Their are two cities in China that everyone who came to China must not miss. First is BeiJing, and the second is Xi'an.
I lived in South China(ShenZhen), but I have the opportunity to visit Xi'an several times. A lot of photos are taken. So I would write some articles to interduce it.
Who's Jin Yong?
[This article is mostly based on wikipedia]
1. general interduction
Jin Yong (Chinese: 金庸; pinyin: Jīn Yōng; Cantonese Yale: Gàm Yùhng), born February 6, 1924, pen name of Louis Cha (traditional Chinese: 查良�; simplified Chinese: 查良镛; pinyin: Zhā Liángyōng), OBE, is one of the most influential modern Chinese-language novelists. Co-founder of the Hong Kong daily Ming Pao, whom he started in 1959, he was the paper's first editor-in-chief and held this position until 1993, when he retired.
Cha's fiction, which are of the wuxia genre, has a widespread following in Chinese-speaking areas, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. His fifteen novels and short fiction composed between 1955 and 1972 earned him a reputation as one of the finest wuxia ("martial arts and chivalry") writer ever. He is currently the best-selling Chinese author alive; over 100 million copies of his works have been sold worldwide[1] (not including unknown number of bootleg copies)
Cha's works have been translated into Korean, English, Japanese, French, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Burmese and Thai and he has many fans abroad as well, thanks to the numerous adaptations of his works made into films, television series, and video games.
Asteroid 10930 Jin Yong (1998 CR2) is named after him.
2. WuXia works of Jin Yong
1. The Book and the Sword - T: ��恩仇� S: 书剑恩仇录 (first published on The New Evening Post in 1955)
2. Sword Stained with Royal Blood - T: 碧血� S: 碧血剑 (first published on Hong Kong Commercial Daily in 1956)
3. The Legend of the Condor Heroes - T: 射�英雄� S: 射雕英雄传 (first published on Hong Kong Commercial Daily in 1957)
4. Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain - T: 雪山�狐 S: 雪山飞狐 (first installment appeared on the first issue of Ming Pao in 1959)
5. The Return of the Condor Heroes - T: 神��� S: 神雕侠侣 (1959)
6. Other Tales of the Flying Fox - T: �狐外� S: 飞狐外传 (1960)
7. Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse T: 白��西� S: 白马啸西风 (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
8. Blade-dance of the Two Lovers T: ��刀 S: 鸳鸯刀 (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
9. Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre - T: 倚天屠�� S: 倚天屠龙记 (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
10. A Deadly Secret - T: �城� S: 连城诀 (first published on Southeast Asia Weekly 《�南�周刊》in 1963)
11. Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils - T: 天�八部 S: 天龙八部 (1963)
12. Ode to Gallantry - T: �客行 S: 侠客行 (1965)
13. The Smiling, Proud Wanderer - 笑傲江湖 (first published on Ming Pao in 1967)
14. The Deer and the Cauldron - T: 鹿鼎� S: 鹿鼎记 (1969-1972)
15. Sword of the Yue Maiden - T: 越女� S: 越女剑 (1970)
After Jin Yong completed all his titles, it was discovered that the first characters of the first 14 titles can be joined together to form a couplet with 7 characters on each line:
Traditional Chinese:
�雪�天射白鹿
笑�神�倚碧�
Simplified Chinese:
飞雪连天射白鹿
笑书神侠倚碧鸳
Loose translation:
Shooting a white deer, snow flutters around the skies;
Smiling, [one] writes about the divine chivalrous one, leaning against bluish lovebirds (or lover)
3. Jinology
The study of Jin Yong's work has spun off an individual area of study and discussion: Jinology. For years, readers and critics have written works discussing, debating and analyzing his fictional world of martial arts; amongst the most famous are by Jin Yong's close friend and famous Chinese sci-fi novelist, Ni Kuang, who has written series of criticism analyzing the various personalities in his books.
Despite Jin Yong's popularity, some of his novels were banned outside Hong Kong due to political reasons. A number of them were outlawed in the People's Republic of China in the 1970s as they were thought to be satires of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution; others were banned in the Republic of China on Taiwan as they were thought to be in support of the Communist Party of China. None of these bans exists today, and Jin Yong's complete collection has been published multiple times in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China. Many politicians on both sides of the Straits are known to be readers of his works; Deng Xiaoping, for example, was himself a well-known reader.
