The Jin Yong Phenomenon: Film, Television and Entertainment

While Jin Yong was not the most prolific of Chinese martial arts novelists, he was far more well known to Chinese readers across the globe than any other author of the same genre from the same period. As the saying goes, "Where there are Chinese people, there are Jin Yong's novels." His works have had a tremendous impact on the development of popular culture in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan over the past several decades.

Jin Yong’s martial arts novels first appeared as serials published in newspaper supplements in Hong Kong. Through this channel, they reached out to a wide readership. Regardless of where they were and who they were, his readers were fascinated by the highly imaginative world and colourful, endearing characters he created. In those early days, his plot-driven stories were favourite choices among street storytellers, so even those who did not like to read also became Jin Yong fans. During the emergence of new entertainment media between the 1950s and the 1970s, Jin Yong's works provided an inexhaustible wealth of material for film, television, radio drama and stage performance. His novels have been adapted into more than 40 feature films and more than 60 TV serials in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Video games and products related to the cultural and creative industries became all the rage in the 1990s, and Jin Yong's novels remained market darlings. Video games and comics that adopted the novels’ titles or were based on their stories took the market by storm and became popular among a new generation of youth, indirectly extending Jin Yong's legend. The Jin Yong phenomenon continues to thrive, interacting with his "readers" on new virtual platforms. The phenomenon has transcended its Hong Kong origins, giving Chinese communities all over the world a cherished collective memory and shared cultural resource.

Jin Yong's martial arts novels are the subject of extensive discussion in the academic world, creating what has been called a “Jinology” fad in scholarly circles. Academics have long recognised the value of studying his books. The unique charm of his novels attests to the author's far-reaching scholarship and rich experience. While written as popular fiction, his works profoundly portray and discuss the concepts of honour and love (in a much wider sense than romantic love). Chinese historical events are woven into the narrative backgrounds. The stories are grand, the plots well-knit, displaying an incredible level of literary artistry. Critics agree that Jin Yong’s novels are worthy of being considered classics among twentieth-century Chinese literature.