Yang Kang | |
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The Legend of the Condor Heroes character | |
Created by | Jin Yong |
In-universe information | |
Aliases | Wanyan Kang (完顏康) |
Gender | Male |
Affiliation | Indirect affiliations: Quanzhen School |
Family | Yang Tiexin (father), Bao Xiruo (mother), Wanyan Honglie (stepfather) |
Significant other | Mu Nianci |
Children | Yang Guo |
Masters | Mei Chaofeng |
Yang Kang | |||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 楊康 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 杨康 | ||||||||||
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Yang Kang is the fictional antagonist in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). He also serves as a foil to Guo Jing,the protagonist due to their similar backgrounds.
Yang Kang's hometown is in Niu Family Village. His father,Yang Tiexin,was originally from Shandong but moved to Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou) after the Jurchen-led Jin Empire conquered the northern part of the predominantly Han Chinese Song Empire. Yang Tiexin met Bao Xiruo in the neighbouring town,Hongmei Village,and married her. Two years after their marriage,Yang Tiexin was apparently killed when soldiers raided the village. Bao Xiruo was heavily pregnant with Yang Kang then,and was rescued by Wanyan Honglie,the sixth prince of the Jin Empire. She gave birth to Yang Kang,who was raised as a Jurchen noble and adopted his foster father's family name,"Wanyan". He was initially known as "Wanyan Kang" before his real identity is revealed.
Yang's given name,"Kang",is the complementary of his sworn brother's "Jing". Together,their given names form "Jingkang". Their fathers and Qiu Chuji named them as such to remind them of the Jingkang Incident and to be loyal to their native land,the Song Empire. Yang Kang is also a descendant of Yang Zaixing,a Song general who participated in the Jin–Song Wars.
Yang Kang discovers his true heritage when Yang Tiexin,who was supposedly killed many years ago,suddenly reappears in front of Bao Xiruo. Bao Xiruo tries to explain to her son that Yang Tiexin is his father. However,Yang Kang refuses to acknowledge Yang Tiexin as his father. To him,Wanyan Honglie is a fatherly figure who showers love and care on him and provides him with everything he wants. In fact,Wanyan Honglie is responsible for the deaths of Yang Kang's parents:Yang Tiexin and Bao Xiruo commit suicide after being cornered by Wanyan Honglie and his men.
When Yang Kang finally meets his sworn brother,Guo Jing,the latter attempts to persuade him to take the Song Empire's side. Although Yang Kang initially agreed to join the Song Empire,he changes his mind later after witnessing how the Han Chinese society of the Song Empire is plagued by problems such as political corruption,internal conflict,and cowardice in the face of Jurchen aggression. Disgusted,Yang Kang succumbs to the temptation of being a Jurchen noble and denounces his ethnicity again. He collaborates with the Jurchens to exploit his own race (the Han Chinese) and pretends to have acknowledged his ethnicity. At one point,he attempts to kill Guo Jing by stabbing him with a dagger when Guo tries to persuade him to revert again. He murders Ouyang Ke so that he can take the latter's place as Ouyang Feng's apprentice. Yang Kang is also responsible for the deaths of five of the "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan",and for framing Guo Jing for the murder of Ouyang Ke.
Yang Kang gets his retribution in the Temple of the Iron Spear in Jiaxing. Huang Rong is about to reveal the truth behind the deaths of Ouyang Ke and the Freaks when Yang Kang attacks her with a palm strike in an attempt to silence her. However,he accidentally hits the spikes on her soft armour,which is stained with venom from a deadly breed of snakes. The poison seeps through the wounds into his body and kills him eventually. Ironically,the venom that killed Yang Kang was used by him to kill one of the Freaks. Ouyang Feng refuses to save Yang Kang when he learns that the latter was the one who murdered Ouyang Ke.
Yang Kang dies a slow and painful death in the temple as the poison works its way through his body. Wanyan Honglie and his men abandon him for fear of being infected. Before dying,Yang Kang finally sees his mistakes after Wanyan Honglie left and blames him for his plight but is too late. When Guo Jing reaches the temple,he is horrified to see that Yang Kang's corpse had been devoured by crows and ravens. He buried whatever that is left of Yang Kang outside the temple. Yang Kang's teacher,Qiu Chuji,arrives later and constructs a tomb for his apprentice after Ke Zhen'e informed him about the incident. Qiu Chuji writes on the headstone:"Yang Kang,an unworthy apprentice. Erected by his untalented master,Qiu Chuji."
Yang Kang meets his love interest,Mu Nianci,for the first time in a martial arts contest for a spouse. He defeats her but refuses to marry her after his victory. He is unaware that Mu Nianci's foster father,Mu Yi,is actually his biological father,Yang Tiexin. However,their romance is often strained as they have conflicting views over where their loyalties lie. Yang Kang wants to remain as a Jurchen noble and indulge in wealth,fame and power,while Mu Nianci remains loyal to the Song Empire.
Mu Nianci is disappointed with Yang Kang when she recognises his treachery and stubborn refusal to acknowledge his ethnicity. She sees him as a traitor and decides to leave him for good. She never saw him again. However,she is already pregnant with his child. She gives birth to a boy,who is named "Yang Guo" by Guo Jing.
Qiu Chuji of the Quanzhen School finds Yang Kang and accepts him as a student upon learning that the boy is Yang Tiexin's son. He teaches Yang Kang some Quanzhen martial arts to prepare for an upcoming contest with Guo Jing,as well as some skills he created to counter the "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan". Yang Kang also learnt an incomplete set of the Yang Family Spear Movement (楊家槍法;yángjiāqiāngfǎ) from Qiu Chuji,whose knowledge of the skill is based on recollections of his encounter with Yang Tiexin. [1]
Yang Kang learns from Mei Chaofeng the Nine Yin White Bone Claw (九陰白骨爪;jiǔyīn báigúzhǎo),an unorthodox version of the skills in the Nine Yin Manual. He stumbled upon her hiding place and agreed to provide her with food and shelter. In return,she taught him the 'Claw'.
Notable actors who have portrayed Yang Kang in films and television series include Bruce Leung (1976),Michael Miu (1983),Gallen Lo (1994),Zhou Jie (2003),Yuan Hong (2008) and Chen Xingxu (2017).
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Notes: |
Wang Chongyang was a Chinese philosopher and poet. He was a Taoist master and one of the founders of the Quanzhen School in the 12th century during the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). He was one of the Five Northern Patriarchs of Quanzhen. He also appears as a character in works of wuxia fiction.
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.
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.
Mu Nianci is a character in the wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. 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."
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.
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 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.