In late 2004, the People's Education Publishing House (人民教育出版社) of the People's Republic of China sparked off controversy by including an excerpt from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龙八部) in a new senior high school Chinese textbook. While some praised the inclusion of popular literature, others feared that the violence and unrealistic martial arts described in Jin Yong's work were unsuitable for high school students. At about the same time, Singapore's Ministry of Education announced a similar move for Chinese-learning students at secondary and junior college levels.
Cha has also been made an honorary professor by Peking University, Zhejiang University, Nankai University, Soochow University, Huaqiao University, National Tsing Hua University, Hong Kong University (Department of Chinese Studies), the University of British Columbia, and Sichuan University, as well as an honorary doctor by Hong Kong University (Department of Social Science), Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Open University of Hong Kong, the University of British Columbia, Soka University and the University of Cambridge. He is also an Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford and Robinson College, Cambridge, and Wynflete Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.
When receiving his honorary doctorate at the University of Cambridge, Cha expressed a wish to be a full-time student at Cambridge for 4 years to attain a non-honorary doctorate.
As of June 2007, Cha is still studying for his PhD in Oriental Studies (Chinese History) at St. John's College, Cambridge.
4. Characters in his novels
The "Five Supreme" martial artists (五�)
One of the most successful portrayal of characters in Jin Yong's works is the creation of the "Five Supreme" martial art practitioners in the Condor Heroes series. The quintet, which originally comprised Huang Yaoshi ("�邪"���) ("East Heretic"), Ouyang Feng of the West ("西毒"���) ("West Venom"), Duan Zhixing ("南帝"段智�) ("South Emperor"), Hong Qigong ("北丐"洪七公) ("North Beggar") and Wang Chongyang ("中神通"王重�) ("Central Divinity") in Condor Heroes after the first Duel of Hua Shan (�山��), proved to be both a source of controversies and a scene of drama as the story proceed through Condor Heroes into The Return of the Condor Heroes. The composition of the quintet was eventually updated to comprise Huang Yaoshi ("�邪"���) ("East Heretic"), Yang Guo ("西狂"��) ("West Obsession"), Yideng the Monk ("南僧"一�) ("South Monk"), Guo Jing ("北�"郭靖) ("North Hero") and Zhou Botong ("中�童"周伯通) ("Central Mischief").
Wang Chongyang (王重�) who was the winner of the Hua Shan duel was a true historical Taoist monk who founded the Quanzhen Sect of Taoism in the Song Dynasty to whom Jin Yong paid the highest accolade in being the winner of the champions in the Five Supremes who taught generations of heroes to follow, and in recognition of Taoism teachings in which many variants of the martial arts terminology in his novels have been derived from, in namesake if not in practice.
Dugu Qiu Bai (�孤求�)
Dugu Qiu Bai was given the nickname "Sword Devil" to reflect his skill and devotion in swordsmanship. Dugu Qiubai's surname, �孤, is a last name from a tribe in northern China. As individual words, the word �means single, and 孤 means alone. His name, 求�, means "seeking defeat". It is generally assumed that he gave this name to himself in his later years, when he could find no one to best him.
5. Patriotism, Jiang Hu and development on Hero-ism
Chinese nationalism or patriotism is a strong theme in Jin Yong's work. Throughout his books, Jin Yong places emphasis on the idea of Han Chinese self-determination and identity, and many of his novels are set in time periods when China proper was occupied or under the threat of occupation by northern peoples such as Khitans, Jurchens, Mongols, or Manchus. However, Jin Yong gradually evolved Chinese nationalism into an inclusionist concept which encompasses all present-day non-Han minorities. Jin Yong himself expresses a fierce admiration for positive traits of non-Han Chinese people, like the Mongols and Manchus. In The Legend of the Condor Heroes, for example, he casts Genghis Khan and his sons as capable and intelligent military leaders against the corrupt and ineffective bureaucrats of the Han Chinese Song Dynasty.
Jin Yong's books references ranging from Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, wushu, music, calligraphy, weiqi, tea culture, philosophical thoughts like Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and imperial Chinese history. Historical figures often intermingle with fictional ones, making it difficult for the layperson to distinguish which is which ― a feature that attests to the believability of his characters.
His works show a great amount of respect and approval for traditional Chinese values, especially Confucian ideals such as the proper relationship between empire and subject, father and son, elder brother and younger brother, and (particularly strongly, due to the wuxia nature of his novels), between master and disciple, and fellow disciples. However, he also questions the validity of these values in the face of a modern society, such as ostracism experienced by his two main characters ― Yang Guo's romantic relationship with his martial arts master Xiaolongnü (which was considered highly improper) in The Return of the Condor Heroes. Jin Yong also places a great amount of emphasis on traditional values such as face and honour.
