A hypothetical Shaolin/Cheun Jen Sect rivalry?

[Ken Cheng]

During the six decades that spanned L/ROCH, the Cheun Jen Sect reigned as the top sect of orthodox Chinese wulin. This is a role more commonly occupied by the Shaolin Temple in most wuxia stories, but during the period of L/ROCH, Shaolin's power was in abeyance due to various internal problems, and Shaolin would not reclaim its top dog status in mainstream wulin until after the Cheun Jen Sect had effectively been wiped out as a wulin power by the Mongols in ROCH.

Had Shaolin never sustained any problems during the L/ROCH, era, however, would the Cheun Jen Sect have been able to challenge Shaolin for # 1 sect status? The Cheun Jen Sect did boast the world's # 1 martial artist of the time (Central Divinity Wong Chung Yeung), and Wong's first generation of disciples were a formidable crew collectively if not individually.

I guess the closest point of comparison would be the Mo Dong Sect in HSDS: behind the reputation of Cheung 3 Fung and the Mo Dong 7 Heroes, the Mo Dong Sect rose quickly in power and prestige in wulin, but as long as Shaolin was there and at or near the top of its game, the Mo Dong Sect couldn't do better than be # 2 sect in wulin.

Would the Cheun Jen Sect have had a similar experience if Shaolin had remained prominent during L/ROCH?

[smurf120]

My impression was that Cheun Jun featured more prominently in the stories due to personal relationship with the central characters rather than status in wulin.

[Ken Cheng]

My impression was that Cheun Jun featured more prominently in the stories due to personal relationship with the central characters rather than status in wulin.

The close ties with the protagonists was part of it, but beyond that, the Cheun Jen Sect (along with the evergreen Beggar's Union) *was* the preeminent wulin sect of the L/ROCH era. Both the Jin Empire and the Mongol Empire made a point of singling out the Cheun Jen Sect for destruction because they perceived the sect as a great threat. Kublai Khan confided in the Golden Wheel Monk that the fall of the Southern Sung Dynasty probably couldn't be accomplished without first eliminating the Cheun Jen Sect as the most vital touchstone for the Chinese wulin at the time. That's a status usually reserved for Shaolin.