The Deer and the Cauldron began to be serialized in Ming Pao on October 24, 1969, and ended on September 23, 1972.
It was serialized for two years and eleven months in total.
My habit of writing serials is to write a continuation every day and publish it the next day, so I wrote this novel continuously for two years and eleven months.
If there are no special accidents, there will always be special accidents in life.
This is my last martial arts novel.
However, The Deer and the Cauldron no longer resembles a martial arts novel, but rather a historical novel.
When this novel was published in newspapers, readers kept writing to ask: "Is The Deer and the Cauldron written by someone else?"
because they found that it was very different from my past works.
In fact, this is of course entirely written by me.
I am very grateful to the readers for their love and indulgence.
When they don't like a certain work or a paragraph of mine, they will conclude: "This was written by someone else."
I will keep the good comments to myself and push the dissatisfaction to someone else.
A “ghostwriter” at heart.
The Deer and the Cauldron is completely different from my previous martial arts novels, and that’s intentional.
An author should not always repeat his own style and form, but should try some new creations as much as possible.
Some readers are dissatisfied with The Deer and the Cauldron because the character of the protagonist Wei Xiaobao goes too far against the general values.
Readers of martial arts novels are used to imagining themselves into the heroes in the books, but Wei Xiaobao cannot do so.
I apologize for depriving some readers of some enjoyment in this regard.
But the protagonist of a novel is not necessarily a "good guy."
One of the main tasks of a novel is to create characters; good guys, bad guys, good guys with flaws, bad guys with strengths, etc., can be written.
In China during the Kangxi era, it was not impossible to have a figure like Wei Xiaobao.
When an author writes about a character, his intention is not necessarily to confirm that he is a typical person.
Hamlet is indecisive, Rodin can speak but cannot act, the priest in The Scarlet Letter commits adultery, and Anna Karenina betrays her husband.
The author only describes such characters and does not encourage readers to imitate their behavior.
Readers of Water Margin had better not be like Li Kui, who snatched money after losing a bet, or be like Song Jiang, who killed his mistress who kept blackmailing him with a knife.
Lin Daiyu is obviously not the object of imitation by modern female readers.
Wei Xiaobao did not have as many women as Jia Baoyu who had sexual relations with him.
At least, Wei Xiaobao did not engage in homosexuality like Jia Baoyu, including Qin Zhong and Jiang Yuhan.
When Lu Xun wrote about Ah Q, he was not advocating spiritual victory.
If the characters in the novel were perfect, they would be unreal.
Novels reflect society, and there are no absolutely perfect people in real society.
Novels are not moral textbooks.
However, many people who read my novels are teenagers and girls, so I should remind these innocent children: Wei Xiaobao valued loyalty, which is a good moral character.
As for other behaviors, please do not imitate them.
I have written a total of twelve martial arts novels and three short stories.
I once made a couplet using the first fourteen characters of the book's title: "The flying snow shoots the white deer from the sky, and the laughing book hero leans on the blue mandarin duck."
The last unimportant short story Yue Nv Sword was not included.
The earliest book, Sword of Enmity and Enmity, was written in 1955, and the last, Yue Nu Sword, was written in January of 1970.
Fifteen short and long novels were written over fifteen years.
The revision work started on the 3rd of 1970 and ended in the middle of 1980, some of which lasted ten years.
Of course, I also did many other things during this period, mainly running Mingbao and writing editorials for Mingbao.
When meeting new readers, one of the most frequently asked questions is: "Which of your novels do you like best?"
This question is difficult to answer, so I often don't answer it.
In terms of "what I like", I prefer the ones with stronger emotions: The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Legend of Heaven and the Dragon Slayer, The Legend of Flying Fox, and The Swordsman.
People often ask: "Which of your novels do you think is the best?"
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
This is about skill and value.
I believe that I have made some progress in the writing process: long stories are better than short stories, and later ones are better than early ones.
But many readers disagree.
I love how they disagree. 1981622: