The ordinary Chinese villager peasants' view of wulin figures.

[Ken Cheng]

One thing that few of the wuxia writers have ever addressed in depth is the attitude held by the general population of ordinary medieval Chinese villager peasants on these mighty wulin characters that occassionally tore apart their villages in combat. Did most villagers view these characters as their noble and courageous protectors, or did they generally view the wulin figures as lawless riffraff that brought loss of life and massive property damage wherever they visited?

[Yeung Gor]

One thing that few of the wuxia writers have ever addressed in depth is the attitude held by the general population of ordinary medieval Chinese villager peasants on these mighty wulin characters that occassionally tore apart their villages in combat. Did most villagers view these characters as their noble and courageous protectors, or did they generally view the wulin figures as lawless riffraff that brought loss of life and massive property damage wherever they visited?

More as heroes, that's how some became legends.

[kamii]

i disagree.....

i recon the villagers hated all the wulin people and as soon as they came WAH everyone just hide away and stuff. See them as bandits and robbers almost, disregarding others and end up destroying other peoples houses, crops etc. But then again there are some that are seen as heroes, like guok jeng, surely he was seen as a hero defending the city for so long.....every1 had to have known him as 'guok dai hap'.

[atlantean0208]

is there any survey on this matter is done and from which dynasty?

[yittz]

I guess its a comparison of good exposure vs bad exposure.

Most of the benevolent wulin people hide away in seclusion, ie shaolin, wudang in their temples. Sure they perform good deeds for the villagers, but not everyday as a living. People like GJ and YG would be admired for their bravery and commitment to country, like Yue Fei, rather than thought of as a brilliant fighter (by my psych).

The bad wulin (green forest?) however, pray/make a living out of on villagers, ie. they get a lot of exposure.

Also, there is the factor of envy. Which becomes hate. Kinda like how the world views USA.

And do you love someone more for saving a loved one or hate someone more for killing a loved one? I would pick the later.

[Ken Cheng]

How would the Average Joe (or Average Ah Ngau) in premodern China have viewed wulin? Were they brave and noble protectors of the people, or a bunch of lawless thugs who have no concern for the damage they do in their pointless fights?

[Guo Xiang]

I think it's the same of how they view everyone else - depends on what you do.

[Ken Cheng]

In most wulin fights, wherein the fists fly, the swords slash, furniture breaks, and bones crack, it's often hard to keep the black hats and the white hats straight.

[the.raven]

i thought it was like, people would randomly go up to a martial arts school and ask to fight their master, if he beats the master he trashes the place, if not he gets the shit beat out of him.

[Ken Cheng]

i thought it was like, people would randomly go up to a martial arts school and ask to fight their master, if he beats the master he trashes the place, if not he gets the shit beat out of him.

If it stays in the halls of the schools, then the Average Joes probably don't give a fig one way or the other. Inevitably, though, many of those violent wuxia conflicts play themselves out on the streets, in the restaurants and inns, at the public markets, and other places where civilians are unwillingly dragged into fracas.

[jadebunny9]

They probably see them as people who like disturbing meals in restaurants.

Other than Guo Jing and a few others, I don't think most people really even care about them.

[ChanceEncounter]

Some of them were obviously viewed as heroes who helped the people. Guo Jing and Yang Guo earned reputations as such.

Others had reputations for disturbance and hellraising, and obviously people were less than thrilled. It really depends on the individual and the Wulin figure. The question is simply too vague; it's like saying "how did the average Joe view premodern Chinese people?"

[flamer]

I think that depends on the specific people... eg theres a nasty lady in the next town (Li Mochou)... theres a hero called Guo Jing in XiangYang etc...

[Ken Cheng]

Some of them were obviously viewed as heroes who helped the people. Guo Jing and Yang Guo earned reputations as such.

Others had reputations for disturbance and hellraising, and obviously people were less than thrilled. It really depends on the individual and the Wulin figure. The question is simply too vague; it's like saying "how did the average Joe view premodern Chinese people?"

True...but since the wulin folks didn't go around wearing name tags or colored hats indicating their allegiance to good or evil, what would be the first reaction of the Average Joe to a sword-bearing wulin warrior coming into his town? Would it be, "Ah, cool! A wulin knight to help us solve our problems!"...or was it more like, "Ah, crap! It's one of those wulin troublemakers! There goes the neighborhood!"

[pannonian]

True...but since the wulin folks didn't go around wearing name tags or colored hats indicating their allegiance to good or evil, what would be the first reaction of the Average Joe to a sword-bearing wulin warrior coming into his town? Would it be, "Ah, cool! A wulin knight to help us solve our problems!"...or was it more like, "Ah, crap! It's one of those wulin troublemakers! There goes the neighborhood!"

Probably keep a low profile and get ready to scarper. Heck, even airport police give me the heebie jeebies carrying their guns, and they're highly trained and easily distinguishable.

[sniffles]

I imagine the reaction of ordinary people would vary depending on their personal experiences or what they heard from other people. If you grow up hearing that certain people are bad or good, you'll probably believe that without any personal experience to the contrary.

Probably a lot of ordinary people wouldn't know anything about the heroes of wulin. When would the typical peasant farmer ever have an opportunity to come into contact with such people, much less hear about them? I'm sure not all of the heroes had stories told about them by traveling entertainers the way YG did - and he was only known as the Condor Hero in those stories, so no one knew him by his real name.