Huang Rong
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Huang Rong 黄蓉 (born in 1203, died January 31, 1273) is a fictional character in the novel, The Legend of the Condor Heroes written by Chinese author Jinyong. She also plays an important role in the sequel, The Return of the Condor Heroes.
In her first appearance, Huang Rong disguised herself as a young beggar dressed in filthy clothes. She dirtied her face with mud and covered her clothes in dust so as to look the part. Because of her trickster ways, she was often called by the people of jianghu as "rascal" or "muddy boy" without knowing her real identity. Later, when Guo Jing came near the river to look for her, Huang Rong appeared as she would normally appear, having an unearthly beauty and dressing in beautiful clothes.
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[edit] Roles
[edit] The Legend of the Condor Heroes
Huang Rong ran away from her home in Peach Blossom Island after an argument with her father, the Dong Xie Island Master Huang Yaoshi. She dressed herself in filthy rags and roamed Jiang Hu as a young beggar boy. She first met Guo Jing in an inn where she was causing some trouble. Feeling sorry for her pitiful state (he believed she was really a beggar), Guo Jing offered to pay for her food and even gave her some of his gold ingots (from Genghis Khan).
Huang Rong saw immediately that Guo Jing was a simple lad with an innocent heart, especially when he offered her his prized horse, a rare Mongolian breed who has a fiery coat and sweats blood Han Xie Bao Ma. She decided to secretly help him against the Four Fiends of the Yellow River and their martial arts uncle Hou Tonghai by tying them to a tree by the river. In addition, she more or less fell in love with him.
Huang Rong later met Guo Jing by that same tree after his duel with Yang Kang in the "Contest for a Spouse" staged by Mu Yi (actually Yang Tiexin) and his foster daughter, Mu Nianci.
In the beginning, Huang Rong's martial arts were more sophisticated than that of Guo Jing, who despite his raw strength was a slow learner. Huang Rong managed to get the great martial arts expert, Bei Gai Hong Qigong to train Guo Jing. Hong Qigong at first refused, having learned that Huang Rong was the daughter of his rival Huang Yaoshi. But Huang Rong enticed him with her outstanding cooking and delicious foods, which was Hong's greatest weakness.
Later, Hong Qigong bequeathed his techniques to Huang Rong herself, and she competed with other Beggar Sect members for the position of Chief and Hong Qigong's successor. To win the match, she used some elements of the Jiu Yin Zhen Jing, which she managed to procure with Guo Jing's help.
She had an indirect hand in the death of Yang Kang at Iron Spear Temple.
The novel ended with her father's final consent to the marriage between her and Guo Jing.
[edit] The Return of the Condor Heroes
Like Guo Jing, Huang Rong served as a supporting character in The Return of the Condor Heroes, the sequel to The Legend of the Condor Heroes. In the book, she was portrayed as a more mature version of herself with her trickster nature downplayed but with her woman's intuition and unmatched intelligence still evident.
The story focused on Yang Kang's son, Yang Guo, his love for his kung fu master Xiaolongnü, and his journey into manhood and eventual heroism. But ever the cautious one, Huang Rong did not take to Yang Guo as easily as her husband, knowing that the son may have the father's nature, and that he might take revenge against her and Guo Jing for his father's death.
But her mistrust was tempered by her husband's high regard for Yang Guo, whom he treated like a son, and dispelled entirely by Yang Guo's repeated selfless acts. Later, she taught Yang Guo the Dog Beating Stick Style, the secret technique of the chiefs of Beggar Sect. Yang Guo had learned the forms of the technique earlier on Mount Hua where Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng dueled to the death. Huang Rong taught him the principles and cleared up parts that he did not understand. With this help, Yang Guo was able to hold off Jinlun Fawang, the Mongolian Protector. After Yang Guo selflessly risking his life rescuing her daughter Guo Xiang from Mongolians' captive, she finally fully trusted him.
[edit] Impact in wuxia literature
The women of Jinyong are, for the most part, character foils in that they only serve to help the male protagonists develop their characters. They are often there as love interests.
Huang Rong is arguably the only exception to this seeming rule. The book, She Diao Ying Xiong Zhuan, portrayed her as a complex novel character while at the same time, the love interest of Guo Jing. Their pairing is even uncanny at first but as the story progresses, it is shown to the readers that Huang Rong and Guo Jing actually complement each other.
Huang Rong is considered to be the most intelligent character in Jin Yong's novels by the majority. Her intelligence is frequently mentioned in the trilogy, as well as her cleverness, mischievousness, and wiliness. Guo Jing's "dumbness" is also the pervading description of his character but "dumb" with good intentions.
Many actress have played Huang Rong, most notable is Barbara Yung Mei-ling (翁美玲).
