Cha’s works a ‘bridge for the world to know Chinese culture’

Government officials and media leaders from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland on Sunday urged people to inherit and carry forward patriotism and other spirits and virtues incorporated in the captivating works of Louis Cha Leung-yung, also known by his pen name, Jin Yong.

The call was made at a forum at the Hong Kong Palace Museum to commemorate the birth centenary of the late literary giant.

Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki said Cha’s esteemed works of fiction, which have been translated into multiple foreign languages and sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide, are Hong Kong brands and an important bridge for people around the globe to understand Chinese culture.

He said two sculpture exhibitions featuring protagonists and key figures created by Cha are being held in the special administrative region to celebrate Cha’s accomplishments. Both events attracted more than 140,000 visitors in the first two weeks after their opening in mid-March.

Chan said that the novelist had created several distinct heroes. All these fictional characters have patriotic sentiments and the spirit of chivalry, with their adventures deeply touching the hearts of readers. These stories not only form a unique genre of chivalrous culture, but also carry forward the spirit of patriotism.

Through the forum and other commemorative events, Cha and his patriotic and chivalrous spirit will continue to live on and exert a greater impact on future generations, Chan said.

Li Dahong, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Journalists,

Cha’s novels have created the ‘Chinese dream’ in which the greatest chivalrous people serve the country and the people.”

Li Dahong, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Journalists

which organized the forum, said Cha devoted his life to loving the country and Hong Kong, and many of his works embody the brilliance of humanity, national righteousness and patriotic sentiments.

Apart from creating a dream of martial arts, or in which heroes promote the good and punish the wicked, Cha’s novels have created the “Chinese dream” in which the greatest chivalrous people serve the country and the people, Li said, and this why Cha’s works can have hundreds of millions of readers.

Xiao Yunru, deputy head of the Shaanxi Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said people can evaluate figures created by Cha differently. But the best part of them embodies patriotism and a sense of responsibility in different ways.

Born in Haining, Zhejiang province, in 1924, Cha moved to Hong Kong in 1948 and published his first wuxia novel, The Book and the Sword, in 1955.

By 1969, he had completed 15 novels, which won him commercial success and an unmatched reputation in literary circles.

The novelist died in Hong Kong in 2018 at the age of 94.