Sima Ling’s external evaluation
The novel combines the strengths of the "Five Great Northern Schools" and is based on the fantasy and mysterious mind of the owner of Huanzhu Tower. In 1958, he published his debut work "Guanluo Fengyunlu" and the trilogy "The Legend of the Sword God" and "Eight Tables of Heroes". The writing style is fresh and bold, with a touch of modern meaning; he depicts the characters in the world with his unique style, and is especially good at using it. Reasoning techniques lay out the plot of the story. He became famous with one book when he was only twenty-five years old.
In comparison, Sima Ling's more than 30 works are of average quality (perhaps the only one among all Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities). Whether it is the earlier novels such as "Guan Luo Fengyun Lu", "Sword Qi Qian Huan Lu", "Jian Dan Qin Soul Ji", "Emperor's Struggle for Glory", "Holy Sword Feishuang", "Slim Hands Controlling the Dragon", etc. And novels such as "Crane Flying High", "Gold Threaded Clothes", "Heartbreaker Dart", "White Bone Order", etc., or later "Drinking Horses from the Yellow River", "Sword Sea Eagle Yang", "Red Pink Fight", "Burning Incense" Books such as "On the Sword" and "Danfeng Needle", "Martial Arts", and "Rouge Tribulation" are all impressive, unconventional, each has its own originality, but few are similar; even if there are occasional mistakes, the flaws cannot be concealed. (Note: Sima Ling’s creative heyday began in 1958 and ended in 1971, with 1965 as the dividing line between the early and late years. Only in the later period, he wrote "Strong Man" under the pen name of "Tian Xin Yue" The books are getting worse every day).
Generally speaking, Sima Ling is knowledgeable and talented, good at writing about emotions, desires, and fighting wits. In particular, the description of the psychological changes of men and women in the burning of lust, as well as the martial arts art of the mutual transformation of the strange and the positive, and the coexistence of the virtual and the real, are all unique. And the martial arts principle he pioneered in his early years of defeating the enemy with spirit and momentum is almost "Tao" - it is the same as the saying of "No sword wins with a sword" in the same line as Jin Yong and Gu Long, but it is different but has the same effect but even more so. Many famous contemporaries were influenced and inspired by him, such as Gu Long, Shangguan, Yi Rong, Xiao Yi, etc., and the rest can be summed up. It is a pity that his two books, "The Mighty Jianghu" and "Feiyu Tianguan", the last work he wrote after quitting writing for many years, could not be completed for some reason. Among Taiwan's early martial arts novelists, the only one I've ever been "fascinated" by is Sima Ling, who can be considered a genius writer. I remember that in order to get a sneak peek, I stayed at the door of Zhenshanmei Publishing House almost every day, waiting to read Sima Ling's new book. Later, I got tired of waiting for each episode, so I started to learn to write martial arts novels.
——Gu Long
The only martial arts writers I admire most are Jin Yong and Sima Ling, especially Sima Ling. I think he is the number one in Taiwan’s martial arts world. His The work is very connotative, and the depiction of human nature is profound, bold and direct, very sincere, without any falsehood, and has profound philosophical insights that can be found everywhere...creating a self-justifying and flesh-and-blood martial arts world! ...The spirit and momentum that I attach great importance to in martial arts were influenced by Sima Ling.
——Huang Yi
The happiest enjoyment in my life is to read a good martial arts novel. Nowadays, I have no choice but to travel long distances by plane. I still often carry old martial arts works by Bai Yu, Huan Zhu, Gu Long, and Sima Ling in my handbag.
——Jin Yong
Mr. Wu (Sima Ling)’s writing is fresh and smooth, with a touch of new literary style, and goes against the cliché of storytelling in the past. Mr. Wu is the first to create the so-called "new school" in martial arts novels; he is well-deserved to be called the "leader of the new school".
——Founder of Taiwan’s Zhenshanmei Publishing House (started in 1950) Song Jinren
(Sima Ling) did not engage in creation under the influence of the early works of Liang Yusheng and Jin Yong, but He entered this field under the influence of old school martial arts novels. In other words, he finally became one of the outstanding writers of the new school of martial arts novels, which was entirely the result of his own exploration and had distinctive personal characteristics. ... (His) depiction of the complexity of human nature is not only unprecedented in old-school martial arts novels, but also unprecedented in the early works of Liang Yusheng and Jin Yong.
——Zhang Peiheng, distinguished professor at Fudan University, expert on the history of Chinese literature, and scholar of martial arts novels
Elevating the battle of wits to a status that is on par with or even higher than martial arts is Sima Ling’s contribution to " "Martial Arts"'s greatest contribution. Through endless adventures and beautiful battles of wits, Sima Ling demonstrated the subtleties of human nature, eulogized the infinite wisdom of mankind, and created a unique sect of Chinese martial arts novels. Today, with the rise of new martial arts in mainland China in the 21st century, I solemnly point out: Sima's swordsmanship is worthy of being seriously inherited and carried forward by the new generation of writers.
