Looking for information on the Poison Cult or the Five Deadly Venoms.

[Roybot]

Hello everyone.

I was hoping someone could tell me more about the Poison Clan/cult or the Five Deadly Venoms.

I know He Tieshou is at first the leader of the Poison Clan. Is this an invention of Jin Yong or was there a poison clan legend that JY is basing this on?

Also, does the movie "The Five Deadly Venoms" use Jin Yong's creation or was this made by the creators of the film, or did they also pull from some Chinese Legend.

As you can see, I'm basically looking for any information on the Poison Cult especially if there's a legend this is based on.

Thanks for the help.

[JamesG]

From what I've managed to find out, the 5 Poison Sect is a sect of the Miao people with some outside adherents. The true facts are scarce, but the myths are many.

[pannonian]

From what I've managed to find out, the 5 Poison Sect is a sect of the Miao people with some outside adherents. The true facts are scarce, but the myths are many.

Is this the same 5 sylph sect that Blue Phoenix was the leader of?

[kyss of the sword]

the people of the miao tribe believed in and practiced a type of shamanism which was considered witchcraft by the Han Chinese, so a lot of myths popped up consequently. since they traded herbs and such, it was believed they had advanced knowledge of poisons. the five deadly poisons movie was taught up in the 70's or 80's. maybe it was influenced by jin yong but the story was completely different. the characters practiced martial arts based on venomous creatures. the five sylphs sect and five poison sect were probably the same. jin yong would have changed the name in SPW which was written after Blood stained royal sword.

[Roybot]

First let me thank everyone for their help. I can't read Chinese so it is very difficult for me to make use of some sources. So, I REALLY appreciate the help.

Does anyone know where I can read more about the Miao tribe? Did they practice martial arts based on venomous creatures?

What are some of Jin Yong's books that mention the Five Sylphs or five poison sect?

Thanks again for the help.

[Roybot]

Your suggestions led me to find this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu_(poison)

From this article it looks like the five venoms are based on this legend and not completely the invention of Jin Yong or the writer of "Five deadly Venoms". Am I right to assume this?

The reason I'm so curious is that I want to write a story based on this as well, but I don't want to steal another writer's idea, but, if it's based on an older legend, then I would be comfortable to use that in my novel.