Do you think any Gu Long heroes lived long enough to see the Qing Dynasty?

[Ken Cheng]

Though Gu Long was far from being as fastidious as his friend and rival Jin Yong in terms of historical accuracy in his novels, it is evident that all of Gu Long's novels were set during the Ming Dynasty. LUK SIU FUNG, LEE'S FLYING DAGGER, CHOR LAU HEUNG, etc...all took place in a China wherein the Mo Dong and Ngor Mei sects were already well-established, contact with Japan had become somewhat regular, and people in China used tobacco products.

Do you think any of the Gu Long heroes lived close enough to the end of the Ming Dynasty that, if they lived to be very old men, they might have seen the rise of the Qing Dynasty? Can you visualize a very old Luk Siu Fung, Fa Mun Lau, Sai Mun Chui Sheut, Ah Fei, or Chor Lau Heung wearing the Manchurian-mandated pigtail and queue? Or do you think all these heroes were long in their graves before the Qing Dynasty came to power?

[Athena]

Gu Long's first novel was set with the background in the Qing Dynasty. It was around the time that Kangxi removed his second son as crown prince. The main protagonist was the son of one the advisors of the crown prince.

His third novel, I believe, the Tales of the Swordsman was also set in the Qing Dynasty. There was one-line about how an old martial artist did his only good deed during raiding the granary of Heshen (Grand Councilor of Qianlong).

With a few exceptions Gu Long's novels never have a specific dynasty setting. If Gu Long's novels are all interconnected than the Ming Dynasty in Gu Long's universe must have been 600 years long. We shouldn't try to force a dynasty timeline onto Gu Long's novels.

Gu Long is not big on continuity. He sometimes would forget what he wrote in previous chapters.

[Dirt]

Gu Long is not big on continuity. He sometimes would forget what he wrote in previous chapters.

A lot of his chapters were written by someone else because he was too drunk to write.

[reydge]

Gu Long is not big on continuity. He sometimes would forget what he wrote in previous chapters.

Is this real?

[CC]

Is this real?

YES. I never forgave him for changing the a major fact/plot point on the story within the same novel (Before and After The Duel).

[Ken Cheng]

Is this real?

Unfortunately, yes. Confirmed dead characters returned to life with no explanation, and impersonators somehow impossibly did things that only the people they were impersonating could do.

[reydge]

YES. I never forgave him for changing the a major fact/plot point on the story within the same novel (Before and After The Duel).

Unfortunately, yes. Confirmed dead characters returned to life with no explanation, and impersonators somehow impossibly did things that only the people they were impersonating could do.

OMG
How did he do this?

[Ken Cheng]

OMG
How did he do this?

With much assistance from alcohol, unfortunately.