The Return of the Condor Heroes

For other uses, see The Return of the Condor Heroes (disambiguation).

The Return of the Condor Heroes

300px Total Issue No. 105, Chapter 7 of The Return of the Condor Heroes, as originally appeared in the September 1, 1959 issue of Ming Pao
Author	Jin Yong
Original title	神鵰俠侶
Country	China
Language	Chinese
Series	Condor Trilogy
Genre	Wuxia, romance
Publisher	Ming Pao
Publication date	20 May 1959
Media type	Print
Preceded by	The Legend of the Condor Heroes
Followed by	The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber

The Return of the Condor Heroes
Traditional Chinese	神鵰俠侶
Simplified Chinese	神雕侠侣
Literal meaning	The Divine Eagle and the Heroic Couple
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shén Diāo Xiá Lǚ Yue: Cantonese Jyutping San4 Diu1 Haap6 Leoi5

The Return of the Condor Heroes, also called The Giant Eagle and Its Companion, is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It is the second part of the Condor Trilogy, and was preceded by The Legend of the Condor Heroes and followed by The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. It was first serialised between 20 May 1959 and 5 July 1961 in the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao.

The story revolves around the protagonist, Yang Guo, and his lover and martial arts master, Xiaolongnü, in their adventures in the jianghu (also called the wulin, the community of martial artists), where love between master and apprentice is seen as taboo. Jin Yong revised the novel in 1970 and again in 2004. There are 40 chapters in the second and third revisions. Each chapter has a title composed of four Chinese characters. Most of the revisions are either clarifications or minor alterations of character motivations or names.

Plot

The protagonist, Yang Guo, is the orphaned son of Yang Kang, the antagonist in The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The couple Guo Jing and Huang Rong take Yang Guo under their care for a short period of time before sending him to the Quanzhen Sect on Mount Zhongnan for better guidance in moral values and orthodox martial arts. In Quanzhen, Yang Guo is often picked on and bullied by his fellow students, and discriminated against by his master, Zhao Zhijing. Yang Guo flees from Quanzhen and ventures unknowingly into the nearby Tomb of the Living Dead, where the Ancient Tomb Sect is housed. He is saved by Xiaolongnü, a mysterious maiden of unknown origin, and becomes her apprentice. They live together in the tomb for many years until Yang Guo grows up.

Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü develop romantic feelings for each other, but their romance is forbidden by the prevailing norms of the jianghu (or wulin, the community of martial artists). Throughout the story, their love meets with several tests, such as the misunderstandings that threaten to tear them apart, and their encounter with Gongsun Zhi, whom Xiaolongnü almost marries at one point. Finally, after their reunion and marriage, Xiaolongnü leaves Yang Guo again, owing to her belief she cannot recover from a fatal poison, and promises to meet him again 16 years later. While Yang Guo is wandering the jianghu alone, he meets several formidable martial artists and a giant condor, and improves his skills tremendously after learning from them. His adventures gradually mould him into a courageous hero and perhaps the most powerful martial artist of his time. Yang Guo serves his native land by helping the Han Chinese people of the Song Empire resist invaders from the Mongol Empire. At the end of the novel, he is reunited with Xiaolongnü and they leave to lead the rest of their lives in seclusion after receiving praises and blessings from the wulin.

Characters

Main article: List of The Return of the Condor Heroes characters

Adaptations

Films

Year	Production	Main cast	Additional information
1960	Emei Film Company (Hong Kong)	Patrick Tse, Nam Hung, Lam Kau, Chan Wai-yue	See The Story of the Great Heroes
1982	Shaw Brothers Studio (Hong Kong)	Alexander Fu, Philip Kwok, Gigi Wong, Lung Tien-hsiang, Lam Sau-kwan	See The Brave Archer and His Mate
1983		Leslie Cheung, Mary Jean Reimer, Chen Kuan-tai, Leanne Liu	See Little Dragon Maiden

Television

Year	Production	Main cast	Additional information
1976	CTV (Hong Kong)	Law Lok-lam, Lee Tong-ming, Jason Pai, Michelle Yim	See The Return of the Condor Heroes (1976 TV series)
1983	TVB (Hong Kong)	Andy Lau, Idy Chan, Bryan Leung, Susanna Au-yeung	See The Return of the Condor Heroes (1983 TV series)
1984	CTV (Taiwan)	Meng Fei, Angela Pan, Hsiang Yun-peng, Chang Han-po, Shen Hai-jung	See The Return of the Condor Heroes (1984 TV series)
1995	TVB (Hong Kong)	Louis Koo, Carman Lee, Jason Pai, Bonnie Ngai	See The Condor Heroes 95
1998	MediaCorp (Singapore)	Christopher Lee, Fann Wong, Zhu Houren, Shirley He	See The Return of the Condor Heroes (Singaporean TV series)
	TTV (Taiwan)	Richie Ren, Jacklyn Wu, Sun Xing, Patricia Ha	See The Return of the Condor Heroes (TTV)
2001	Nippon Animation (Japan)	Daisuke Namikawa, Mie Sonozaki	See The Legend of Condor Hero
2006	Ciwen Film & TV Production Co. Ltd. (Mainland China)	Huang Xiaoming, Liu Yifei, Wang Luoyong, Kong Lin	See The Return of the Condor Heroes (2006 TV series)
2014	Yu Zheng Studio (Mainland China)	Chen Xiao, Michelle Chen, Zheng Guolin, Minna Yang	See The Romance of the Condor Heroes

Comics

Asiapac Books acquired the rights to produce an illustrated version of the novel in 1995. The 18 volume comic series was illustrated by Wee Tian Beng and translated by Jean Lim with Jin Yong's approval. The lavishly illustrated series won the Prestigious Award in 1997 during the Asian Comics Conference held in South Korea. Notable deviations from the main story include funny strips that poke gentle fun at some of the story's events, in line with conventions of the comic book medium.

In 2002 ComicsOne published the first official English translation of Legendary Couple, a retelling of the novel. The comic series was illustrated by Wong Yuk-long while Jin Yong was credited as the writer.

Video games

Softworld released a RPG based on the novel for the DOS. The game is only available in Chinese and covers the first half of the novel to the point where Yang Guo meets the Condor.