Jin Yong, the pen name of Louis Cha, was one of the most beloved Chinese-language novelists of the 20th century. His martial arts novels helped define modern wuxia fiction, a genre of chivalrous heroes, secret lineages, moral tests, and sweeping historical adventure.
But beneath the sword fights and heroic quests, one theme appears again and again: sons searching for fathers.
Many of Jin Yong’s heroes grow up without a father, misunderstand a father, lose a father, or spend much of their lives looking for one. That recurring theme was not merely a literary device. Behind it stood one of the deepest sorrows in Jin Yong’s own life: the death of his father, Cha Shuxun.
Cha was executed by firing squad on April 26, 1951, after being labeled a “reactionary landlord.” The execution took place on the playground of Longtougge Primary School, a school he himself had helped establish. Decades later, the authorities overturned the verdict and declared him innocent. But by then, the tragedy had already shaped a lifetime.
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