Top 5 Martial Arts TV Shows 🏅 Jin Yong’s Wuxia World

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Honestly it’s true – today we recommend 5 shows to get you on the road to fluency…

These 5 Martial Arts TV Shows are all thanks to the genius of Jin Yong.

In Jin Yong‘s martial arts dramas, in addition to the romantic love and the fights between people, most of them are also inseparable from the relationship between the life and death of individuals and the country.

We can see each character vividly, with different personality characteristics.

There are rustic heroes like Guo Jing, with good and evil characteristics. There is Yang Guo who is true to his heart, the indecisive Zhang Wuji, the heroic and loyal Qiao Feng and Linghu Chong who has a chivalrous spirit but also has a free and easy nature.

These heroes have attained the zenith in martial arts and they are the epitome or embodiment of the traditional Chinese values in words or deeds.

Jin Yong has created a world of martial arts for us, which is full of legends.

Here are five most popular TV show adaptations of his novels.

Martial Arts TV Show #1 – The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Martial Arts TV Show #2 – The Return of the Condor Heroes

Martial Arts TV Show #3 – The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber

Martial Arts TV Show #4 – Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils

Martial Arts TV Show #5 – The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

Martial Arts TV Shows – FAQ’s

The Legend of the Condor Heroes

In Mandarin, the show is called 射鵰英雄傳 shè diāo yīngxióng zhuàn.

Everything you need to know is in the blog we wrote before about the Legend of the Condor Heroes.

Jin Yong‘s Wuxia novel references range from traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, martial arts, music, calligraphy, weiqi, tea culture, philosophical culture as Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

His works show a great amount of respect for traditional Chinese values, especially Confucian ideals such as the obedience relationship between parents and children, between master and apprentice, and among fellow apprentices.

Guo Jing is a typical one in The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

The Legend of the Condor Heroes 👊🏽 Jin Yong’s Wuxia World

The Legend of the Condor Heroes is set during the end of Song (宋) Dynasty. Find out why it’s a great way to learn about Chinese culture and the language.

The Return of the Condor Heroes

This Martial Arts TV Show is called 神鵰俠侶 shéndiāoxiálǚ in Chinese.

You can think of it as a sequel of The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

Yang Kang has a son, named Yang Guo 杨过yángguò.

The main story line is how Yang Guo falls in love with his master Xiao Longnv 小龙女xiǎolóng nǚ, which absolutely violates the feudal etiquette of that society and this makes the two depart for 16 years.

Another sub-plot is that Yang Guo wants to find who killed his father and seeks revenge.

Because of what Yang Kang did before, people are always biased towards Yang Guo – like father,like son.

However, Yang Guo has a weird temper, he struggles when facing right and wrong.

He saved Guo Jing‘s family several times and put himself in danger.

He spares Guo Fu 郭芙guōfú (the eldest daughter of Guo Jing) who cut his arm. He is so handsome and helpful that lots of girls fall in love with him.

Here are two famous lines selected for you to learn.

人谁无过，过而能改，善莫大焉
rén shuí wúguò,guò ér néng gǎi, shànmòdàyān
Everyone can make mistakes, if you can correct them, that will be fine

侠之大者，为国为民
xiá zhī dà zhě, wèi guó wèi mín
The great hero is for the Country and the people

The version we suggest to watch is The Return of the Condor Heroes 95 (the video above), which was released in 1995.

You can go to YouTube or Youku to watch it in Cantonese by searching for the name.

The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber

This show is called 倚天屠龍記 yǐtiān túlóng jì in Chinese.

The setting is the end of Yuan Dynasty.

The appearance of the Dragon Saber and the Heavenly Sword triggered a battle in the world, and various martial arts factions fought for life and death, causing countless casualties.

Although righteous and evil forces can’t exist at the same time, this sword fight has created several marriages, and also bad relations between good and evil.

Zhang Cuishan 张翠山 zhāngcuìshān and Tianying Jiao Yin Susu 殷素素 yīnsùsù knew each other because of their fight for the Dragon Sword.

Fate makes them fall in love, get married, and have a child. The child is called Zhang Wuji 张无忌 zhāngwújì.

The TV show is mainly about how Zhang Wuji was forced to assume the post of cult leader (明教教主 míngjiào jiàozhǔ) and devoted his life to breaking the barrier between good and evil.

Wuji is indecisive and emotional, so he is entangled in a love triangle between Emei Mount Zhou Zhiruo 周芷若 zhōuzhǐruò and Mongolian princess Zhao Min 赵敏 zhào mǐn.

Have a watch and find out if you like the ending.

Check the line below and feel the beauty of it:

武林至尊，宝刀屠龙，号令天下，莫敢不从，倚天不出，谁与争锋
wǔlín zhìzūn, bǎodāo tú lóng, hàolìng tiānxià, mò gǎn bù cóng, yǐtiān bù chū, shuí yǔ zhēngfēng

The above translates to:

“The Dragon Saber stands for the supreme martial arts. The one who holds it commands the world and everybody will obey his order. Nothing can compete it until the Heavenly Sword exists.”

The version we suggest to watch is The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber 2000, released in 2001.

You can watch it on Youku and switch it to Cantonese by searching the name.

The one on YouTube is in Mandarin only now.

