Gu Long's mythical Sung Dynasty

[Ken Cheng]

By general consensus and contextual clues, fans agree that more or less all of Gu Long's wulin stories take place during the Ming Dynasty. It's not uncommon, however, for the characters in Gu Long's stories to speak of legendary wulin figures from 300 to 400 years ago, which would place these legendary figures in the Sung Dynasty. One example was the legendary swordsman that Lee Chum Foon and Yau Lung Sang discussed before and after Yau challenged Lee to a duel (that Lee handily won), and whose ancient sword Yau Lung Sang used during the duel.

Over in Jin Yong's universe, the Sung Dynasty was the setting for a number of Jin Yong's most popular stories (e.g. DGSD, LOCH, ROCH), and indeed, that era of the Jin Yong universe was heavily loaded with wulin powerhouses: the Janitor Monk, the Siu Yiu Sect Elders, the Mo Yung Family, the Siu Family of Khitan, the Greats, etc. It makes you wonder if Gu Long's Sung Dynasty, which was never one of his proper novel settings, but was alluded to obliquely, was a similar era of wulin powerhouses.

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

It could be because the era was one of the cultural high points of Chinese culture so attracting attention from different writers.
It was also an era of war and turbulence allowing opportunity for great adventures.