Yan Jiayan

There is a powerful artistic maze-not relying on misunderstanding, not relying on absurd plot-borrowing a certain pattern, but not falling into a certain pattern-being good at setting suspense, raising suspense by turning-compound suspense, interlocking-false and true, confusing-strange peaks suddenly turn, dare to use a risky pen- In people's mind-the enlightenment of The Journey to the West and Kafka's Metamorphosis

Reading many of Jin Yong's works, we all have the same experience: we can't put it down when we pick it up, and we always want to read it all at once, sometimes it's almost to the point of forgetting to eat or sleep, staying up all night and stopping. His novel knew the fault of the tail without reading the head. The plot twists and turns, waves, layers of progressive, unpredictable, like a spiritual magnet, artistic maze, with a strong charm to attract readers. Jin Yong neither repeats others nor himself. As far as plot design is concerned, there are not many similarities in his 15 novels. This is also very commendable.

what is the secret of Jin Yong's novel plot being so fascinating?

Some people think that Jin Yong's martial arts novels are attractive because the story is particularly magical. This view is not exact. Of course, there are many magical plots in martial arts novels, but among them, Jin Yong's storyline is far from the most miraculous. In Jin Yong's novels, there is neither the sword-fairy fighting method and the white light in the works of returning the pearl to the landlord, nor the call for wind and rain and the ghost driving the gods in the works of Buxiaosheng at Pingjiang. Compared with the past martial arts novels, the plots of Jin Yong's novels are much more plain, and the colors of ghosts and gods are much less. The most miraculous ones are only the "Nine Yin and White Bone Claws" practiced by black wind and double evil spirits, and Ren Woxing's "star-sucking solution" that absorbs other people's internal qi. Obviously, Jin Yong did not apply his extraordinary rich artistic imagination to the design of the plot of the birth accident. In addition, Jin Yong's novels do not rely on clever methods such as misunderstanding to support their own plots. Like twins, their looks are similar, which leads to misunderstanding. Jin Yong occasionally uses "Legend of Shooting Peng Heroes" with thousands of cases of true and false Qiu, and "Chivalrous Man" with Shi Zhongyu and Shi Skybreaking), but he never relies on this method to support the main skeleton of the plot of his works. Jin Yong himself said in the Postscript of "The Chivalrous Man": "Because of the similar appearance of two people, all kinds of misunderstandings have been caused. This ancient legend can never become a solid structure of the novel. Although Shakespeare has repeatedly used the themes of twin brothers and sisters, none of those works are his best plays. In the novel "Chivalrous Man", what I want to write is mainly the feelings of Shi Qing and his wife who care for their son, so Shi Tiantian and Shi Zhongyu are similar in appearance, which is not the focus. " It can be seen that Jin Yong doesn't want to take shortcuts in plot design.

So, what does Jin Yong's novels rely on to attract and catch people? I think it depends on the boldness, richness and rationality of artistic imagination, and the compact, tortuous and rigorous plot organization. In other words, he relies on art itself.

Jin Yong is really good at designing plots. The plot of his novels has the following advantages and characteristics:

When it comes to jumping out of the mode, it is not stick to one pattern.

Generally, there is always a set of stereotyped things in martial arts novels: the characters are divided into two categories, one is a just hero, full of righteousness, and the other is the embodiment of evil, sinister and good; The overall model is "evil does not suppress right": although the wicked have high martial arts, they will eventually be eliminated by the forces of justice. Too much reading of this kind of novel will turn people off and make them tired. Jin Yong's novels broke through this kind of frame. In "Flying Fox in Snow Mountain" and "The Legend of Flying Fox", Hu Yidao, a hero with high martial arts and righteous indignation, was just ambushed by a villain and unjustly threw his life on a poisoned knife; And the most wicked Tian Guinong was born with a handsome appearance, which made his wife fascinated by him and eloped with him. The evil and vicious Ouyang Feng in Legend of Shooting Peng Heroes was not defeated by Hong Qigong, a beggar with nine fingers representing justice. On the contrary, Ji seriously injured Hong Qigong. Until the last second Huashan tournament, he was beaten by Qigong and Huang Yaoshi with abnormal and weird martial arts. Other important bad guys in the book, such as Ouyang Ke and Yang Kang; They were not destroyed by the forces of justice, but died at the hands of bad people themselves-Ouyang Ke died at the hands of Yang Kang and Yang Kang died at the hands of Ouyang Feng. Guo Jing's masters-the seven monsters in the south of the Yangtze River, who are brave and chivalrous, are very decent. Instead, six of the seven people were all killed by the bad guys. These are all places where the aesthetic concept of the novel is not generalized. The author writes the story embedded in the historical background, and writes that history has a very harsh side-it does not develop according to the good wishes of any kind person. Genghis Khan was militaristic and often brutally slaughtered people all over the city; He also forced Guo Jing to attack Lai Chao and forced Guo Jing's mother to commit suicide on the spot. But it is such a Genghis Khan who does not represent justice. After all, he won and established an unprecedented Mongolian empire. And civilians like Guo Jing, despite their best efforts, can't save the overall situation. Similarly, Wan Yan Honglie is cunning and vicious, but she has been in power for a long time. All these have enhanced the faltering and tragic nature of The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Heroes of Shen Peng, and brought a tragic atmosphere to the novels.

Jin Yong pays attention to the plot pattern of novels. But he studied the mode in order to jump out of the mode and bring forth the new. After all, the model is only an external ready-made form, and Jin Yong pays more attention to the inner sense of life. He said in the article "The Little Wei Xiaobao": "According to the analysis of western drama researchers, there are basically only 36 plots of drama and novel. It can also be said that it is difficult for the drama of life to draw these thirty-six variants. However, in the past, there have been thousands of plays and novels written by Qian Qian, and there will still be thousands of new plays staged by Qian Qian and thousands of novels published by Qian Qian. People don't get tired of the repetition of the plot. Because the personalities of the characters in drama and novel are not the same. Of course, the ways and techniques of the author's performance are also different. " ②

As a kind of popular novels, martial arts novels have their own narrative mode. The most common modes are "revenge mode" and "treasure grabbing mode". The so-called "revenge mode" is that decent people suddenly encounter a tragic disaster of extermination, and then orphans study hard and master high-powered martial arts to find their enemies and realize their desire of revenge. A little tortuous, and in the process of revenge, the protagonist fell in love with the children or disciples of the enemy. The so-called "treasure-grabbing mode" may be wealth, extremely powerful weapons or martial arts classics, or a panacea. In addition, there is a mode of "subduing the demons" or "competing for the heroes": an evil force in the Wulin rises, repeatedly killing decent people, and has the potential to dominate the rivers and lakes. The hero acts as the leader and leads the heroes to win the decisive battle with the evil factions. There is also an "anti-violence model", that is, upholding justice, resisting tyranny, and opposing bullying. In Jin Yong's novels, these patterns are generally available. Like "sword stained with royal blood", it is about Yuan Chengzhi's revenge for his father Yuan Chonghuan, and there is also a hidden line of revenge for the golden snake. For example, "Lian Cheng Ji" and "Yi Tian Tu Long Ji" are mainly based on the "treasure grabbing mode". Like "Laughing and Doing Jianghu", it is close to "the mode of subduing demons". For example, the earliest "Book of Swords and Revenge" is based on the anti-alien rule and is close to the "anti-violence mode". Jin Yong's genius lies in borrowing a certain pattern without simply falling into a certain pattern. He is always changing, trying not to let the pattern tie his hands and feet as much as possible, often combining different patterns of martial arts novels, and even absorbing some patterns of detective novels, mystery novels or romance novels (such as "love change pattern") for his own martial arts novels. Even The Legend of the Condor Heroes, written in his early years, is a combination of various modes and takes different advantages. Like Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin, their children Guo Jing and Yang Kang want revenge when they grow up, which should be regarded as "revenge mode". But in the middle, Guo Jing and Yang Kang were taught martial arts by the seven eccentrics in the south of the Yangtze River and Qiu Chuji in Changchun, respectively, and it was agreed that a contest would be held in 18 years' time. As the main clue of the story, it also showed the magical kung fu of various groups of Wulin figures and their struggle for the suicide note of Wu Mu and the Nine Ming Zhen Jing. This breaks through the "revenge mode", and it is like "competing for the hero", "resisting violence" and "robbing the treasure". As for the revelation of the mystery of the six victims of the "seven eccentrics in the south of the Yangtze River", it is more like a detective mystery novel. "The Condor Heroes" focuses on Yang Guo's tortuous growth path and the unswerving love story between him and the little dragon girl, but it also runs through the plot of fighting for the so-called martial arts secrets such as "The Heart Sutra of the Jade Girl" and "The True Sutra of Jiuyang", and it is also available in various modes under the background of resisting yuan and violence. What the author really pays attention to is not the pattern, but the character. Story clues and plot focus are all set from the perspective of characters' personalities. Jin Yong once said: "My personal ideal in writing martial arts novels is to create characters. ..... When I conceived, I also took the protagonist as the center. I first thought about the personalities of several main characters, and the plot also matched the personality of the protagonist. What kind of personality does this person have, what kind of things will happen. " Therefore, these plots are relatively solid within their own scope and can withstand scrutiny. And later, the plot design of the novel became more rigorous and mature.

