By Yuling Chen, EDITOR

On the evening of Oct. 30, Wuxia(martial arts) Novelist, Jin Yong, his real name Louis Cha, died of illness at the age of 94.

Do you ever know the reputable writer from Zhejiang actually profoundly related to Chongqing, where he spent more than two years from the spring of 1943 to the early winter of 1945?

Jin Yong’s character of fighting against injustice led to his drop out

 In the summer of 1942, Jin Yong left his hometown in Zhejiang after graduating from high school with excellent grades. After a hard journey, he arrived in the wartime capital of Chongqing in the spring of 1943.

Jin Yong’s description of Chongqing city was as follows: fog and rain hung over Chongqing for six months in a year, and the streets and lanes were covered with rotten mud. But even so, Chongqing still had a great influence on him.

After arriving in Chongqing, Jin Yong devoted himself to examinations and was admitted to several universities for his outstanding achievements. However, he could not afford it financially. Later, he went to Central University of Political Affairs with no tuitions.

After being admitted to the university, Jin Yong still devoted himself to his studies. Thanks to his talent and hard work, he always ranked first in his class as he did in primary and secondary schools. However, due to his character of fighting against injustice, Jin Yong was dropped out of school for some reasons after staying in the Central University of Political Affairs for only one year and two months.

He read a lot of western literature works in Chongqing.

Jin Yong was angry and depressed after he dropped out of school. With the help of his elder male cousin Jiang Fucong, who was then the first chief librarian of the National Central Library, Jin Yong became a librarian of the National Central Library located at Lianglukou of Chongqing.

Jin Yong was assigned to the reading group. Specifically, he was responsible for registering for borrowing and returning books. It was an easy-to-do job. The pay was not high, though, it was enough for him to make ends meet.

Jin Yong later told Japanese writer Ikeda Daisaku: “I have read many books while managing books in the library. I have read a large number of western literary works, some of which are in the original English version. I prefer western romantic novels in the 18th and 9th centuries, such as Dumas, Scott, Stevenson and Hugo. The works of this school are enthusiastically, incisively and vividly, but not reserved enough. It’s a little bit shallow for an older reader. Later, I turned to the Greek tragedy and read Dickens’ novels. Among Russian writers, I like Turgenev and read Lu Li’s and Li Ni’s translations of his works.”

In the early winter of 1945, Jin Yong submitted his resignation to the National Central Library and bid farewell to the mountain city of Chongqing.

Jin Yong’s death shocked the world

 The news of Mr. Jin Yong’s death shocked the world. As a contemporary Chinese writer with the most published editions and circulations, where there are Chinese, there are Jin Yong’s readers. His death marks the real end of an era of Chinese martial arts literature.