13 Tai Bo...what was this?

[Ken Cheng]

In wuxia, there's a certain organization known as the "13 Tai Bo" - I think they were imperial guardsmen or some such. TVB made a series about them (starring Felix Wong, Kent Tong, and Austin Wai, among others) in the early 1980s. They had a martial art known as "13 Tai Bo Wang Lim," which showed up in the HAUNTED VILLA book of the LUK SIU FUNG novels. All this is rather sketchy. What *was* the 13 Tai Bo, and what were their martial arts? Did they show up in wuxia novels other than the allusion to one of their skills in LUK SIU FUNG?

[Laviathan]

The Thirteen Warriors or Thirteen Chancellors (Shisan Taibao 十三太保) do no& #116; have ori&#10 3;ins in Wux& #105;a. Shisa&# 110; Taibao i&# 115; the title of &#9 7; histori& #99;al novel , depict&#105 ;ng the war in the Latter Ta& #110;g and early Fi&#118 ;e Dynast&#10 5;es Periods .  Li Key&#1 11;ng, an i&#1 09;portant & #119;arlord o&#10 2; this pe&# 114;iod, had several &#98 ;iologica&#1 08; and adopted s&# 111;ns. Thir& #116;een of &#116 ;hese you&# 110;g men proved e&#1 15;pecially& #32;able in &# 119;arfare, &# 97;nd earned th&#1 01; nickname &#11 1;f Thirte&# 101;n Warrior s. Among&#115 ;t them, &#11 6;he most exc&#10 1;llent fi& #103;hter wa&#115 ; Li Cunxia o, who was known as&#32 ;the Thirteenth& #32;Warrior. & #83;hisan Tai bao can therefore & #114;efer to &#11 6;he group as&#32 ;a whole,&#32 ;or to Li &#67 ;unxiao s&#1 12;ecificall y. The na&# 109;e of the martial a&#11 4;t Shisan Ta&#105 ;bao Heng&#108 ;ian (Thi&#114 ;teenth Wa&#1 14;rior Iron  Body) wa&#1 15; [I][B]mos&# 116; probabl&# 121; [/B] [/I& #93; created& #32;by Jin Yong's fr&#10 5;end Ni K&#11 7;ang, for the Shaw Bros  movie sta&#1 14;ring Ti &# 76;ung and David Chi ang (who  played L&#105 ; Cunxiao&#41 ;. �

[Ken Cheng]

Thanks. That was very informative.

Although the 13 Tai Bo did not originate in wuxia, that apparently hasn't stopped wuxia writers from borrowing the concept for their stories. Other than Gu Long and Ni Kuang, has anyone else used them? Has Jin Yong?

[Laviathan]

In Smiling Proud Wanderer, the thirteen kungfu brothers of Zuo Lengchan of Songshan Clan were nicknamed the Shisan Taibao.

[Ken Cheng]

In Smiling Proud Wanderer, the thirteen kungfu brothers of Zuo Lengchan of Songshan Clan were nicknamed the Shisan Taibao.

Very interesting. I'm guessing that these 13 Tai Bo had no real connections to the historical ones?