Linghu Chong is a character in Jin Yong’s martial arts novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, which was adapted into television dramas in 1984 and 1996 by TVB. Linghu Chong was played by Chow Yun-fat and Jackie Lui Chung-yin in its version in 1996 and 1984 respectively. As an orphan, Linghu Chong was raised and trained by Yue Buqun, the chief of the Mount Hua School, as the first apprentice.
Linghu Chong had a carefree and unrestrained personality and drank like a fish. Although he had been practicing Mount Hua Swordplay for years, he did not make much progress in his martial arts skills. Until he was punished to reflect on his mistakes on Siguo Cliff for a year, he encountered Feng Qingyang, the chief of the Sword Branch of Mount Hua School, who taught him a unique skill, the Nine Swords of Dugu, created by the “Sword Devil” Dugu Qiubai. From then on, his swordplay made a great leap forward, but at the same time, Yue Buqun was suspicious of him and expelled him from the School. Since then, Linghu Chong ventured in jianghu (martial artists’ community) alone and met Ren Yingying, the daughter of the chief of the Sun Moon Holy Cult. Afterwards, he developed multiple unique skills by coincidence, including the cultivation of Shaolin School’s “Yijin Jing” to heal his internal injuries, which in the end greatly enhanced his martial arts skills, and the study of the Cosmic Absorbing Power greatly enhanced his internal strength as well. Although Linghu Chong had excellent martial arts skills, he remained unmoved whether for the position of the chief of the Mount Heng School or the assistant chief of the Sun Moon Holy Cult. Indifferent to fame and fortune, Linghu Chong eventually got married with Ren Yingying and retired from jianghu to lead a peaceful life.
Because of Jackie Lui Chung-yin’s handsomeness, his version of Linghu Chong was deeply loved by fans of the television drama and he thus became a classic representative of this character.
Bonus: Linghu Chong originally had a childhood sweetheart Yue Lingshan, who was his master Yue Buqun’s daughter. Yue Lingshan also loved Linghu Chong. However, since she met Lin Pingzhi, the young master of Fuwei Security Service, she had a crush on him, and the two got married later. Linghu Chong, on the other hand, unknowingly met and formed an unbreakable bond with Ren Yingying, the saint maiden of the Sun Moon Holy Cult. Although Linghu Chong still could not let go of his junior Yue Lingshan in his heart, he was ultimately moved by Ren Yingying’s deep affection and married her after she had mourned for her father for three years.
