THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER evidently took place during the Ming Dynasty. The presence of the Mo Dong Sect and Ngor Mei Sect, but complete absence of Mongolian or Manchurian authorities is sufficient evidence of that. Unlike other Jin Yong stories, however, SPW featured no specific historical personages or events that pegged the story down to a specific time period. The story of SPW could have taken place at any time during the Ming Dynasty's nearly three-hundred-year history.
That said, are there any clues in the story that might give us a hint of *approximately* what part of the Ming Dynasty SPW took place in? Which period of the Ming Dynasty do you believe the story took place during?