aoman Yu Pian Jian'' () * ''Aishang Ta De Heshang'' () * ''Aishang Heshang De Ta'' () * ''Juedui Buyao Rewo'' () * ''Laoge, Jietou Yiyong'' () * ''Qing, Qingqing, Qingqingqing'' () * ''Pengyou, Ni Si Guo Wei?'' () * ''Xihuan Yanse De Mentu'' () * ''Shiqu Shetou Le Ma?'' () * ''Sha Chu'' () * ''Qi Sha'' () * ''Jin Xue'' () * ''Xia Shao'' () * ''Daming Wang'' () * ''Jinxiu Renpi'' () * ''Jianghu Xianhua'' () * ''Tunhuo Qinghuai'' () * ''Luanshi Qinghuai'' () * ''Luori Daqi'' () * ''Jiangjun De Jianfa'' () * ''Daocong Li De Shi'' () * ''Qi Da Kou'' series () * ''Jin Zhi Xiazhe'' series () * ''Hongdian Lanya'' series () * ''Baiyi Fang Zhen Mei'' series ()


Adaptations

*Return of the Bastard Swordsman (1984) *The Undercover Agents (ATV, 1984) *The Assassin (1993) *Four Marshals (2003) *Treacherous Waters (2004) *Musketeer and Princess (2004) *The Four Detective Guards (2004) * Strike at Heart (2005) *Face to Fate (2006) *The Four (TVB, 2008) * The Four (film) Trilogy (2012-2014) * The Four (2015) (Hunan TV, 2015) *Heroes (2021) *Ni Shui Han (TBA)


External links


Wen Ruian

Wuxiasociety.com
– An English Wuxia Portal, focus on discussion forum, the most complete list of Woon Swee Oan's novels in English (work in progress). * 1954 births Living people {{DEFAULTSORT:Woon, Swee Oan Hong Kong novelists Hakka writers Hong Kong people of Hakka descent People from Meixian District Malaysian emigrants to Hong Kong Malaysian people of Hakka descent Malaysian novelists National Taiwan University alumni Wuxia writers People from Perak