Jin Yong breaks all the rules down in his final work The Deer and the Cauldron, where Wei Xiaobao is a bastard brothel boy who is greedy, lazy, and utterly disdainful of traditional rules of propriety. In his fourteen other serials, the protagonists or the heroes were explored meticulously in various aspects of their relationships with their masters, their immediate kins and relatives, and with their suitors or spouses. With the exception of Wei XiaoBao, all the heroes have acquired and attained the zenith in martial arts, most would be epitome or embodiment of the traditional Chinese values in words or deeds, i.e. virtuous, honourable, respectable, gentlemenly, responsible, patriotic and so forth.
In The Deer and the Cauldron, Cha intentionally created an anticlimax and an anti-Hero in Wei Xiaobao who possesses none of the desirable traditional values and no knowledge in any form of martial arts, and depends on a protective vest made of alloy to absorb full-frontal attack when in trouble, and a knife that can cut through anything. Wei was a street wise womanising weasel in short, with no admirable qualities whatsoever. One of Cha's contemporaneous fiction writer Ngai Hong or Ni Kuang wrote a connected critique to all of Cha work and concluded that Cha culminated his work with The Deer and the Cauldron as a satire to his earlier work, and a reminder to the readers for a reality check.
6. Jin Yong in English
In the last few years, Jin Yong's novels have been translated into English. The books currently available are:
* The Book and the Sword (��恩仇�) - published by Oxford University Press, translated by Graham Earnshaw, edited by John Minford and Rachel May
* The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎�) (in three volumes) - published by Oxford University Press, translated by John Minford
* The Legend of the Condor Heroes (射�英雄�) - forthcoming from John Minford and Oxford University Press (This project was abandoned a few years ago.)
* Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain (雪山�狐) - published by the China University Press, translated by Olivia Mok
Other works available in English include:
* Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (倚天屠��) - in comic book form by Wing Shing Ma, published by ComicsOne
* The Legendary Couple (神���) - in comic book form by Tony Wong, published by ComicsOne
* Laughing in the Wind (笑傲江湖) - DVD collection of the 2001 CCTV series with English subtitles released in the United States.
You can find some translation of his works by his fans in following website:
Legend Of The Condor Heroes - Jin Yong
Yitian Sword, Tulong Saber Book 4
Smiling Proud Wanderer Chapter 36-40
7. Adaptations
There are more than sixty TV series and films adapted from Jin Yong's novel. Dozens of role-playing games are based on Jin Yong's novels, a notable example of which is Heroes of Jin Yong (金庸群��), which was based on the major characters in Jin Yong's novels.
| | Mao ZeDong, Deng XiaoPing, Louis Cha |
| | Jiang JieShi, Lu Xun |
| | The Most Famous Chinese Classic Novel: A Dream of Red Mansions |
| | Great Classic Novel: Journey to the West Historical Literature: Three Kingdoms |
| | Yuan Poems |
| | |
| | |
| ---- Southern Song Dynasty (1127 - 1279) ---- Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127) | Water Margin, or Outlaws of Margin |
| | |
| | Tang Poems people: li bai, Du Fu |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Cao Cao |
| ---- Eastern Han (25 - 220) ---- Western Han (206 BC - 23 AD) | Wu Emporor, Sima Qian, Su Wu, Zhang Qian |
| | <=== 1st Emperior who united China Qin Shi Huang |
| ---- E. Zhou Dynasty (770 BC - 221 BC) ---- W. Zhou Dynasty (1066 BC - 711 BC) | The Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean |
| |
Chinese Spring Festival | |
| source: China.org.cn | |
|
��特�的花ㄧ定要寄�你们， 希望大家在未�的日子都走好�
�就是仙人掌 (cactus)�花 !!
The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West. All people living away from home go back, becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the Spring Festival. Airports, railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees. 
On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge, a delicious kind of porridge made with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of Job's tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko. 
Then people begin decorating their clean rooms featuring an atmosphere of rejoicing and festivity. All the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, highlighting Chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. The content varies from house owners' wishes for a bright future to good luck for the New Year. Also, pictures of the god of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance. 
Burning fireworks was once the most typical custom on the Spring Festival. People thought the spluttering sound could help drive away evil spirits. However, such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities once the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. As a replacement, some buy tapes with firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room. 
