Sword Stained with Royal Blood is the second martial arts novel created by Jin Yong. The protagonist Yuan Chengzhi was a top-notch martial artist in Jin Yong’s works. He wore the invincible protective treasure, the Black Silk Armour, and held the Golden Serpent Sword. When he was young, he coincidentally became an apprentice of the leader of the Mount Hua School, Mu Renqing, who was nicknamed “Divine Sword, Immortal Ape”, and practiced martial arts at the top of Mount Hua for a decade. Later on, he inherited the Golden Serpent Sword and the Secret Manual of Sword Techniques of “Golden Serpent Gentleman” by chance, with which he acquired the serpent sword skill.
Sword Stained with Royal Blood was set towards the end of the Ming dynasty. At that time, the government was corrupt and the people were destitute. Yuan Chonghuan, a famous general who rebelled against the Manchus, was killed by the incompetent Chongzhen Emperor. Yuan Chengzhi was the son of Chonghuan. Rescued by Chonghuan’s subordinates, Yuan Chengzhi vowed to take revenge on his father’s killer. Yuan Chengzhi was loyal and kind-hearted. After he left Mount Hua, he strived for justice and helped the weak. During this time, he met Wen Qingqing, the daughter of “Golden Serpent Gentleman” and Princess Changping Ah Jiu, the daughter of Chongzhen. He conquered various martial artists with superb martial arts skills and was elected the joint alliance-master by heroes from seven provinces. He also assisted the insurrectionary army led by Dashing Prince Li Zicheng in breaking through the capital of the Ming dynasty, Beijing. His name Chengzhi in Chinese implies “continuing the unfinished lifework of his father”. He took his deceased father as his role model and defending the country as his own responsibility.
TVB re-filmed Sword Stained with Royal Blood in 2000 (first filmed in 1985), with Gordon Lam Ka-tung, a successful A-list actor with a sincere appearance, playing the role of Yuan Chengzhi.
Bonus: Yuan Chengzhi lingered between Wen Qingqing and Ah Jiu in his affective line. Ah Jiu was beautiful and considerate, and Qingqing had shared memories of ups and downs with him. In both the old and new versions, Yuan Chengzhi favoured Qingqing and was not fated to be together with Ah Jiu even though they had strong feelings for each other. While in the newly revised version, he chose Ah Jiu. Who would you choose if you were Yuan Chengzhi?