The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber make up the Condor Trilogy.

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils

This Martial Arts TV Show is called 天龍八部 tiānlóng bābù in Chinese.

It can also be somehow seen as a prequel story to the Condor Trilogy.

In short, the show is about finding who is my real father! Okay, now time to be serious.

During the end of Northern Song Dynasty, a situation forms where Han and Hu were opposed.

Qiao Feng 乔峰 qiáo fēng, the leader of the beggar gang (丐帮 gài bāng), was accused of being a descendant of the Khitan and was cast aside by martial artists people.

Qiao Feng had to quit his job as leader, he wanted to be rehabilitated and traced the truth of his birth all over the world.

During this period, he met Duan Yu 段誉 duàn yù, the Prince of Dali and monk Xuzhu 虚竹 xū zhú, the three of them become like brothers to each other.

Qiao Feng in the end found out that he was descendant of the Khitan and became the king of the Southern part in Daliao.

Due to various opportunities, Duan Yu learned wonderful martial arts, and met many beautiful girls.

With his open-mind, he fell in love with several, especially close to his heart was Wang Yuyan.

Unexpectedly, these girls are the illegitimate daughters of their father Duan Zhengchun.

Monk Xuzhu has a pure and good nature, a benevolent heart, surprisingly he received the guidance of a Kung fu master, and finally got strong martial arts skills.

He was kicked out of Shaolin Temple, when it was found out that he was the son of Abbot of Shaolin Temple. Later he is selected as a Xixia consort.

The TV show is mainly about these three brothers’s legendary lives.

Here is a ranking list of the Eight Martial Arts in the TV show.

• 易筋经 yì jīn jīng
• 北冥神功 běi míng shéngōng
• 六脉神剑 liù mài shén jiàn
• 降龙十八掌 xiáng lóng shíbā zhǎng
• 八荒六合唯我独尊功 bā huāng liùhé wéiwǒdúzūn gōng
• 天山折梅手 tiānshān zhé méi shǒu
• 斗转星移 dǒuzhuǎnxīngyí
• 凌波微步 líng bō wēi bù

If you can learn even one of them, you will be the Kung fu master. Watch and leave us a comment on which one you would like to learn.

The version we suggest is Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils 1996, released in 1997.

You can go to YouTube or Youku to watch it in Cantonese by searching for the name.

The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

This is known as 笑傲江湖 xiào ào jiānghú in Chinese. :

This novel does not intentionally allude to the Cultural Revolution, but through some vivid characters, attempts to portray a number of common phenomena in China’s 3,000+ years of politics.

The desperate seizure of power is the basic situation of political life in China and abroad, in modern and ancient times. It is all about human nature.

The main players in the TV show are:

• Ren Woxing 任我行 rèn wǒ xíng, the leader of the Sun Moon God Sect 日月神教 rì yuè shén jiào, tried to annex the Five Mountains Sword School 五岳剑派 wǔyuè jiàn pài, but failed and got hurt.
• Dongfang Bubai 东方不败 dōngfāng bú bài, the vice-leader of the Sun Moon God Sect, betrayed and imprisoned Ren Woxing so he could become the leader of the Sun Moon God Sect.
• Zuo Lengchan 左冷禅 zuǒ lěng chán, the leader of Song Mountain 嵩山sōngshān, uses the excuse to go against the Sun Moon God Sect, allied the other four Mountains, and becomes the Five Mountains leader.
• Yue Buqun 岳不群 yuè bù qún, the leader of Hua Mountain 华山huáshān, also wants to be the leader of the Five Mountains. However his martial arts level is too low.

There goes a saying that whoever got the Bixie Sword Book 辟邪剑谱 bìxié jiàn pǔ can become the Kung fu master.

So many people did whatever they could, just to get that book.

It turns out that if you want to learn the martial arts of that book, the first thing you need to do is to be castrated.

In order to get the power of being Kung fu master, Yue Buqun did that according to the book.

Linghu Chong 令狐冲 lìnɡhúchōnɡ, the first apprentice of Yue Buqun, never thinks of being a leader at all. All he wants is to fall in love with the daughter of Yue Buqun.

He just coincidentally picked up several wonderful opportunities.

Have a watch and find out what will happen after this.

What will be Linghu Chong‘s choice be when it comes to these two girls?

One party is Five Mountains Sword School, the other party is Sun Moon God Sect.

Will there be room for Linghu Chong who only wants peace in the world full of power and fighting?

Likewise, there are also so many TV shows or even movie adaptations of the novel.

What we recommend today is The Smiling, Proud Wanderer 1996 or State of Divinity, released in 1996. Available on both YouTube and Youku.

A line I like most for you from The Smiling, Proud Wanderer is this:

剑术之道，讲究流水行云，随心所欲
jiànshù zhī dào, jiǎngjiù liúshuǐ xíng yún, suíxīnsuǒyù
Swordsmanship is like Taoist philosophy, you just need to go with the flow of the water and do whatever according to your will.

So there we have it. Five amazing Martial Arts shows to learn Mandarin and Cantonese.

Which sounds the most exciting? Or did we miss your favourite out? Tell us below

Top 5 Martial Arts TV Shows – FAQ’s

Edited by Katie Coy and Max Hobbs

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