Kung Fu Novels?

[DarinHamel]

Are there any Kung Fu Novels? I dont like the Destroyer series but that is what I am looking for with the Kung Fu angle.

[jethro]

I have been looking for books explaining chinese mythology also.

And what are some good ku lung novels?

[BruceSteveRoy]

three kingdoms is THE kungfu novel. It is for China what the Illiad is for Greece. It is all about the warring states period of chinese history. its a good read. if you are looking for something more contemporary i will ask my old chinese professor. he is a literature and film critic and he loves kung fu. he would definately know something.

[GeneChing]

The classic works of Chinese martial arts literature are:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong
Outlaws of the Marsh by Shi Nai'An
Yue Fei
They should be read in that order because characters from one novel are reborn in decendants in the successive work. English translations are available. We even did a special issue based on Outlaws of the Marsh in 2002 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=234). I've always felt that Outlaws is the cipher to modern Kung Fu cinema. And I also think that if you really want to understand CMA on a deep cultural level, you must engage all three books.

After those, look into the work of Louis Cha and Robert van Gulik. :cool:

[ChangHFY]

Journey to the West is also a good one. Romance of the three kingdoms as Gene mentioned is awesome. Those two are by far my favorite. Its better if you can read Chinese. There are quite a few of the novels that arent translated in English.





take care,
zaijian

[DarinHamel]

The classic works of Chinese martial arts literature are:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong
Outlaws of the Marsh by Shi Nai'An
Yue Fei
They should be read in that order because characters from one novel are reborn in decendants in the successive work. English translations are available. We even did a special issue based on Outlaws of the Marsh in 2002 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=234). I've always felt that Outlaws is the cipher to modern Kung Fu cinema. And I also think that if you really want to understand CMA on a deep cultural level, you must engage all three books.

After those, look into the work of Louis Cha and Robert van Gulik. :cool:
Thanks you!

[DrunkenMantis]

Hello:

Is anyone in the forum familiar with the Qing dynasty novel "10,000 Years of Evergreen"? When was it published, the content of the book, and if there are any english translations?

[Mr Punch]

The wing chun forum's very own Rene Ritchie wrote a very entertaining and very cheesy wing chun origins novel called Legends/Embers of Shaolin or something. Check it up on that forum!

[jethro]

what is the thread called, soryy, looking for a while, got frustrated, posted it here.

[Mr Punch]

Legends of Wing Chun: Embers of Shaolin (http://martial.best.vwh.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39331&highlight=embers+shaolin)

It's good!:)

[SimonM]

As anyone who reads the text beside my avatar can attest "Outlaws of the Marsh" had a rather profound effect on me. I haven't read three kingdoms yet but intend to some time this summer.

[pakuakid]

Journey to the West is a good one. It has a fantasy feel to it with magic,demons and plenty of over the top action.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a great read. Guan Yu, Lu Bu,Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei are just some of the interesting characters you will come across in this one. I did have one problem with this book though, it tends to fall off a little at the end IMO.

Outlaws of the Marsh is my favorite one. I've just finished reading this one last week. It's loaded with good characters and violence. The outlaws are fighting the good fight and anytime Li Kui pops up you know the reading is about to get interesting.

Just my two cents if it helps you out any.

[jethro]

I went to the book stor and they had 5 copies of the 3 kingdoms in. $89.99:eek:

I went on amazon and htey start new and used at $1.50, can anyone tell me around hwo many pages it is, I don't want an abridged version. And if you can, list hwo many pages teh "moss roberts" paperback version. And I can recogzie a lot of chinese words but feel lost in a whole nother world when I see chinese characters, so is it well translated?

And mat, I will defintely check out rene's works:D

[SimonM]

I saw a copy that wasn't too badly abridged. It was 4 volumes long... about 1000 pages.

[jethro]

Just thought I would throw that out their. Does anyoen suggest me reading this brief sumary, I will go ahead and seek out the real version anyway most likely:o

And don't get teh version on amazom that is like $1.20.

I am just mad, bad post. :(

it is like 300 pages long

[GeneChing]

Enter to win KungFuMagazine.com's contest for CUT AND COVER (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/sweepstakes-cut-and-cover.php), autographed by Kevin Hurley! Contest ends 5:30 p.m. PST on 1/7/2016.

[GeneChing]

See our WINNERS: CUT AND COVER, autographed by Kevin Hurley (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69219-WINNERS-CUT-AND-COVER-autographed-by-Kevin-Hurley) thread.