Gu Long Explained

Gu Long
Birth Name:Xiong Yaohua
Birth Date:1938 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Hong Kong
Death Place:Taipei, Taiwan
Occupation:Writer
Nationality:Republic of China
Alma Mater:Tamkang University
Genre:Wuxia
Notableworks:Chu Liuxiang, Lu Xiaofeng, Xiaoli Feidao, Juedai Shuangjiao, Liuxing Hudie Jian

Gu Long (7 June 1938 – 21 September 1985), was a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese novelist, screenwriter, film producer and director. A graduate of Cheng Kung Senior High School and Tamkang University, Xiong is best known for writing wuxia novels and serials, which include Juedai Shuangjiao, Xiaoli Feidao Series, Chu Liuxiang Series, Lu Xiaofeng Series and The Eleventh Son. Some of these works have been adapted into films and television series for numerous times. In the 1980s, he started his own film studio, Bao Sian (寶龍),[1] to produce film adaptations of his works.

Life

Xiong was born on 7 June 1938 in Hong Kong[2] but his registered identity stated that he was born in 1941. His ancestral home was in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, and he lived in Hankou in his childhood. He moved to Taipei, Taiwan in 1952 with his parents, who divorced in 1956. With help from his friends and using the money he earned from part-time work to fund his education, Xiong graduated from the Foreign Language Department of Tamkang University.

Career

Xiong worked at the United States Army Advisory in Taipei.

In 1960, Xiong published his first wuxia novel, Cangqiong Shenjian (Chinese: 蒼穹神劍), under the pen name "Gu Long". From 1960 to 1961, Xiong published eight novels but did not achieve the results he desired. He moved to Ruifang District (in New Taipei City) and lived there for three years, after which he changed his perspective and adopted a new writing style. Between 1967 and the late 1970s, he rose to prominence in the genre of modern wuxia fiction for his works. As the sole representative of excellence in the wuxia genre from Taiwan for an entire decade, Xiong was named along with Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng as the "Three Legs of the Tripod of Wuxia".

Personal life

While Xiong was still in university, Xiong lived with a dance hostess, Zheng Yuexia (Chinese: 鄭月霞), and had a son, Zheng Xiaolong (Chinese: 鄭小龍), with her. However, he started a relationship later with another dance hostess, Ye Xue (Chinese: 葉雪), who also bore him a son, Ye Yikuan (Chinese: 葉怡寬). Shortly after that, he met a senior middle school graduate, Mei Baozhu (Chinese: 梅寶珠), who became his first legal spouse and bore him his third son, Xiong Zhengda (Chinese: 熊正達). His extramarital affairs caused him to break up with Mei eventually.

In the later part of his life, Xiong suffered from depression and the quality of his works declined rapidly. He had to employ ghostwriters to co-write many of his later works because of his ailing health.

On 21 September 1985, Xiong died at the age of 48. Xiong's death was caused by illness wrought by alcoholism – namely cirrhosis and esophageal hemorrhage. His friends brought him 48 bottles of XO Cognac at his funeral.

Writing style

Xiong was said to be influenced not only by wuxia fiction, but also by the works of Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, John Steinbeck and Friedrich Nietzsche. His novels are usually made up of short sentences and paragraphs, and mostly dialogues between characters – like a play script.

In contrast with Xiong, other writers such as Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng took an alternative route in writing wuxia fiction by incorporating Chinese history, culture and philosophical ideas in their works. Xiong initially intended to follow them but changed his decision after exposure to works such as the James Bond series and The Godfather novels. The influence of these works, which relied on the idiosyncrasies of human life, razor-sharp wit, poetic philosophies, mysterious plots and spine-tingling thrills to achieve success, enabled Xiong to come up with a unique way of writing.

List of works

Some of these works were co-written with other writers.

Standalone novels
Little Li Flying Dagger series (小李飛刀系列)
The Eleventh Son series (蕭十一郎系列)
Chu Liuxiang series (楚留香系列)
Lu Xiaofeng series (陸小鳳系列)
Seven Weapons series (七種武器系列)
Grand Era of Wuxia series (大武俠時代)
The Six Shocking Tales series (驚魂六記系列)

Adaptations of works

Films

Games

Television

Translations of works

Xiong's works have been translated into many languages such as French, English and Vietnamese:

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 古龍. 3 August 2005. 15 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181215172842/http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/culture/chinese/cul_kungfu/e/2-3-2-4.htm. dead.
  2. Web site: Life / Gu Long / Authors / Wuxiapedia – The comprehensive wuxia knowledge base. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20061230170840/http://wuxiapedia.com/authors/gu_long/life. 30 December 2006 .
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20130208015850/http://asia.gamespot.com/news/new-gulong-online-confirmed-for-southeast-asia-6403398 New Gulong Online confirmed for Southeast Asia

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gu Long".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.