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Thread: Recycling character names in wuxia fiction?

  1. #1
    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Default Recycling character names in wuxia fiction?

    Sometimes, when you create hundreds upon hundreds of characters for your works of fiction, you run out of names for them and start recycling a name or two...

    I don't know if there are any notable incidences of Jin Yong doing this, but I think Gu Long did it at least once: recycle the name of one character for another, completely unrelated character in a different novel. In SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN, RUTHLESS SWORD, there's a somewhat significant character (one of Lung Siu Wan's guests and seemingly the ringleader in the effort to frame Lee Chum Foon as the Plum Blossom Bandit) named Chiu Jing Ngor. He was probably the more well-known Chiu Jing Ngor in Gu Long's canon, but he wasn't the only one. In LUK SIU FUNG: BEFORE AND AFTER THE DUEL, Luk Siu Fung asked a Beijing beggar to help him investigate the mysterious white horse that came out from the stables of the Forbidden City bearing the corpse of Cheung Ying Fung, and that beggar's name was...yep, Chiu Jing Ngor (no relation whatsoever to the identically named SSRS guy).

    Are there any other notable incidences of wuxia writers completely recycling a character name for two unrelated characters in different stories?

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    Senior Member whiteskwirl's Avatar
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    Are the same Chinese characters being used in the names, though? Transliteration may make it look like the same name, but the characters used could be different.

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by whiteskwirl View Post
    Are the same Chinese characters being used in the names, though? Transliteration may make it look like the same name, but the characters used could be different.
    This, I do not know; in the adaptations of both novels, the names were pronounced the same.

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    Senior Member junny's Avatar
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    The character in 多情剑客无情剑 is called 赵正义, whereas the beggar in 陆小凤 is named 赵正我. The names differ in the last character and shouldn't be pronounced the same even in Cantonese.

    The 赵正我 from the 1978 version of SSRS is probably made up, with 赵正义 as its base.
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    Member HuangRong's Avatar
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    In Legend of the White-Haired Demoness (Liang YuSheng) Long XiaoYun is a swordsman from E'Mei.
    In Sentimental Swordsman (Gu Long) Long XiaoYun is a friend of Li XunHuan.

    Even though it's not the same author, it's still a "recycling" of the name.
    欲取鸣琴弹,恨无知音赏。~孟浩然

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HuangRong View Post
    In Legend of the White-Haired Demoness (Liang YuSheng) Long XiaoYun is a swordsman from E'Mei.
    In Sentimental Swordsman (Gu Long) Long XiaoYun is a friend of Li XunHuan.

    Even though it's not the same author, it's still a "recycling" of the name.
    Indeed.

    On a similar note, Jin Yong featured an "Iron Faced Judge" in DGSD while Gu Long featured a different one in the first book of LUK SIU FUNG.

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    Jin Yong does repeat names - you just never see it because he goes back and revises his works.

    For example, in the first edition of TYYLJ, Yang Dingtian (陽頂天) was named Yang Potian (楊破天). This was revised, probably because Jin Yong thought readers might draw a connection to Yang Guo or Yang Xiao. The name Potian, of course, was later given to Shi Potian.

    In the same book, Zhang Cuifeng and Yin Susu had originally intended for Zhang Wuji to be named Zhang Nianci (張念慈) before renaming him in memory of Xie Xun's murdered son. This was changed because of Mu Nianci, who in the second edition of SDXL became Yang Guo's mother.

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    Senior Member mawguy's Avatar
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    both LYS and GL have a yu luocha (玉羅剎). both JY and GL have a wuji (無忌)--zhang wuji and zhao wuji, respectively.
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    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    In the 1989 TV series "Jade-Faced Flying Fox", the title character is named Zhuo Bufan. Not sure if it was just coincidence or if the creator was another die hard fan of Jin Yong's SWORD GOD...
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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