'Xia Ke Xing' - A 'rousseauesque' Jin Yong novel?

[Du Gu seeking a win]

Was JY influenced by Jean Jacques Rousseau (French philosopher 1712-1778)? If one reads JY's novel 'Xia Ke Xing' this is seemingly the case.

In XKX, two types of human beings are juxtaposed:

Shi Po Tian - a pure soul ('noble savage') excluded from society,

Xie Yan Ke - a man with 'smooth outside - rotten inside' behaviour.


Doesn't this comply with J.J. Rousseau's idea of :

mankind is innately/basically good before he is contaminated and corrupted by society.


In the end JY even let the illiterate hero SPT succeed against his cultured opponents.


Your opinions please.

[Candide]

Doesn't this comply with J.J. Rousseau's idea of :

mankind is innately/basically good before he is contaminated and corrupted by society.

It does, but that idea has been known in Asia for a few thousand years already. I'm surprised that you don't know about it.

[Du Gu seeking a win]

Originally posted by Candide
It does, but that idea has been known in Asia for a few thousand years already. I'm surprised that you don't know about it.

¶
Can't imagine that the Chinese (with its thousand years of culture) would say that human beings are corrupted by society/culture

[Candide]

I can't write Chinese, but the first part of the Sino-Vietnamese version is:

"Nhan chi so, tinh ban thien..."

It states that all humans are born innocent or good. Those who become evil/bad are influenced by external factors. It doesn't explicitly say that humans (or all humans) are corrupted by society/culture though.

It's more likely that Jin Yong is influenced by this traditional point of view than that of the French dude.

[Suet Seung]

Originally posted by Candide
I can't write Chinese, but the first part of the Sino-Vietnamese version is:

"Nhan chi so, tinh ban thien..."

Hmm...that line...it's from a Buddhist prayer, San something Jing or something?

[Guo Xiang]

Originally posted by Du Gu seeking a win
¶
Can't imagine that the Chinese (with its thousand years of culture) would say that human beings are corrupted by society/culture

5000 years, thank you.

[convoy]

Originally posted by Suet Seung
Hmm...that line...it's from a Buddhist prayer, San something Jing or something?

Three Words Scripture (San Zi Jing) has nothing to do with Buddhism. It is about the philosophy of life.

[Suet Seung]

Originally posted by convoy
Three Words Scripture (San Zi Jing) has nothing to do with Buddhism. It is about the philosophy of life.

Hahaha Thanks for correcting me. Then where did this philosophy come from? By Whom?

[convoy]

Originally posted by Suet Seung
Hahaha Thanks for correcting me. Then where did this philosophy come from? By Whom?

By some ancient guy .
No, I also don't know.

[Du Gu seeking a win]

Originally posted by Suet Seung
Hahaha Thanks for correcting me. Then where did this philosophy come from? By Whom?

¶


http://raptor.depauw.edu/sanzijing/

http://raptor.depauw.edu/sanzijing/szj001-008g.html

[convoy]

Well, it seems that it is not merely a philosophy of life. It is also includes mathematics, geography, chemistry, farming, etc.