Yang Guo
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The fictional character Yang Guo (Traditional Chinese: 楊過; Simplified Chinese: 杨过; pinyin: Yáng Guò) is the protagonist in the 1959 Chinese wuxia novel The Return of the Condor Heroes by Jinyong.
One of the best-loved characters in writer Louis Cha's list of fictional heroes, Yang Guo came to epitomise youthful rebellion. A reluctant hero, his love affair with his teacher Xiaolongnü remains one of the classic love stories in wuxia fiction. Yang Guo traces his lineage to an illustrious military family, the Yang Clan of the Song Dynasty, which was well-known for their patriotism.
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[edit] Biography
- Family name: Yang
- Given name: Guo
- Style name: Gaizhi (改之)
- Nickname: Shen Diao Xia (神鵰俠); the West Passionate (西狂)
- Gender: Male
- Birth: February-March or May-June 1224
- Death: (unknown)
- Father: Yang Kang (楊康)
- Mother: Qin Nanqin (秦南琴) (initial version) / Mu Nianci (穆念慈) (later versions)
- Wife: Xiaolongnü (小龍女)
- Adoptive father: Ouyang Feng (歐陽鋒)
- Martial master: Xiaolongnü (小龍女)
- First met Xiaolongnü: January 22, 1239
- Married with Xiaolongnü: March-April 1244 (earlier versions)
- Left Xiaolongnü at Passionless Valley: April 15, 1244 (earlier versions) / January 18, 1244 (3rd revision)
- Reunite with Xiaolongnü: April 20, 1260 (earlier versions) / January 21, 1260 (3rd revision)
[edit] Name
Yang Guo was named by Guo Jing (郭靖), his given name "Guo" (過 / 过) means "fault" in Chinese, and style name "Gaizhi" (改之 / 改之) means "correct it".
Possible descendant: A girl (in yellow dress) appeared in the later novel : Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (倚天屠龍記). In the novel it is not clearly stated that she was the offspring of Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü, but readers infer that she probably was,for her last name was Yang and she said "In the back of the Zhong Nan Mountain, there is the Tomb of the Living Dead. Shen Diao Xia and his wife never show up in the Jianghu again." (終南山後，活死人墓。神鵰俠侶，絕跡江湖。)
[edit] Story Background
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 the prequel The Legend of the Condor Heroes (射鵰英雄傳), Yang Guo was an orphan who was raised by his father's sworn brother, Guo Jing.
Yang Guo became entangled in a romantic relationship with his martial arts master, Xiaolongnü. The existence of such master-apprentice relationships is highly taboo in Confucian Chinese society, and both parties suffered tremendously pursuing their love. After numerous tribulations, they eventually overcame the pressure and their love was accepted. The loyalty and daring attitudes of both Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü are the primary features of the story.
[edit] Yang Guo's Martial Arts
Throughout the book, Yang Guo encountered numerous elite martial artists and able to acquire elements of their skills. Eventually, he was able to create his unique blend, the Melancholic Palms (黯然銷魂掌). Unlike the slow-learning Guo Jing, Yang Guo was extraordinarily intelligent, rather like Huang Rong (黃蓉). He stood without peer in his generation and was eventually honoured with a position among the Five Greats, bestowed the title West Passionate (西狂), taking the place of the deceased Ouyang Feng.
[edit] Ouyang Feng / West Poison (歐陽鋒/西毒)
At the beginning of the story, Yang Guo encountered the crazed elite martial artist Ouyang Feng, also known as West Poison because of his mastery with poisons. Becoming a foster father to Yang Guo, Ouyang Feng taught his erstwhile son the basics of his Divine Toad Stance (Ha Ma Gong, 蛤蟆功).
[edit] Quanzhen School (全真教)
Yang Guo was taken in by Guo Jing and Huang Rong; the former felt responsible for his sworn brother's orphaned son, but the latter held grave doubts about the son growing up to be like his father. Yang Guo was taught to read and write, but was not tutored in any martial arts. Being picked on by the other children, he fought back with his Divine Toad Stance, and Huang Rong's suspicions seemed to be confirmed.
Guo Jing brought the boy to be raised by the Quanzhen sect, a Taoist martial arts school, whose martial arts Guo Jing had himself studied. Here, Yang Guo was to learn to be an upright citizen, and was apprenticed to Zhao Zhijing (趙志敬), but neither party was content with arrangement. Yang Guo, having seen Guo Jing easily defeat a group of Quanzhen martial artists (in a case of mistaken identity), began harbouring resentment towards Guo Jing for not teaching him himself.
Smarting from the embarrassing defeat at the hands of Guo Jing (as well as from other incidents Yang Guo was involved in), Zhao Zhijing was determined not to tutor Yang Guo in proper martial arts; teaching him only martial art cultivation verses by rote (but leaving out the physical movement), Zhao Zhijing was able to keep up the appearance of isntructing Yang Guo to his own masters. This left Yang Guo highly theoretically able, but lacking in application.
