Zhou Zhiruo

Zhou Zhiruo
Created by	Jin Yong
Novel appearances	The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber
Information
Gender	Female
Date of Birth	c. 1338
Spouse(s)	Song Qingshu (fake wedding)
Affliations
Sects and organizations	Emei Sect
Teachers	Abbess Miejue
Disciples	Unofficial disciples: Song Qingshu
Skills and abilities
Qinggong	Emei Sect qinggong
Neigong	Emei Nine Yang Skill, Nine Yin Manual skills
Unarmed combat skills	Nine Yin White Bone Claw, Heart-shattering Palm, Soft Palm of the Golden Peak
Armed combat skills	Emei Swordplay, White Boa Whip Skill
Weapons	Heaven-reliant Sword, White Boa Whip

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Zhou.

Zhou Zhiruo
Chinese	周芷若
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Zhōu Zhĭruò Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Zau1 Zi2 Joek6

Zhou Zhiruo is one of the two female lead characters in Jin Yong's wuxia novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. Jin Yong describes Zhou's physical appearance as "beautiful, pure and free of worldly traits" (清麗秀雅，容色極美).^[1]

Biography

Zhou is the daughter of a boatman from the Han River. Her name "Zhiruo" is derived from Zhijiang, her birthplace. Zhou's mother died when she was still very young. Her father is killed by Yuan soldiers when she is ten and she is rescued by Zhang Sanfeng, who was passing by. Zhou meets the young Zhang Wuji, who was traveling with Zhang Sanfeng then, and they develop a close relationship. Zhang Wuji leaves them later and follows Chang Yuchun to Butterfly Valley to seek treatment from Hu Qingniu. Zhang Sanfeng brings Zhou back to Wudang and recommends her to join the Emei Sect later. Zhou enters the sect and becomes a student of Abbess Miejue, leader of Emei.

Zhouo meets Zhang Wuji several years later by chance and falls in love with him. However, Miejue dislikes Zhang, because of the latter's affiliation with the Ming Cult. Miejue forces Zhou to swear that she must not marry Zhang or have any romantic feelings for him. The oath is as follows:

I, Zhou Zhiruo, hereby swear to Heaven, that if I have any romantic feelings for the Demonic Cult (Ming Cult)'s leader Zhang Wuji or if I marry him, my late parents' souls will not be at peace; my teacher Abbess Miejue will become a vengeful ghost after death and haunt me day and night, and should I have any offspring with Zhang Wuji, the males will become slaves while females will become prostitutes for every generation.^[2][3]

Miejue names Zhou as her successor to leadership of Emei and tells her the secret behind the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. Miejue tells Zhou to extract the martial arts manuals and the Book of Wumu concealed in the weapons' blades and master those skills, and use them to glorify Emei. Zhou is unwilling to harm Zhang, but is bound by her oath to do so. On Divine Serpent Island, Zhou steals the weapons and breaks them by clashing them together, obtaining the secret items hidden inside. She kills^[4] Yin Li (Zhang's cousin) and frames Zhao Min for the deed.

Zhou practises the skills detailed in the Nine Yin Manual, mastering a quick-learning, unorthodox and "evil" version of the skill, known as "Nine Yin White Bone Claw," as well as the "Heart-shattering Palm" and the "White Boa Whip Skill". As the story progresses, Zhou develops a closer relationship with Zhang, until she decides to break her oath and marry him. However, Zhao Min shows up and disrupts the wedding and Zhou attacks Zhao in anger but Zhang intervenes and stops her. Zhou feels that Zhang had betrayed her love, and begins to see him and Zhao as her sworn enemies. She pretends to marry Song Qingshu of the Wudang Sect, who has a crush on her. Song joins the Emei Sect after becoming an outcast of Wudang for turning against his fellows. Zhou teaches Song the "Nine Yin White Bone Claw" and intends to use him against Zhang in a battle.

During the Lion-slaying Ceremony held at Shaolin Monastery, Zhou defeats all pugilists who attended and emerges as champion of the wulin. However, Zhou is defeated by the mysterious Yellow Dress Maiden later, who uses the superior Nine Yin Manual's skills to overcome Zhou's evil "Nine Yin White Bone Claw". The Xuaming Elders attempt to steal the manual from Zhou after seeing how her martial arts had improved from learning it. They injure her with their "Xuanming Divine Palm", but she is saved by Zhang Wuji. Zhang heals her with his "Nine Yang Divine Skill", which inadvertently negates her "Yin" inner energy and restores her back to her original state. Zhou feels guilty for her sins, especially when she encounters the "ghost" of Yin Li and admits to Zhang her past deeds and her love towards him. Towards the end of the story, Zhang tells Zhou directly that he has decided that Zhao Min is his true love and Zhou gives up on Zhang forever. Zhou also discovers that Yin Li has survived her attack and Yin accepts Zhou's apology and forgives her. Zhou visits Zhang and Zhao in the last chapter and makes some cheeky remarks when Zhang is about to help Zhao paint her eyebrows.

Martial arts and skills

• Nine Yin Manual (九陰真經)
  • Nine Yin Inner Energy (九陰內功)
  • Nine Yin White Bone Claw (九陰白骨爪) - an unorthodox derivation of the skills detailed in the Nine Yin Manual for close-quarter combat. The combatant usually pierces the victim's skull with his/her fingers and causes a gruesome death.
  • White Boa Whip Skill (白蟒鞭法) - an armed combat skill detailed in the manual for long-range combat.
  • Heart-shattering Palm (摧心掌) - an alternative to "Nine Yin White Bone Claw" for close-quarter combat. It causes severe internal bleeding near the victim's heart once the palm hits the victim's chest, but with no visible wounds.
• Emei Nine Yang Skill (峨嵋九陽功)
• Emei Swordplay (峨嵋劍法)
• Soft Palm of the Golden Peak (金頂綿掌)

Notes

1. ^ http://www.cnnovels.net/wx/jingyong/yttlj/017.htm
2. ^ 小女子周芷若對天盟誓，日後我若對魔教教主張無忌這淫徒心存爱慕，倘若和他结成夫婦，我親身父母死在地下，屍骨不得安稳；我師父滅絕師太必成厲鬼，令我一生日夜不安，我若和他生下兒女，男子代代為奴，女子世世為娼。
3. ^ See Chapter 27 of the novel.
4. ^ This attempt failed, as Yin Li survives and returns to taunt Zhou Zhiruo in disguise as a ghost. See Chapter 40.

References

• (Chinese) 我看周芷若 - review essay on the character of Zhou Zhiruo
• (Chinese) 周芷若：从柔顺的纯情美女到诡异的复仇女神 (1) (2) - extracts about Zhou Zhiruo from Rankings of Characters in Jin Yong's Works (金庸人物排行榜) by Tan Xianmao (覃贤茂)

External links

• (Chinese) Zhou Zhiruo on Baidu Baike