Yang Guo

The fictional character Yang Guo (zh-tsp|t=楊過|s=杨过|p=Yáng Guò) is the protagonist in the 1959 Chinese "wuxia" novel "The Return of the Condor Heroes" by Jinyong.

Yang Guo came to epitomize rebellious youth. His love affair with his teacher Xiaolongnü remains one of the classic love stories in wuxia fiction. According to the novel, Yang Guo traces his lineage to Yang Zai Xing, one of Yue Fei's generals. One of his greatest flaws was headstrong impulsiveness. He briefly sided with the Mongolians in an effort to kill Guo Jing, the protagonist from "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", to avenge his father, unaware of the true nature of his father, the antagonist from "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". However, upon realizing Guo Jing's love for him, he saved Guo Jing from the Mongolian camp. One of the main themes of the novel is his growth from a rebellious youth to a national hero. He bears a striking resemblance to his father along with his cunning and mercurial natures, but also the kindness and devotion of his mother.

Biography

* Family name: Yang
* Given name: Guo
* Style name: Gaizhi (改之)
* Nickname: Heavenly Eagle Hero (神鵰俠); the West Eccentric (西狂)
* Gender: Male
* Birth: February-March or May-June 1224
* Death: "(unknown)"
* Father: Yang Kang (楊康)

* Mother: Qin Nanqin (秦南琴) "(initial version)" / Mu Nianci (穆念慈) "(later versions)"Note: in later editions of the LOCH novel, Jin Yong remade an entirely different story line regarding Yang Guo's birth history. Thus, there are at least 2 different versions of Yang Guo's birth history, depending on the editions used for reference.

* Wife: Xiaolongnü (小龍女)
* Adoptive father: Ouyang Feng (歐陽鋒)
* Martial master: Xiaolongnü (小龍女)
* First met Xiaolongnü: January 22 1239
* Married with Xiaolongnü: March-April 1244 "(earlier versions)"
* Left Xiaolongnü at Passionless Valley: April 15, 1244 "(earlier versions)" / January 18, 1244 "(3^rd revision)
* Reunite with Xiaolongnü: April 20, 1260 "(earlier versions)" / January 21, 1260 "(3^rd revision)
* Possible descendant: The girl in yellow dress in the sequel, The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber.

Name

Yang Guo was named by Guo Jing (郭靖), his given name "Guo" (過 / 过) means "fault" in Chinese, and style name "Gaizhi" (改之 / 改之) means "correct it".

Possible descendant: A girl (in yellow dress) appeared in the later novel : Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (倚天屠龍記). In the novel it is not clearly stated that she was the offspring of Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü, but readers infer that she probably was, for her last name was Yang and she said "Behind the Zhong Nan Mountain, there is the Tomb of the Living Dead. Shen Diao Xia and his wife never show up in the Jianghu (the pugilistic world) again." (終南山後，活死人墓。神鵰俠侶，絕跡江湖。)

tory Background

The background of the novel was set towards the end of Southern Song dynasty in the mid 13th century. The son of the villain Yang Kang in the prequel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"(射鵰英雄傳), Yang Guo was an orphan who was come upon and taken in at the age of 14 by his father's sworn brother, Guo Jing. After a childish fight with Guo Jing's daughter Guo Fu, where Yang Guo critically injured Guo Jing's disciple with Ouyang Feng's Toad Stance, Guo Jing took the Yang Guo to the Quanzhen School in the hope that he would receive a good formal training there.

Orphaned at the age of 11, Yang Guo grew up having to fend for himself as a beggar and thief, and developed a sneaky and rebellious personality. He soon developed a terrible relationship with many fellow masters in the Quanzhen School. Fleeing from the sect's punishment, he was given refuge by the neighboring Ancient Tomb Sect, which seemed to have a hidden long-standing rivalry with the Quanzhen School.

Years passing by, Yang Guo became entangled in a romantic relationship with his martial arts master, Xiaolongnü. The existence of such master-apprentice relationships is highly taboo in Confucian Chinese society, and both parties suffered tremendously pursuing their love. Yang Guo's own impulsive personality and his lack of respect for other senior martial artists only made the matter worse. After numerous tribulations, the pair was separated for 16 years. Yang Guo matured significantly by the separation, and upon reunion they eventually overcame the pressure and their love was accepted. The loyalty and daring attitudes of both Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü are the primary features of the story.

