The late martial arts novelist Kim Yong, also known as Louis Cha Ryong-yong (1924-2018). [Photo provided to China Daily]
Zhang Kun reports that celebrations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of famous martial arts writer Jin Yong are being held in Shanghai.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jin Yong, one of China's most popular writers. He elevated the genre of wuxia novels to such an artistic level that in the 2010s readers and scholars filed a petition calling for the 100th anniversary of Jin Yong's birth. Nobel Prize candidate.
Jin Yong, also known as “China's JRR Tolkien,” is the pen name of Dr. Louis Cha Runyong (1924-2018). His acclaim is due to his 15 Wuxi novels and short stories, written between 1955 and 1972, which have sold millions of copies worldwide.
“No matter where you are in the world, as long as there are Chinese people, you can find Jin Yong's books,” said Zhang Donghe, head of the propaganda department in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province.
At a public forum commemorating the 100th anniversary of Jin Yong's birth held in Jiaxing on March 11, scholars and readers signed a petition calling on the Swedish Academy to consider Jin Yong as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. I remember doing it or refusing to sign it.
Chen Mo, a researcher on Jin Yong's novels, said it was unfair to view the Nobel Prize as the final recognition for a writer's achievements, because Jin Yong had such a huge influence that his name will never disappear. He said he refused to sign it. Chinese literary history for centuries to come.
Jin Yong was born in 1924 into a prestigious family in Haining, a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Jiaxing. Over the centuries, the Cha family has produced many scholars, dignitaries, and talented creators. Jin Yong spent most of his life in Hong Kong, spending his childhood and teenage years in other parts of Zhejiang province such as Haining, Jiaxing, and Quzhou until moving to Hong Kong, where he worked as a journalist, novelist, publisher, He built a career as a political commentator.
