...
When I first watched TVB's 1980s era "Legend of the Condor Heroes" I thought the story (and by inference Jin Yong himself) was trying to deliver a heavy-handed morality lesson that went roughly like: no matter where a person of Chinese heritage grows up, his ultimate loyalty should be to China. I'm not so sure of that now. I still think Guo Jing reflects what JY thinks one
should do. But I also think Yang Kang - dislikeable character though he is - was written up insightfully enough for the more thoughtful reader (and also viewer, given that Yang Kang has been portrayed by some talented actors) to realize just how hard doing the "right" thing would be.
I agree that, to overseas Chinese, the decisions made by Guo Jing and Yang Kang have extra resonance because, like the two protagonists, they grew up in a different country and culture that often places itself in opposition to China (it's a really interesting coincidence (?) that the Jin empire (大金) is the main aggressor in LOCH, while
Jinshan (金山) was apparently the name by which many Chinese emigrants referred to the United States), and also that they are likely better off having grown up overseas than if their parents or grandparents had remained in China.
If I was a Chinese American, it wouldn't be necessary for me to be a general in the US armed forces, or engaged to Ivanka Trump, to throw in my lot with the country and culture I grew up in (I actually think there are very strong reasons why Guo Jing should have done this, given that Donald Trump... I mean Genghis Khan had treated his mother and himself so well). The Song Empire (or the PRC regime) can go hang as far as I'm concerned. Then again, I'm happy to admit it, I'm very much more of a Yang Kang then a Guo Jing...
The likes of Hero Guo are great to read about, but not quite so enjoyable to actually be.