——Kong Qingdong, a famous scholar, critic and professor of the Chinese Department of Peking University
The characteristics of Sima Ling’s novel creation can be summarized in many words, such as new school, modernization, wisdom and style, and profound knowledge. etc. But Sima Ling's most fundamental characteristic should be his deep understanding of human nature and his keenness to present it.
——Chen Mo, a researcher at the China Film Art Research Center and a famous martial arts scholar
The male protagonists in Sima Ling’s novels are usually good-looking and have a strong sense of morality, but at the same time they are He is not stupid, but through many times of moral tempering, he has become more chivalrous based on his original sense of justice. When they compete with the enemy, they all rely on momentum to win. This momentum comes from the aura of awe-inspiring, upright and upright spirit. It is said that "the greatest strength is born of gathering righteousness, and no one can control it."
——Gong Pengcheng, Distinguished Professor of Beijing Normal University and Founding President of Taiwan's "Chinese Martial Arts Literature Society"
The "intelligent" heroine is Sima Ling's favorite and most happy Depicted, so it appears most frequently. At the same time, the "autonomy" given to women by Sima Ling actually hints at the reasonable future development of "feminism".
——Lin Baochun, professor of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Taiwan Normal University and president of Taiwan’s “Chinese Martial Arts Literature Society”
Sima Ling used his experience in practicing Tantric Buddhism and the integration of Taoism’s “Tai Shang Inspiration” to It is said that he has created spiritual powers such as "spiritual training", "qi induction", "conquering the enemy with intention" and "controlling the simple and controlling the complex". The opponent is "thinking" about what kind of moves to perform, and he can take action first. Seal his intentions and use flaws to block gaps. If you attack him, he will be saved. This writing method is even more spectacular in "Sword Sea and Eagle Yang".
——Li Si-chun, President of National Taiwan University
An objective analysis of Sima Ling’s works reveals that there are about five unique features that make him unique:
1. He is Taiwan’s earliest “ One of the pioneers of "new martial arts" and possessing the strengths of "old martial arts".
2. His novels have the most "variety show" characteristics. All kinds of miscellaneous knowledge in traditional Chinese culture are comprehensive and inclusive.
3. His novels are the best at combining the principles of metaphysics and martial arts. They often find new ideas that have never been published before and are unique in their novels.
Fourth, the characters in his novels pay most attention to identity, demeanor, sect, and origin, and they are well-structured and reasonable.
5. His novels focus most on reasoning, and the battle of wits between good and evil that "attacks the heart first" is even more unpredictable.
——Ye Hongsheng
In terms of erudition, Sima Ling and Jin Yong are comparable, and Sima Ling's writing style is also first-rate. His battle of wits and momentum created a new path and opened up an unknown martial arts field. Later, Gu Long and Huang Yi both made fuss about "momentum" and "fighting of wits." He is truly a great master. Only those who are truly interested in martial arts and those who are truly knowledgeable about martial arts can truly understand the value of Sima Ling. He can serve as a model that martial arts writers must learn from when studying.
——Feng Ge, the author of "Kunlun" and "Cang Hai" and the leader of new martial arts in mainland China
There is Sima Ling in Taiwan who also added "fantasy" elements to his martial arts novels and wrote Xia's writing of love is far better than that of Huang Yi. However, his "fantasy" is relatively earthy, limited to Feng Shui and the like.
When I first arrived in the United States, I saw Sima Ling's "Feiyu Tianguan" by chance. After reading it, I was astonished. In the future, when I see a book with his name printed on it, I must read it, but every time I feel that it is not the same person as the author of "Feiyu Tianguan". The more times I read it, I began to wonder if those vulgar things were really written by Sima Ling, but was there someone else behind "Feiyu Tianguan"?
This is the most obscene thing about publishing houses in Taiwan. Readers often go for the author, so they buy books by fake authors.
"Feiyu Tianguan" writes about the emotional experiences of Li Xianzi, who is good at pinching and calculating, and Xiaoguan, who is free-spirited. Xiaoguan was originally a Wei Xiaobao-style gangster, but whenever Li Xianzi's reputation, health or life was at stake, his heroic spirit came to the fore. Originally, this was normal. Communist Party members trained and grew up in the stormy waves of class struggle, and normal men grew up in flattering and flattering women. This should be the case.
But how many Chinese male writers would write like this?
