(Lovers + Family) vs Brothers in Wuxia Fiction.

[Huang Rong]

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei, the founding emperor of the Kingdom of Shu said: "妻子如衣服, 兄弟如手足" - Lovers/Wives and Children are just as clothing, while brothers are as limbs.

That statement became well-known and has been used widely. In some wuxia novels that I've read, several characters did consider ther wives, sons, daughters and disciples as clothing. To them, brotherhood was the most important sentiment.

For example:
1. In Sentimental Swordsman Emotionless Sword, Little Li Flying Dagger conceded his lover Lin Shiyin and all his property to his sworn brother Long Xiaoyun. That act resulted in those 3 having lived in grief for ~ 15 years or so.

2. In Xiao Ao Jiang Hu, the little martial brother of Xiao Xiang Ya Yu Mr Mo Da, Liu Zhengfeng, a person whose both zither techniques and swordsmanship reached the level of perfection, sacrificed all his family, his disciples and even himself to protect the sworn brotherhood between him and Qu Lingfeng, an Elder of the Sun Moon Devine Sect.

Do you agree with them?
If you were a wuxia person, which sentiment would you treasure more? (Love + Family) or Brotherhood?

IMHO, I dislike the way Li Xunhuan and Liu Zhengfeng valued their lovers and family less than their sworn brothers.

[Suet Seung]

to protect the sworn brotherhood between him and Qu Lingfeng, an Elder of the Sun Moon Devine Sect.
[/b]

Rong er, I think you meant Qu Yang and not Qu Lingfeng. We all know Qu Lingfeng is your father's student and your shi xiong. He-hee Yep, you've got the wrong man.

[Huang Rong]

, my memory fooled me again, oh gosh, recently i've forgotten quite a few characters' names. thanks for correcting me.

[Yeung Gor]

I whole heartedly disagree with their judgement and actions, esp Dagger Lee. How can a man simply give away his love to another man? Women are not objects to be replaced or tranfer, Lee deserves his ears to be cut off.

On the opposite side of this coin, women are often portray to give up everything for love + family. Let me give an example.

During the 16 year seperation, there was a women and her daughter that travel a distance to find her husband. She finds him and he was a slave of an Mongolian Official. She ask the Official wether he can let her husband free to unite with his family. The Official said it will cost a large sum of 500 taels of silver for his freedom. The women was poor, so in order to pay for his freedom she sacrafice her body and so did their daughter. The crooked official set the husband free but took a liking to the daughter and kept her. The husband actually thought it was a good thing for his daughter to chosen by the official. But of course the wife sees this as travesty. Later, the husband ask his wife how she came up with the money and she told him the truth. The husband was furious and accuse the wife of shaming the family name. He then file for divorse. After losing everything, the woman decides to commit suicide by hanging.

Here you see the woman sacrafice everything, but the man would place reputation above love and family, not just brotherhood.

To conclude this story, the Eagle Hero came in time to save the woman and then went and rescue the daughter, killing the ungrateful husband and toss the official into the river.

[Ken Cheng]

Different cultures, different values. There's no objectively correct answer to this dilemma. It all depends on where one's values lie, which will vary from person to person.

[CC]

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei, the founding emperor of the Kingdom of Shu said: "妻子如衣服, 兄弟如手足" - Lovers/Wives and Children are just as clothing, while brothers are as limbs.

That statement became well-known and has been used widely. In some wuxia novels that I've read, several characters did consider ther wives, sons, daughters and disciples as clothing. To them, brotherhood was the most important sentiment.

.

The cynic in me says that was because Liu Bei was a politician and he knew he needed able men to fight and die for him. So he kept playing that same old loyalty-to-the-Han (how convenient he was named Liu) and brotherhood card for all it was worth.

This was the guy who backstabbed multiple people thru his career, reneging on agreements etc.

Hell, who knows if he really said that. Half of the stories are fictional anyway.