Do you think that Dook Goo Kau Bai tended to spare or kill his opponents?

[Ken Cheng]

In Gu Long's novels, elite swordsmen such as Yin 13, Tse Hiu Fung, Sai Mun Chui Sheut, Yip Goo Sing, Ah Fei, and Ging Mo Meng tended to be killers. For them, victory was almost inevitably their slain opponent's blood at the tip of their swords. Rarely did any of them win a duel without killing his opponent.

What about Dook Goo Kau Bai? He won all those fights (supposedly): do you think he tended to kill his opponents (which might explain why there was hardly anyone around to propagate his legend) or do you think he spared them?

[Guo Xiang]

Didn't he seem to be really upset about accidentally killing (or was it seriously wounding) an opponent that he threw away one of his swords? That doesn't make him sound like he kills his opponents.

[Ken Cheng]

Didn't he seem to be really upset about accidentally killing (or was it seriously wounding) an opponent that he threw away one of his swords? That doesn't make him sound like he kills his opponents.

That might depend upon the identity of the opponent.

It's strange to hear about a swordsman who doesn't kill. Among the traditional Chinese melee weapons, the sword is among the most lethal. Spears, sabres, and especially blunt weapons such as sticks can be more easily wielded mercifully, but the sword was designed almost specifically to kill...and the other elite swordsmen almost always did.

[PJ]

In a contest of martial art (which does not include personal agendas), any decent martial artist should not have the intent to purposely harm his opponent; this was the tradition in Mainland wulin.

[Ken Cheng]

In a contest of martial art (which does not include personal agendas), any decent martial artist should not have the intent to purposely harm his opponent; this was the tradition in Mainland wulin.

Those Gu Long swordsmen almost always used lethal force. I don't know if people would characterize Yip Goo Sing or Ging Mo Meng as "decent," but Sai Mun Chui Sheut, Tse Hiu Fung, Ah Fei, and Yin 13 definitely were. Lee Chum Foon killed often too, but always righteously.

[tape]

Dagger Li was able to have duels without killing, despite his signature technique pretty much being a bullet.

In his duel with Guo Songyang, he merely threw his dagger at the tip of the sword to stop him rather than at his throat, which he surely could have.

[PJ]

Those Gu Long swordsmen almost always used lethal force. I don't know if people would characterize Yip Goo Sing or Ging Mo Meng as "decent," but Sai Mun Chui Sheut, Tse Hiu Fung, Ah Fei, and Yin 13 definitely were. Lee Chum Foon killed often too, but always righteously.

I thought they mainly killed people who deserved to die, which was one of the reasons they decided to fight them - to eradicate evil. And I'm not sure that Ah Fei and Yan 13 can be considered "decent" in the moral sense. IIRC, Ah Fei did not have much of a moral conscience, at least not at the beginning of novel.

[hyoyatika]

DGQB was quite a nutcase in my opinion. I believe if the opponent prove to be absolutely unworthy, he would have no qualms slaying him/her on the spot. However, if the opponent proved to be somewhat worthy, I reckon he might spare him/her so that he/she could return to challenge again.