So when I read "The Deer and the Cauldron" later, my first question was: Did Jin Yong steal his master Sima Ling? "The Pearl in the Dust - Sima Ling's Martial Arts Novels"
Wo Longsheng, Zhuge Qingyun, Sima Ling, and Gu Long, known as the "Four Masters of Taiwanese Martial Arts Novels", have made the most impressive achievements, among which Sima Ling (1933-1989) ) is even more important because his writing period spanned two periods and his style changed three times, which is enough to be regarded as a microcosm of the development history of martial arts novels.
From the perspective of his creative process, the period of time named after Sima Ling was the golden period with the most brilliant achievements and the most fruitful harvests. Early famous writers such as Wo Longsheng and Gu Long were full of praise for him. Song and modern people praised him as the "leader of the new school", Zhang Xiguo praised him as "the writer among writers", and Ye Hongsheng thought that although his fame was inferior to Erlong (Wolong) during his lifetime, Born and Gu Long), "in fact, he occupies a pivotal position in 'inheriting the past and linking up the future' and has a great influence." Among the older generation of readers, Sima Ling is often talked about. In terms of the quality of his solid and brilliant works, his reputation should last forever; however, except for old readers, his level of attention is far inferior to that of the famous Jin Yong and Except for Mr. Ye Hongsheng, who is "particularly fond of" "masters" such as Gu Long and Liang Yusheng, almost no one is willing to recommend them; in terms of popularity and popularity, they seem not to be as popular as Wo Longsheng, Zhuge Qingyun, etc. Dongfang Yu, Liu Canyang, etc. have a large number of new and old readers. In the rental stores of martial arts novels, he always crouched in a remote corner aggrievedly. There may be two reasons for this. One is that Sima Ling quit his writing career prematurely. After 1971, he returned to Hong Kong to do business. During this period, due to the chaotic situation in the martial arts novel publishing industry (mainly due to copyright law issues), The name "Sima Ling" has become synonymous with almost all counterfeit works. Not only are obscene works such as "The Legend of the Shadow Hero" and "The Legend of Sword" published under false names, they are Jin Yong's works and are operated by publishers. In addition, a large number of counterfeit editions were printed with the sign of "Sima Ling", such as "One Sword Lights the Forty States", "Dugu Nine Swords" (i.e. Swordsman of the Swordsman), "Shenwumen", "Little White Dragon" (i.e. "The Deer and the Cauldron") and so on, gave readers the wrong impression that "Sima Ling is Jin Yong". After Jin Yong took advantage of the strong power of the media to sweep the Taiwanese martial arts novel world, Sima Ling's light was completely obscured. Although he wanted to It’s no time to make a difference. Secondly, during the period when Sima Ling became famous, Taiwanese academic circles still regarded martial arts novels as a by-product. All martial arts works, including Jin Yong’s, could not be accepted into the mainstream. Naturally, no one was willing to support or recommend him; and in 1980 Years later, due to the influence of Jin Yong's whirlwind, although a large number of related martial arts discussions were officially disclosed, under the guidance of the "commercialization" MLM strategy, they focused on Jin Yong alone, and the commentators had almost no time to take into account other writers, such as Sima Ling still couldn't attract anyone's attention. After 1985, a "martial arts novel craze" emerged in mainland China, and the academic community followed suit and began research on popular novels, mainly martial arts novels. Mainland China's research and discussion has a wider range of perspectives and a more complex vision. Among all the martial arts writers, Sima Ling is a more eye-catching new star. Chen Mo's "Twenty New Martial Arts" refers to him as "Taiwanese Novels" One of the "Four Great Masters". However, due to the confusing situation in mainland China's publishing industry, it is even more chaotic than in Taiwan. Sima Ling's works are mixed with many forgeries. Mainland scholars are as confused as "blind knights" who cannot "identify positions by listening to sounds". Shao, naturally he just danced in the wind and said to the wall. Taking Chen Mo as an example, the three works analyzed in "On Sima Ling's Works", "Heyue Dianjianglu" and "Black and White Flag" were written by Yi Rong and Hongdou Princess respectively. The only work by Sima Ling, "Golden Float Pictures" ", is also one of his more "kitsch" works, which led him to comment on Sima Ling's positioning as a "second-rate writer".
In fact, in terms of his artistic attainments in novels, in addition to Jin Yong's elegant and elegant style, Gu Long's weird and suspenseful style, and Liang Yusheng's elegant and upright style, he is unique in his simple and heavy style. It is very noteworthy among martial arts writers. To be fair, there is a considerable gap between Sima Ling's fortune and the achievements of his martial arts works. He is like a dusty pearl, an undiscovered jade, urgently waiting for knowledgeable people to discover and reposition him.