Mu Nianci | |
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The Legend of the Condor Heroes character | |
Created by | Jin Yong |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Female |
Family | Yang Tiexin (foster father) |
Significant other | Yang Kang |
Children | Yang Guo |
Mu Nianci | |||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 穆念慈 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 穆念慈 | ||||||||||
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Mu Nianci is a character in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). She is the romantic interest of the antagonist,Yang Kang,and the mother of Yang Guo,the protagonist in the sequel novel, The Return of the Condor Heroes . Jin Yong describes her appearance as "firm like a piece of jade,despite appearing weather-beaten,she is beautiful,with bright eyes and sparkling white teeth." [1] [2]
The Mu Nianci in the latest revision of The Legend of the Condor Heroes is actually an amalgam of the original Mu Nianci and another character,Qin Nanqin (秦南琴;Qín Nánqín). In the first edition,Mu Nianci is Yang Kang's love interest but not Yang Guo's mother. Qin Nanqin lives with her grandfather and they catch snakes for a living. She develops a crush on Guo Jing after he saves her. However,she is raped by Yang Kang and Mu Nianci arrives too late to stop him. Qin Nanqin becomes pregnant and gives birth to Yang Guo and thereafter becomes a nun and travels with Mu Nianci before settling down to raise her child. After Yang Kang was poisoned,Mu Nianci performs a coup de grâce on him and commits suicide to join him in death. Qin Nanqin went on to give birth to Yang Guo,and raised the boy until when she was bitten by a poisonous snake while trying to protect her son at the time Yang Guo was five years old. Before dying,Qin Nanqin entrusts her son to Guo Jing. Jin Yong felt that Qin Nanqin's role was unnecessary so he merged Mu Nianci and Qin Nanqin into a single character when he revised the novel.
Mu Nianci was from a village in Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou). She became an orphan shortly after birth when an epidemic killed her family. Months before,her family offered shelter to an injured Mu Yi,who was escaping from Duan Tiande. When Mu Yi returned to her home to offer help,he saw that she was the only survivor in her family of seven (her parents and four brothers died) and decided to adopt the girl to repay her family's kindness. When Mu Nianci became older,Mu Yi decided that it is time for him to find a suitable spouse for her. They travel around the land and stage martial arts contests for interested men to participate. The contestant must defeat Mu Nianci to win her hand-in-marriage but none has managed to overcome her yet. She learnt some martial arts from Hong Qigong after a brief encounter with him earlier,in addition to those already taught to her by Mu Yi.
Once,Mu Yi and Mu Nianci arrive in the capital of the Jin Empire to stage another contest. A young Jurchen prince,Wanyan Kang,joins the contest out of mischief and defeats Mu Nianci easily. According to the rules of the contest,Wanyan Kang must marry Mu Nianci but he refuses. He molested Mu Nianci during the contest and took her shoe as a souvenir. Mu Yi,who is displeased with Wanyan Kang's attitude,insists that Wanyan marries his daughter. Wanyan Kang turns violent and shoves Mu Yi away. Guo Jing,who has been watching nearby,stands up for Mu Yi and chides Wanyan Kang for his behavior. Guo Jing and Wanyan Kang then start fighting with each other.
Just then,the prince's mother,Bao Xiruo,arrives on the scene and stops the fight. Mu Yi recognises Bao Xiruo and is stunned. Mu Yi is actually Bao Xiruo's husband,Yang Tiexin,who was apparently killed 19 years ago. Wanyan Kang is in fact Yang Tiexin's biological son,Yang Kang. Wanyan Kang (Yang Kang) refuses to acknowledge his father and his parents commit suicide after being cornered by Wanyan Honglie. Before dying,Yang Tiexin learns that the young man who stood up for him earlier is his late sworn brother's son. He decides that Guo Jing could be a suitable spouse for his foster daughter. However,both of them refuse his arrangement because Guo Jing is already romantically involved with Huang Rong while Mu Nianci has romantic feelings for Yang Kang.
Mu Nianci attempts to kill Wanyan Honglie to avenge her foster father but Yang Kang intervenes and stops her. In fact,Yang Kang has fallen in love with her ever since he first met her during the contest. Their relationship gradually becomes more complicated. Yang Kang is unwilling to give up his status as a Jurchen noble so he can enjoy wealth,fame and power. Mu Nianci tries to persuade him to give up and follow her to be a commoner. Yang Kang reveals his treacherous nature and collaborates with the Jurchens to exploit his own race while lying to Mu Nianci that he has changed.
