Plot
Guo Jing and Huang Rong pursue Yang Kang to Iron Palm Peak, where Qiu Qianren and the Iron Palm Sect is based. Huang is injured by Qiu in a fight and she escapes with Guo Jing's help. Guo brings her in search of a cure to heal her wounds and they stumble upon a house in a swamp, inhabited by a woman called Yinggu. Yinggu tells them that the only person who can save Huang Rong's life is Duan Zhixing, the former ruler of the Kingdom of Dali, who has become a monk now.
Guo and Huang travel to find Duan Zhixing, but they must defeat Duan's four bodyguards in a battle of wits first. They manage to overcome the odds and eventually meet Duan Zhixing. Duan explains to them that Yinggu had directed them to him on purpose, because in order to save Huang Rong, Duan will need to use a special inner energy skill that may cost him his life if he uses it. Duan then proceeds to tell them a story of his past. Yinggu was actually Duan Zhixing's concubine when he was still the ruler of Dali, but Duan neglects her due to his obsession with martial arts and she has a secret affair with Zhou Botong. Yinggu becomes pregnant with Zhou's child later without Zhou knowing. The infant is mortally wounded by a masked man, who wants to force Duan Zhixing to use that special skill to save the infants's life. Duan refuses and the child dies. Yinggu hates Duan for that and she leaves him to lead a life in the swamp, while secretly plotting her revenge. Duan Zhixing tells Guo Jing and Huang Rong that he regrets his past decision and he decides to save Huang's life now, at the expense of his own.
While Duan is healing Huang, Yinggu infiltrates Duan's residence and almost kills him, but she changes her mind at the last moment. Duan does not blame her and allows her to leave again. Just then, Qiu Qianren and the Iron Palm Sect's members show up to challenge Duan Zhixing to a fight. Yinggu recognizes Qiu's martial arts technique and realizes that Qiu is actually the masked man who injured her child, and she joins in the fight. Not long later, Zhou Botong appears and Yinggu recognizes him. Zhou points out the weaknesses in Qiu Qianren's martial arts and eventually the protagonists defeat the Iron Palm Sect people. The film ends with Yinggu running after Zhou Botong.
Yang Guo, courtesy name Gaizhi, is the fictional protagonist of the wuxia novel The Return of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong.
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.
The Jiuyin Zhenjing, also known as the Nine Yin Manual, is a fictional martial arts manual in Jin Yong's Condor Trilogy.
Huang Yaoshi 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 one of the Five Greats of the wulin during the Song dynasty, alongside Wang Chongyang, Hong Qigong, Ouyang Feng and Duan Zhixing. He is nicknamed "Eastern Heretic" for being an unorthodox radical who behaves as he wishes without showing any regard for formalities or moral ethics. He loathes the dogma of traditional rites in Chinese society and admires only genuine honour and pure love. As such, he is often regarded by his contemporaries as a cultural heretic. His nickname may be translated to "Eastern Evil" because the character xié (邪) in his nickname also refers to "evil" and "unorthodoxy" in jianghu terminology.
The Return of the Condor Heroes is a 2006 Chinese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title. It is the second instalment of a trilogy produced by Zhang Jizhong, preceded by The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2003) and followed by The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (2009). It was first broadcast on 17 March 2006 in China and subsequently broadcast in other Asian countries such as South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore.
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.
Duan Zhixing, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Xuanzong of Dali, was the 18th emperor of the Dali Kingdom between 1172 and 1200. Duan Zhixing's reign was marred by the power struggles within the influential Gao family, whose power had long eclipsed the ruling Duan family.
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 Return of the Condor Heroes is a Taiwanese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same name. It was first broadcast on CTV in 1984 in Taiwan.
The Brave Archer and His Mate, also known as The Brave Archer 4 and Mysterious Island, is a 1982 Hong Kong film adapted from Louis Cha's novels The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes, the first two books in he Condor Heroes Trilogy of novels. The Brave Archer and His Mate is a direct sequel to The Brave Archer, The Brave Archer 2 and The Brave Archer 3, being an adaptation of the final part of the Legend of the Condor Heroes novel and the first part of The Return of the Condor Heroes novel, with the same director, writer, and cast. Little Dragon Maiden (1983) unofficially continues the story where The Brave Archer and His Mate leaves off, though everyone behind and in front of the camera is different.
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.
