Originally Posted by
deccan
This is an interesting topic in my opinion. I mentioned pretty much the same point to my wife who is a Chinese studies scholar and she said that Lu Xun had done an essay on the point: the contradictions of Chinese nationalism; an example: it's ironic that an emperor like Kangxi is now considered a "good" emperor because, surprise, surprise, he was a "good" ruler and China enjoyed relative peace and prosperity under his rule. Yet, the only reason he could become emperor in his first place was because his ancestors conquered the Han.
I guess at least by the time of "The Deer and the Cauldron", Jin Yong had come to realize the same point as well: patriotism / national pride / nationalism doesn't mean much, the only thing that really matters is whether or not the rule of a particular government is good for its citizens.
And another parallel point: in LOCH, Guo Jing was raised amongst the Mongols and came to admire their honorable ways, their discipline and the fair way that they treated enemies. By contrast, Guo Jing felt that the Jin were corrupt, and as their campaign to conquer the Song had stalled, become more and more complacent and luxury-loving, much like the Song themselves. It would have been good for all the Han that the Mongols overthrow both the Jin and the Song to establish an honorable government that rewarded merit and discipline!