Mu Nianci discovers Yang Kang's villainous deeds eventually and decides to leave him for good. They never met each other again. However,she is already pregnant with his child and still loves him despite his misdeeds. She gives birth to a son shortly after Yang Kang's death. The infant is named "Yang Guo" by Guo Jing,who hopes that the boy will redeem his family's honour by doing good. Mu Nianci raises Yang Guo all by herself for 11 years before dying from illness. Following his mother's instructions before her demise,Yang Guo had her remains cremated and buried at the Temple of the Iron Spear,in the hope of reuniting her with his father in death.
When she was 13,Mu Nianci learnt the Carefree Fist (逍遙遊;xiāoyáo yoú) from Hong Qigong in a ruined temple in Xinyang. Using the early martial arts training by her foster father as a foundation,she masters the skill within three days. When a combatant utilises the skill,he or she is elegant,extremely light,agile,and appears as if he or she is dancing. Every motion is as beautiful as that of a jade yanornis or huge eagle. [3]
Notable actresses who have portrayed Mu Nianci in films and television series include Kara Hui (1977–1978),Sharon Yeung (1983),Emily Kwan (1994),Jiang Qinqin (2003),Liu Shishi (2008),Zhao Liying (2014),Meng Ziyi (2017) and Huang Yi (2024).
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Notes: |
Yang Guo, courtesy name Gaizhi, is the fictional protagonist of the wuxia novel The Return of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong.
The Return of the Condor Heroes, also called The Giant Eagle and Its Companion, is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong. It is the second part of the Condor Trilogy and was preceded by The Legend of the Condor Heroes and followed by The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. It was first serialised between 20 May 1959 and 5 July 1961 in the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao.
The Legend of the Condor Heroes is a wuxia novel by Chinese writer Jin Yong. It is the first part of the Condor Trilogy and is followed by The Return of the Condor Heroes and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. It was first serialised between 1 January 1957 and 19 May 1959 in Hong Kong Commercial Daily. Jin Yong revised the novel twice, first in the 1970s and later in the 2000s. The English title is imprecise since neither species of the condor, the Andean condor and Californian condor, is native to China.
Guo Jing is the fictional protagonist of the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. He also appears as a supporting character in the sequel, The Return of the Condor Heroes, and is mentioned by name in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. He is a descendant of Guo Sheng, one of the 108 outlaws from Mount Liang in the classical novel Water Margin. Guo Jing and Yang Kang were both named by Qiu Chuji, who urges them to remember the Jingkang Incident and be loyal towards their native land, the Song Empire. Guo Jing is killed during the Battle of Xiangyang along with the rest of his family except his younger daughter, Guo Xiang.
Huang Rong is a fictional female protagonist in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. She also appears as a supporting character in the sequel, The Return of the Condor Heroes.
Yang Kang is the fictional antagonist in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. He also serves as a foil to Guo Jing, the protagonist due to their similar backgrounds.
The Condor Trilogy (射鵰三部曲) is a series of three wuxia novels written by Hong Kong-based Chinese writer Jin Yong. The series is amongst the most popular of Jin Yong's works.
Mei Chaofeng, original name Mei Ruohua, is a character in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. She was the fourth disciple of Huang Yaoshi. She was known as the Iron Corpse (鐵屍) due to her dark complexion and rigid appearance. She, along with her eloped husband Chen Xuanfeng, were despised by the martial arts community for unethical behaviour. She later become the teacher of Yang Kang. She died in battle against Ouyang Feng while attempting to save her teacher, Huang Yaoshi.
Hong Qi, better known as Hong Qigong, is a fictional character in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes and its sequel, The Return of the Condor Heroes, by Jin Yong. Best known for his most powerful martial arts, Hong Qigong is the chief of the Beggars' Gang and one of the Five Greats, the five most powerful martial artists in the jianghu of his time. He plays a significant role in the first novel by imparting his skills to the protagonists, Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Huang Rong also succeeds him as the Beggars' Gang's chief. In the second novel, he makes a brief appearance and teaches the protagonist Yang Guo the Dog Beating Staff Technique before dying together with his old rival Ouyang Feng.