[edit] Ancient Tomb Sect Kung Fu (古墓派功夫)
Yang Guo would later flee from Quanzhen due to his ill treatment. He came to live in the nearby Ancient Tomb with Xiaolongnü, the grand-disciple of the deceased Grand Ancestress Lin Chaoying (林朝英), founder of Gumu Pai (Ancient Tomb Sect, 古墓派). From his new master Xiaolongnü, Yang Guo learnt the elegant and graceful martial arts of the Gumu Pai, including the Unparalleled Lightness of Ancient Tomb, the Fist of Beauties, the Palm of Infinity supplied with the Gloves of White Silver, the Long Sash of Gold Bells, the Gold Needles of Jade Bee (玉蜂針) and the most of powerful of Ancient Tomb Sect's, the Jade Maiden Sword Play (玉女劍法). Yang Guo's memorised Quanzhen verses enabled both him and Xiaolongnü to advance and eventually succeed in mastering the Jade Maiden Sword Play.
[edit] Dog-Beating Stick Technique (打狗棒法)
Due to a misunderstanding, Xiaolongnü left Yang Guo. In his search for his master, Yang Guo met Hong Qigong (洪七公), the Northern Beggar (北丐) and former chief of Beggars' Sect. Shortly after, Yang Guo and Hong Qigong encountered Ouyang Feng once again. Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong, being lifelong foes, engaged in a days-long battle of martial arts and Qigong (氣功), with neither conceding defeat. The battle of qigong greatly weakened Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng, and both were seriously injured. Although both boasted of secret and powerful martial art techniques yet to be displayed, they were physically unable to duel any further.
In order to settle the duel, they used Yang Guo as an intermediary, telling him how to perform each technique for the other to see. From Hong Qigong, Yang Guo learned the clever and ingenious variations of the Dog-Beating Stick Technique, and the vengeful and malevolent Snake Staff Techniques from Ouyang Feng. However, Yang Guo did not gain full comprehension of the Dog-Beating Stick Technique, until Huang Rong taught him the accompanying verses later on.
[edit] Dugu Qiubai's Sword Techniques (獨孤求敗剑法)
In a dramatic and tragic twist, an injured Yang Guo was attacked by Guo Fu (郭芙), Guo Jing's daughter, in a misunderstanding, resulting in the loss of Yang Guo's right arm. Yang Guo, severely weakened and delirious from loss of blood, staggered away from the scene and was subsequently rescued by, and in the process befriended, the legendary condor (神鵰). The condor had once been a companion of the deceased legendary swordsman, Dugu Qiubai (Solo Begs-to-Lose). The condor helped Yang Guo recover from his injuries, and acquainted him with both the sword (Xuantie Zhongjian, or Heavy Iron Sword, 玄鐵重劍) and the techniques of Dugu Qiubai.
In order to wield Dugu Qiubai's Heavy Iron Sword with one arm, Yang Guo trained relentlessly with the help of the condor. Later, armed with the Heavy Iron Sword, Yang Guo defeated a group of powerful martial artists on Zhong Nan Mountain (终南山). After his separation from Xiaolongnu, Yang Guo returned to the Condor Valley to continue his swordsmanship training for over seven years.
[edit] Melancholic Palms (黯然銷魂掌)
During the 16 years Yang Guo spent waiting for Xiaolongnü's return, his great sadness drove him to create a set of palm techniques which he later called the Divine Melancholic Palms (An Ran Xiao Hun Zhang). It was a brand-new palm technique that rivalled even Guo Jing's powerful Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms (Xiang Long Shi Ba Zhang, 降龍十八掌/ 降龙十八掌). The Divine Melancholic Palms incorporated the martial arts that Yang Guo had learnt in his lifetime, which included the skills of martial arts masters like Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng, Hong Qi Gong and the skills of different schools like Quanzhen Sect and Ancient Tomb Sect, as well as some of the techniques in the Jiuyin Manual.
This palm technique was based on emotion. The more dejected Yang Guo felt, the more powerful the palm technique became. With this palm technique, Yang Guo sparred with two martial arts masters, Zhou Botong and Huang Yaoshi. Although their duels more or less ended in a draw, the two martial arts masters praised Yang Guo's genius in creating this set of powerful palm techniques. In fact, Zhou Botong went down on his knees to beg Yang Guo to teach him the Divine Melancholic Palms, but because of his fundamentally cheerful nature, Zhou Botong could not master it.
In his battle against the Golden Wheel Monk, Yang Guo was unable to fully master the power of the technique because he was overjoyed after his reunion with Xiaolongnü. However, at the verge of death, he was saddened by the fact that he would not be able to see her again and the power of the Divine Melancholic Palms returned, allowing him to defeat the Golden Wheel Monk and save Guo Xiang from being burned.
[edit] Television and film adaptations
Several notable actors who have played Yang Guo in television or film adaptations of The Return of the Condor Heroes:
