So, I'm a wuxia virgin and trying to get into the genre and use it to improve my Chinese skills. Somone suggested I read Jin Yong's Tian Long Ba Bu. Jin Yong is supposed to be the god of wuxia, whose books stand out for literary quality and psychological depth.
I started reading and ... I'm just weirded out and confused by the way the main character behaves.
OK, we first meet Duan Yu when he laughs at Gong Guangjie's feint. But he immediately realises that he's being impolite and puts his hand over his mouth to stop his laughter. "他隨即知道失態,忙伸手按住了口。" But suddenly when he talks to Zuo Zimu, he is really, really rude, with no explanation as to why his behavior has suddenly changed. We've known Duan Yu for, like, two minutes when the author is supposed to be establishing what sort of person he is and already I'm confused.
Next, Duan Yu witnesses Gong Guangjie & Rong Ziju's horrible deaths without turning a hair. Wow, he's a cold-blooded mf, just goes on flirting with Zhong Ling'er. But as soon as Duan Yu gets outside, he suddenly decides to risk his life by asking the Shennongbang to spare the lives of the Wuliangjian because he's so compassionate. Where was his compassion five minutes ago?
Then when Duan Yu gets to the chamber under the lake, he doesn't start desperately trying to find a way out (remember, he and Ling'er will both die horribly if he doesn't find a way out very soon)... he stares at the jade statue for "a long time", he stares at the calligraphy inscription for "a long time", then he stares at the jade statue for "a long time" again, then... he decides to kowtow 1000 times to the statue. Then he swears an oath to the jade statue to kill all members of the Xiaoyaopai, in complete contradiction to all of his nonviolent Buddhist beliefs!! Oh, then he stubles on a way out so maybe he and Ling'er won't die horribly after all. Usually, if a character in a novel was doomed, and then suddenly maybe wasn't doomed, there'd be some description of how he felt, like "Duan Yu was overjoyed, as now maybe he could save Ling'er's life and his own." But Jin Yong doesn't bother, he just moves on with the story in the very next sentence.
Then Duan Yu gets to the valley, sees the "All Duans must die" sign, stupidly tells Ling'er's mother his real name... then he gets angry because she tells him to hide!Oh, now he's not angry again and agrees to hide. Oh, now he's angry again and yells out to Ling’er’s father that his name is Duan and I'm going to stop here.
Does this stuff bother Chinese readers? Is Duan Yu meant to be a crazy character whose actions make no sense or does this stuff make sense in a Chinese cultural context?