Yang Guo (fictional)
The fictional character Yang Guo (Traditional Chinese: 楊過; Simplified Chinese: 杨过) is the protagonist in the Chinese wuxia novel The Return of the Condor Heroes (神鵰俠侶)(1959) by writer Jin Yong.
One of the best-loved characters in writer Louis Cha's list of fictional heroes, Yang Guo came to epitomize youthful rebellion. A reluctant hero, his love affair with his teacher Xiao Long Nuu remains one of the classic love stories in wuxia fiction.
The background of the novel was set towards the end of
Southern Song dynasty in the mid
13th century. The son of the villain,
Yang Kang in Louis Cha's previous novel in the trilogy,
Yang Guo was an orphan who was later brought up by his father's sworn brother,
Guo Jing. Yang Guo comes from a historic pedigree in Chinese history despite his father's villainy. His grandfather, Yang Tiexin's forebear was one of the 108 heroes of Mt. Liang, who in turn was directly descended from the famous Yang Family Generals, who had shed five generations worth of blood fighting to defend the Song dynasty. These five generations, from Duke Yang Ye who had served under Song Taizu, to Yang Zaixing who had died fighting for Marshal Yue Fei at the Xiaoshang River against the Jin, are true historical figures.
Midway in the novel, he fell in love with his teacher Xiao Long Nuu. This relationship was highly controversial, in fact, such
teacher-student love was forbidden in
Confucian feudal Chinese society. At the end of the novel, they were able to overcome pressure and were accepted as a couple.
West Poison (西')
At the beginning of the story,
Yang Guo met a strange old man, who turned out to be the crazed
OuYang Feng, known as the Western Poison.
OuYang Feng taught the boy the Divine Toad Stance (Ha Ma Gong).
Quanzhen Foundation (全真教)
Guo Jing, Yang Guo's surrogate uncle later brought the boy to the top of Zhong Nan mountain where the famed Taoist temple, Chong Yang Palace Shrine stood. Yang Guo was trained under a third-generation
Quan Zhen Sect (
All True Religion) Taoist,
Zhao Zhi Jing. The foundation of Yang Guo's martial arts is the orthodox kung fu of Quan Zhen Sect.
GuMu Pai Kung Fu (古"派功夫)
Later, Yang Guo expelled himself from
Quan Zhen Sect because he was bullied and mistreated and came to live in the Ancient Tomb with
Xiao Long Nuu who was the grand-disciple of deceased
Grand Ancestress Lin Chao Ying, the founder of secret
Gumu Pai Sect (
Ancient Tomb School). From Xiao Long Nu, Yang Guo learnt the elegant and graceful martial art. They included The Unparalleled Lightness of Ancient Tomb, the Fist of Beauties, the Palm of Infinity supplied with the Gloves of White Gold, the Long Sash of Twin Gold Bells, the Gold Needles of Jade Bee and the most of powerful of
GuMu Sect's, the Scriptures of Jade Maiden which procure the "Swordplay of Jade Maiden".
The Dog Beating Bamboo Rod ("狗'法)
Due to a misunderstanding, Xiao Long Nuu left Yang Guo. In his search for his master, Yang Guo meets the nine-fingered old man,
Hong Qi Gong, who is known as the Northern Beggar (
Bei Gai) and is the former chief of
Beggar Sect. From
Hong Qi Gong, he learned the clever and ingenious variations of the Dog Beating Bamboo Rod Techniques (Ta Gou Pang Fa)and also acquired a vengeful and malevolent techniques from Western Poison-the sole enemy of Northern Beggar and it was called Snake Staff Techniques (Ling She Zang Fa).
The Great Condor (神鵰)
Later in the novel,
Guo Fu, Guo Jing's spoiled daughter chopped off Yang Guo's right arm in a fit of rage. This was after the time Yang Guo met the legendary
condor who is a companion of the great martial arts fighter,
Dugu Qiu Bai. In order to wield Dugu Qiu Bai's sword with his one hand, Yang Guo trained relentlessly with the help of the bird. In the later end of the series and beyond it is believed that Yang Guo, Xiao Long Nuu and the great condor retired together occasionally making an appearance to help out the weak (brief mention in Heavenly Sword & Dragon Sabre)
Melancholic Palms (黯然銷魂掌)
His time away from his one love,
Xiao Long Nuu greatly saddened him so that he was moved to create a set of palm techniques which he later called the Divine Melancholic Palms (Mo Ran Xiao Hun Zang Fa), the only technique that could rival Guo Jing's powerful Dragon Subduing Palms (Xiang Long Shi Ba Zan). Using this technique he is able to easily defeat Zhou Botong while sparring. At the very end of Return of the Condor heroes Yang Guo used this technique to kill Jinlun Fawang while saving Guo Xiang.
*
Andy Lau *
Louis Koo*
Christopher Lee Meng Soon
