Moral and flexible heroes with powerful, individuated women: Jin Yong's construction of a modern Chinese identity

Jin Yong, the most popular author of Chinese martial arts novels in the twentieth century, constructs a modern, hybrid identity for his readers by combining elements of Chinese tradition with compatible elements of Western modernity. Jin promotes the essential moral elements in Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, while dropping the ritualistic components that are no longer compatible with modern society. Jin advances his vision of Chinese-ness through representations of ideal men and women in his martial arts novels. This thesis examines Jin's strategy of combining elements of Chinese tradition with Western modernity through a close reading of Jin's novel The Book and the Sword. It continues with an in-depth analysis of the characteristics of ideal men and women in all Jin Yong's fifteen novels, exploring his construction of gender identities for modern Chinese. A concluding survey of the multimedia adaptations of Jin's novels proves their continued relevance to constructing Chinese identity.