Yang Guo's Martial Arts

Throughout the book, Yang Guo encountered numerous elite martial artists and able to acquire elements of their skills. Eventually, he was able to create his unique blend, the "Melancholic Palms" (黯然銷魂掌). Unlike the slow-learning Guo Jing, Yang Guo was extraordinarily intelligent, rather like Huang Rong (黃蓉). He stood without peer in his generation and was eventually honoured with a position among the Five Greats (五絕), bestowed the title "West Eccentric" (西狂), taking the place of the deceased Ouyang Feng.

Ouyang Feng / "West Poison" (歐陽鋒/西毒)

At the beginning of the story, Yang Guo encountered the crazed elite martial artist Ouyang Feng, also known as "West Poison" because of his mastery with poisons. Becoming a foster father to Yang Guo, Ouyang Feng taught his erstwhile son the basics of his "Toad Stance" (Ha Ma Gong, 蛤蟆功). He later was taught the snake staff techniques when his foster father was enraged with a battle with Hong Qigong(北丐).

Quanzhen School (全真教)

Yang Guo was taken in by Guo Jing and Huang Rong; the former felt responsible for his sworn brother's orphaned son, but the latter held grave doubts about the son growing up to be like his father. Yang Guo was taught to read and write, but was not tutored in any martial arts. Being picked on by the other children, he fought back with his "Divine Toad Stance", and Huang Rong's suspicions seemed to be confirmed.

Guo Jing brought the boy to be raised by the Quanzhen sect, a Taoist martial arts school, whose martial arts Guo Jing had himself studied. Here, Yang Guo was to learn to be an upright citizen, and was apprenticed to Zhao Zhijing (趙志敬), but neither party was content with arrangement. Yang Guo, having seen Guo Jing easily defeat a group of Quanzhen martial artists (in a case of mistaken identity), began harbouring resentment towards Guo Jing for not teaching him himself.

Smarting from the embarrassing defeat at the hands of Guo Jing (as well as from other incidents Yang Guo was involved in), Zhao Zhijing was determined not to tutor Yang Guo in proper martial arts; teaching him only martial art cultivation verses by rote (but leaving out the physical movement), Zhao Zhijing was able to keep up the appearance of instructing Yang Guo to his own masters. This left Yang Guo highly theoretically able, but lacking in application.

Ancient Tomb Sect Kung Fu (古墓派功夫)

Yang Guo would later flee from Quanzhen due to his ill treatment. He came to live in the nearby Ancient Tomb with Xiaolongnü, the grand-disciple of the deceased Grand Ancestress Lin Chaoying (林朝英), founder of "Gumu Pai" (Ancient Tomb Sect, 古墓派). From his new master Xiaolongnü, Yang Guo learnt the elegant and graceful martial arts of the "Gumu Pai", including the "Unparalleled Lightness" of Ancient Tomb, the "Fist of Beauties", the "Palm of Infinitysupplied with the Gloves of White Silver", the "Long Sash of Gold Bells", the "Gold Needles of Jade Bee" (玉蜂針) and the most of powerful of Ancient Tomb Sect's, the "Jade Maiden Sword Play" (玉女劍法). Yang Guo's memorised Quanzhen verses enabled both him and Xiaolongnü to advance and eventually succeed in mastering the "Jade Maiden Sword Play".

"Dog-Beating Stick Technique" (打狗棒法)

Due to a misunderstanding, Xiaolongnü left Yang Guo. In his search for his master, Yang Guo met Hong Qigong (洪七公), the "Northern Beggar" (北丐) and former chief of Beggars' Sect. Shortly after, Yang Guo and Hong Qigong encountered Ouyang Feng once again. Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong, being lifelong foes, engaged in a days-long battle of martial arts and "Qigong" (氣功), with neither conceding defeat. The battle of qigong greatly weakened Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng, and both were seriously injured. Although both boasted of secret and powerful martial art techniques yet to be displayed, they were physically unable to duel any further.

In order to settle the duel, they used Yang Guo as an intermediary, telling him how to perform each technique for the other to see. From Hong Qigong, Yang Guo learned the clever and ingenious variations of the "Dog-Beating Stick Technique", and the vengeful and malevolent Snake Staff Techniques from Ouyang Feng. However, Yang Guo did not gain full comprehension of the Dog-Beating Stick Technique, until Huang Rong taught him the accompanying verses later on.

