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Thread: A strange paucity of surname variety in HSDS?

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Default A strange paucity of surname variety in HSDS?

    In HSDS, among the elite of the Mo Dong Sect...founder Cheung 3 Fung and his seven primary disciples, the surname "Cheung" comes up three times (Cheung 3 Fung, Cheung Chung Kai, and Cheung Chui San) and the surname "Yu" comes up twice (Yu Lin Chou, Yu Doi Nam). Now as "Cheung" is one of the five most common Chinese surnames, it might not be that unusual that even among a small group of eight biologically unrelated people, three might be surnamed "Cheung," but to also have two unrelated "Yus" (a far less common surname) in the same group? Additionally, the surname "Yan" is not very common, but again, HSDS features Mo Dong Sect's Yan Lei Ting and the biologically unrelated Yan Family of the Heavenly Eagle Sect. Why such a paucity of surname diversity in HSDS?

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    Frankly, no idea. Maybe jy runs out of surnames; or not to use similar surnames as other novels.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Cheng View Post
    In HSDS, among the elite of the Mo Dong Sect...founder Cheung 3 Fung and his seven primary disciples, the surname "Cheung" comes up three times (Cheung 3 Fung, Cheung Chung Kai, and Cheung Chui San) and the surname "Yu" comes up twice (Yu Lin Chou, Yu Doi Nam). Now as "Cheung" is one of the five most common Chinese surnames, it might not be that unusual that even a small group of eight biologically unrelated people might be surnamed "Cheung," but to also have two unrelated "Yus" (a far less common surname) in the same group? Additionally, the surname "Yan" is not very common, but again, HSDS features Mo Dong Sect's Yan Lei Ting and the biologically unrelated Yan Family of the Heavenly Eagle Sect. Why such a paucity of surname diversity in HSDS?
    Jinyong did not create the names of the seven Wudang disciples - they were students of Zhang Sanfeng according to '太極拳勢圖解' (Taijiquan Postures Explained), a book by Xu Yusheng on Taijiquan written in 1921. There is an English translation here.

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    I haven't crunched the numbers, but am almost certain the list of dramatis personae in HSDS exceeds that of either of the two Condor novels - there's every chance that HSDS actually has a greater diversity of surnames than the other two.

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