Would it really diminish a wuxia hero in your eyes if he accepted money for services?

[Ken Cheng]

It's generally understood that wulin heroes fight for chivalric, not monetary reasons. They fight to protect the innocent, to defend their nations, or to support their friends, families, allies, or lovers. They don't fight for money; only villains are mercenaries in wuxia stories.

That said, would it really diminish a wuxia hero in your eyes if he were to accept money for his services? I'm not talking about a character who callously refuses to help those in peril unless he is paid, but someone who does a good deed for the right reasons, is offered a reward by the grateful party whom he helped, and actually accepts the reward. Wuxia heroes invariably turn down monetary rewards offered to them, but would it degrade a hero in your eyes if, just for once, he accepted the money?

[tweety365]

I would think it makes perfect sense for a hero to accept $. Unless the hero is born wealthy, where is he gonna get the funds to travel around doing heroic deeds. That is one of the unanswered question often in the back of my mind when watching/reading wuxia. Clothes, food, shelter, and even weapons all cost money. Yet our heroes do not have jobs. So where are the funds coming from?

[Radken]

Yes, because it would be like taking advantage of a situation.

[Ren Ying Ying]

well, you can't expect all of them to be robin hoods for their money...

perhaps not taking money, but what about taking other gifts like food or clothes?

[pannonian]

When the Eagle Hero stole 4000 taels of silver to help someone pay their debts, he used 2000 taels to settle the debt and kept the other 2000 for other use. Guo Fu didn't think much of this, but then she didn't think highly of the Eagle Hero. No-one else found any fault with this though.

From ROCH chapter 33.

The young girl said with a smile, “Well, this is curious; he used
money to buy your life? Eh, how much is it worth?”

That man laughed aloud and said, “My worthless body actually cost more
than beef and pork because the Eagle Hero unexpectedly forked out 2,000
taels of silver for it. More than five years ago, I tried to uphold
justice in Shandong and I killed a crook. Since murder carries the death
penalty, I was sentenced to death so there was nothing for me to say.
Who knew several days later, the Licheng county magistrate interrogated
the local evil tyrant and later brought me forward for a torture session
accusing me of crimes that local tyrant committed, murder, extortion,
rape; all the blame was pushed onto me and the tyrant was acquitted.
Afterwards the Prison

Warden told me that the tyrant bribed the County Magistrate with 1,000
taels of silver, so the County Magistrate transferred all his capital
charges to me. A capital offence is punished with death; ten capital
offences were also punished with death, so I was made a scapegoat. When
I heard such injustice, I shouted loudly in my cell, scolding the
corrupt official, but what use was that?”

“After several days, the corrupt official called for a retrial and that
local tyrant was also kneeling next to me. I shouted, ‘You corrupted
dog, you accepted bribes and distorted justice, you will not have a
peaceful death!’ That corrupt official grinned, ‘Song Wu, you do not
have to speak thus, I investigated closely and found that you were
sentenced unjustly. That crook was not killed by you but by this
tyrant!’ After saying that, he ordered the Yamen attendants to hit him
hard, and used the bamboo torture method (something like squeezing the
fingers between bamboo sticks) on him, forcing him to confess that he
killed that crook and pushed the blame on me. I wasn’t able to figure
this out; that crook was obviously killed by me, how could this charge
be transferred to someone else?”

The young girl heard this and smiled, saying, “This magistrate must be
really blind.”

Song Wu said, “He was definitely not blind; when I got home, my mother
told me after I was sentenced to death, my mother bitterly wept daily on
the street. One day she happened to meet the Eagle Hero passing through
who asked her what was wrong. The Eagle Hero asked around and discovered
the truth; he said he had a matter at hand and didn’t have the time to
find this corrupt official to settle the score, so he gave my mother
2,000 taels of silver to buy my life. After three months, everyone in
the town said the County Magistrate, late one night, was robbed of 4,000
taels of silver and got into a fit of anger. He was so mad he coughed up
blood ever since. I knew this surely must be the Eagle Hero’s doing, so
I didn’t dare continue living there and moved to Jiangnan. After more
than a year, some people told me, a great master with a missing arm was
by the seashore with a big queer bird and he was looking blankly into
the sea, and had been doing so for the past few days. I hastily hurried
up to him and kowtowed to him as an expression of gratitude.”

The young woman suddenly said, “Thank him for what? He paid 2,000 taels
of silver but stole 4,000 taels of silver; so he made a profit of 2,000
taels of silver. How could this Yang scum do business in such an
unscrupulous manner?”

[shenlong]

I'd just go into the escort business, much easier way to get money than hoping for rewards after saving someone.

[Felix]

It's generally understood that wulin heroes fight for chivalric, not monetary reasons. They fight to protect the innocent, to defend their nations, or to support their friends, families, allies, or lovers. They don't fight for money; only villains are mercenaries in wuxia stories.

That said, would it really diminish a wuxia hero in your eyes if he were to accept money for his services? I'm not talking about a character who callously refuses to help those in peril unless he is paid, but someone who does a good deed for the right reasons, is offered a reward by the grateful party whom he helped, and actually accepts the reward. Wuxia heroes invariably turn down monetary rewards offered to them, but would it degrade a hero in your eyes if, just for once, he accepted the money?

This is assuming he keeps the money himself right? And not, spread it among the poor.

[PJ]

If he needed the cash, then it's OK. It's just like a job.

If he's just greedy for money, then obviously I'd lose respect.

[Radken]

I'd just go into the escort business, much easier way to get money than hoping for rewards after saving someone.

When you said that and I saw the girl in your avatar I went "woah".

[sarakoth]

Take a look at the Gu Long heroes. They're all loaded! Think where they get it from?

[WuxiaGem]

I think it would be okay. I remember watching "Eight Heroes" where one of the heroes was an assassin for hire but he only accepted jobs where the target deserved death. It didn't make the character any less of a good person in my eyes.

[Ken Cheng]

Take a look at the Gu Long heroes. They're all loaded! Think where they get it from?

Sai Mun Chui Sheut owned a successful bakery business in the national capital.

Lee Chum Foon came from a long line of civil servants/noblemen.

Fa Mun Lau's family owned the most real estate in the country.

[Wu Wudi]

What about a hero that accepts sexual favors? There're probably instances of such exchanges in Gu Long's world.

[sarakoth]

What about a hero that accepts sexual favors? There're probably instances of such exchanges in Gu Long's world.

Not a true hero, lol