Dugu Qiubai's Sword Techniques (獨孤求敗剑法)

In a dramatic and tragic twist, an injured Yang Guo was attacked by Guo Fu (郭芙), Guo Jing's daughter due to a misunderstanding, resulting in Yang Guo losing right arm. Yang Guo, severely weakened and delirious from loss of blood, staggered away from the scene and was subsequently rescued by, and in the process befriended, the legendary condor (神鵰). The condor had once been a companion of the deceased legendary swordsman, Dugu Qiubai. The condor helped Yang Guo recover from his injuries, and acquainted him with both the sword (Xuantie Zhongjian, or "Heavy Iron Sword", 玄鐵重劍) and the techniques of Dugu Qiubai. The technique emphasizes great strength over fancy moves, advantages for the now crippled Yang.

In order to wield Dugu Qiubai's Heavy Iron Sword with one arm, Yang Guo trained relentlessly with the help of the condor. Later, armed with the Heavy Iron Sword, Yang Guo defeated a group of powerful martial artists on Zhong Nan Mountain (终南山). After his separation from Xiaolongnu, Yang Guo returned to the Condor Valley to continue his swordsmanship training for over seven years.

Melancholic Palms (黯然銷魂掌)

During the 16 years Yang Guo spent waiting for Xiaolongnü's return, his great sadness drove him to create a set of palm techniques which he later called the Divine Melancholic Palms ("An Ran Xiao Hun Zhang"). It was a brand-new palm technique that rivalled even Guo Jing's powerful Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms ("Xiang Long Shi Ba Zhang", 降龍十八掌/ 降龙十八掌). The Divine Melancholic Palms incorporated the martial arts that Yang Guo had learnt in his lifetime, which included the skills of martial arts masters like Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng, Hong Qi Gong and the skills of different schools like Quanzhen Sect and Ancient Tomb Sect, as well as some of the techniques in the Jiuyin Manual.

This palm technique was based on emotion. The more dejected Yang Guo felt, the more powerful the palm technique became. With this palm technique, Yang Guo sparred with two martial arts masters, Zhou Botong and Huang Yaoshi. Although their duels more or less ended in a draw, the two martial arts masters praised Yang Guo's genius in creating this set of powerful palm techniques. In fact, Zhou Botong went down on his knees to beg Yang Guo to teach him the Divine Melancholic Palms, but because of his fundamentally cheerful nature, Zhou Botong could not master it.

In his battle against the Golden Wheel Lama, Yang Guo was unable to fully master the power of the technique because he was overjoyed after his reunion with Xiaolongnü. However, at the verge of death, he was saddened by the fact that he would not be able to see her again and the power of the Divine Melancholic Palms returned, allowing him to defeat the Golden Wheel Lama and save Guo Xiang from being burned.

Peach Blossom Island Martial Arts(桃花岛武功)

This form of martial art was taught to Yang Guo by Huang Yaoshi( Dong xie) when he was saved by a girl called Cheng Ying. It turned out that the 2 girls rescued by Huang Yaoshi in the early part of the story was Cheng Ying and her cousin, Lu Wushuang. Unfortunately, Lu Wushuang got captured by Li Mochou. From Huang Yaoshi, Yang Guo learned the Divine Finger Flink and the Jade flute swordplay which later proved very useful for him.

True Manual of the Nine Yin (九陰真經)

Yang Guo became familiar with a portion of this manual when he and Xiaolongnu were escaping from Li Mochou. Although far from complete, Yang Guo integrated the fragmental knowledge he gained from the manual into his martial arts. Much later on, in the story of the Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber, a mysterious lady in yellow was able to wield the complete True Manual of Nine Yin. When she revealed that her last name was Yang, one of those present remarked that, based on legend, only Yang Guo had ever completed the Nine Yin Manual, so it was believed that the lady in yellow was the descendent of Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu.

Television and film adaptations

Several notable actors who have played Yang Guo in television or film adaptations of "The Return of the Condor Heroes":
* Andy Lau
* Louis Koo
* Christopher Lee Meng Soon
* Huang Xiaoming
* Leslie Cheung
* Richie Ren