Shaolin Temple Myths

[sanjuro_ronin]

I have long eyebrows.

Dude, you should dye them white !!

[hskwarrior]

if simon dye's his white ill dye mine red

[SimonM]

ROFL...

Considering I don't share the kungfu movie bias against the Qing dynasty...

Ok, I'll just go ahead and say it: Qianlong was just about the most competent emperor China had in the last milennium and Yongzheng wasn't much worse.

Ming started going downhill with the second half of the reign of Yongle (because the bureaucracy got REALLY nervous about spending more money after Yongle basically built Beijing and started guarding the purse strings with a conservativism that would make the Tories blush) and didn't ever really turn it around from there.

[Infrazael]

I would say Kang Xi and then Yong Zheng.

Like father, like son.

Qianlong was a bit TOO Sinocentric for my liking, but he was also a very very good Emperor.

I can't share the bias since I'm from Liaoning and I am Manchu . . .

[SimonM]

Kangxi did a good job too.

I am a celt and thus my bias is an anti-monarchal one rather than being directed at any particular set of monarchs. That said when assessing monarchs that trio were decent rulers.... as far as monarchs go.

[hskwarrior]

this might be a silly question, but has anyone here read "the deer and the caldron"?

i would like to know if this book is purely fiction, or based on facts.

[Sherlock Holmes]

nowadays,there are many films and TV including KUNG FU element, even in Hollywood,like 007 James Bond.
http://www.dvdsetshop.com

[Sherlock Holmes]

Shaolin temple is always connected with KUNG FU. In films, many youths go to it to learn KUNG FU. Sometimes, the power of KUNG FU may be exaggerated, like in “heros”.
http://www.dvdsetshop.com

[CFT]

this might be a silly question, but has anyone here read "the deer and the cauldron"?

i would like to know if this book is purely fiction, or based on facts.

It is mostly fiction, but Jin Yong is adept at working some historical facts into his novels.

[hskwarrior]

thanks cft.

i read that too.

[SimonM]

Jin Yong...

I know that name....

What else has he wrote that I might have heard of?

[hskwarrior]

cft.....or anyone for that matter,

do people consider the deer and the cauldron a source of information because it may be mixed with historical facts?

[SimonM]

Oh!!!!


I remember now!

He wrote Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (which I saw a movie version of and is on my to-read-in-translation list)
And he wrote Demi Gods and Semi Demons (which is HIGH on my to-read list if I can ever get my hands on a translation)

He's the best Wuxia author alive today according to most sources.

I'd absolutely NEVER use him as a source of historical information!

It'd be even less valid than using Gao Xingjian as a source of historical information on the period from 1960-1980 - and I wouldn't use Gao as a historical source either... because as good a novel as Soul Mountain is... it's still a work of fiction!

[CFT]

You can't use JY's works as a source of information unless you are talking about wuxia fiction. Although he draws on historical figures and events, he takes poetic license and has been known to change event dates for example. It is difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction - he is very good at what he does.

You can use his work to identify historical figures that you are interested in and go and do some independent research using proper sources.

Simon, some translation links for you. Fan translations of some of his novels. Crunched by software then edited by hand to improve readability. Not bad. A bit clumsy in places because it is difficult to translate elegantly. I think if you know Chinese you can work out what the original is.

http://members.cox.net/foxs/
Eagle Shooting Hero
Divine Eagle, Gallant Knights
Heaven Sword Dragon Saber

[hskwarrior]

oh, so i'd be able to use him a s source in regards to the 5 ancestors since they mention each one and the name of their lodges and so forth ( in my bibliography i mean). i know the story's behind them may be fiction, but the there are actual triad lodges that were started by some of the 5 ancestors.

Lee Sik Hoi started the Red Spear Society.