Zhou Botong is a fictional character in the wuxia novels The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. A member of the Quanzhen School, he is highly-skilled in martial arts, having been trained by his senior, Wang Chongyang, the school's founder. Although he is already in his old age, he is still known for behaving childishly and constantly seeking fun, hence he is nicknamed "Old Imp". At the end of the second novel, he takes the central position of the Five Greats, the five most powerful martial artists in the jianghu, to replace his deceased senior.
Ouyang Feng is a fictional character in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes and its sequel, The Return of the Condor Heroes, by Jin Yong. He is the "Western Venom" of the Five Greats of the wulin during the Song dynasty, alongside Wang Chongyang, Hong Qigong, Huang Yaoshi and Duan Zhixing. Ouyang Feng is best known for his signature martial arts technique, the Toad Skill, and his expertise in toxicology. In the first novel, he is depicted as a ruthless villain who resorts to all sorts of unscrupulous means to achieve his goal of becoming the most powerful martial artist in the jianghu. He attempts to seize the Nine Yin Manual, a book detailing powerful martial arts and inner energy techniques, but is tricked into practising skills based on a corrupted version of the manual. He becomes insane eventually as a consequence, but his prowess in martial arts also increases tremendously in an unorthodox manner. In the sequel, Ouyang Feng accepts Yang Guo as his godson and teaches him the Toad Skill. Later in the novel, he dies in the midst of laughter and forgotten past feuds alongside his rival, Hong Qigong. He is buried on Mount Hua beside Hong Qigong by Yang Guo, who succeeds him as the "Western Eccentric" of the new Five Greats.
The Brave Archer, also known as Kungfu Warlord, is a 1977 Hong Kong film adapted from Louis Cha's novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The film was produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio and directed by Chang Cheh, starring Alexander Fu Sheng and Tien Niu in the lead roles. The film is the first part of a trilogy and was followed by The Brave Archer 2 (1978) and The Brave Archer 3 (1981). The trilogy has two unofficial sequels, The Brave Archer and His Mate (1982) and Little Dragon Maiden (1983).
The Legend of the Condor Heroes, also released as Legend of Eagle Shooting Hero and Legend of the Arching Hero, is a Chinese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes. It is the first instalment of a trilogy produced by Zhang Jizhong, followed by The Return of the Condor Heroes (2006) and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (2009). It was first broadcast on CCTV in China in 2003.
The Legend of the Condor Heroes is a 2008 Chinese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title. The series was produced by Chinese Entertainment Shanghai, and stars Hu Ge, Ariel Lin, Justin Yuan and Cecilia Liu. The series was first broadcast on KMTV-1 in China in July 2008, This is the version with the most plot changes.
The Return of the Condor Heroes is a Taiwanese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title. It was first broadcast on TTV in 1998 in Taiwan.
The Brave Archer 2, also known as Kungfu Warlord 2, is a 1978 Hong Kong film adapted from Louis Cha's novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The film was produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio and directed by Chang Cheh, starring Alexander Fu Sheng and Niu-niu in the lead roles. The film is the second part of a trilogy and was preceded by The Brave Archer (1977) and followed by The Brave Archer 3 (1981). The trilogy has two unofficial sequels, The Brave Archer and His Mate (1982) and Little Dragon Maiden (1983).
The Legend of the Condor Heroes is a two-part Taiwanese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title. The series was first broadcast on CTV in Taiwan in 1988.
The Romance of the Condor Heroes is a 2014–15 Chinese television series produced by Yu Zheng and adapted from Jin Yong's novel The Return of the Condor Heroes, with additional material from the preceding novel, The Legend of the Condor Heroes. It stars Chen Xiao and Michelle Chen in the lead roles. The series was first broadcast on Hunan TV from 3 December 2014 to 11 March 2015.
The Legend of the Condor Heroes is a 2017 Chinese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title and a remake of the 1983 Hong Kong television series based on the same novel. The series was directed by Jeffrey Chiang and starred Yang Xuwen, Li Yitong, Chen Xingxu and Meng Ziyi in the lead roles. It started airing on Dragon TV in mainland China on 9 January 2017, and on TVB Jade in Hong Kong on 8 May 2017.