Second, double suspense and interlocking

Novels, especially martial arts detective novels that are good at stories, should set up and use suspense. However, the level of achievement in the meantime can not be measured in the road. Suspense is commonly used in China's classical novels, and it is often used between stories or stories, which is related to the storyteller's interest in the audience. Jin Yong's suspense is the usage of modern novelists: not only in the middle of stories, but also at the beginning of novels. "Chivalrous Man" and "Dragon's Eight Branches" are all contradictory from the beginning, which is of concern. "the legendary swordsman" has an extremely tense scene from the beginning: Lin Pingzhi, the young master of Fuwei's whoring bureau, fights with others, and after being forced to kill a Sichuanese surnamed Yu, dead people kept dying in the drifting bureau that night, and prostitutes were killed one by one without any scars. More than twenty people died in succession in the whole whoring bureau. The enemy wrote in blood on the ground: "He who goes out ten steps dies!" " An atmosphere of terror. Lin Zhennan, the chief prostitute, dissected the body of the deceased, only to find that his opponent was a master of Qingcheng Sect, who used a powerful "heart-destroying palm": he could shake the heart into many pieces without hurting the skin appearance. In this case, Lin Zhennan and his wife had to abandon their homes and flee, and were soon arrested by the Qingcheng Sect, leaving only the young master Lin Pingzhi to escape after being rescued. In the first chapter of the novel, there are a lot of suspense: what happened to the tragic situation of the Lins' whoring bureau? What is the reason behind it? What happened after Lin Pingzhi escaped? Can he practice martial arts in the future and avenge himself? -These suspense make readers eager to read on and want to know the truth. In the process of the story unfolding, the original suspense has not been completely solved, and the author of the novel has created and arranged a series of new suspense: Liu Zhengfeng, a famous master of Hengshan School, washed his hands and tried to get rid of the right and wrong in the Jianghu, but he was resolutely stopped by the Wuyue Sword School such as Songshan School, and even Liu Zhengfeng's whole family would be killed. What's the reason? Ling Huchong, a disciple of Huashan Sect, saved the little nun who was killed. He was seriously injured and almost lost his life. Why would anyone want to slander him? Wait a minute. Such a link is closely linked, so that readers have to read on nervously. Therefore, being good at setting suspense is a major feature of Jin Yong's novels in plot. Some works remain suspense until the end. Some readers asked Jin Yong: "Has the knife of Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain, China and Pei Hu been cut down?" Jin Yong smiled and said, "I don't even know myself."

Jin Yong seems to be particularly good at raising suspense through a sudden turn. In "The Dragon Slayer by Eternal Adversity", Zhang Wuji, Xie Xun, etc. went through hardships and dangers, and finally returned home by boat from overseas. Suddenly, the situation changed: Tu Longdao and Eternal Sword suddenly disappeared, Zhao Min and Persian ships were also scattered, and Zhang Wuji and Xie Xun became weak. This is a sudden major turning point in the plot. Who stole Tu Longdao and Eternal Sword? What does this matter have to do with Zhao Min or Persian ships? How did Zhang Wuji and Xie Xun become weak? Since then, the novel has entered the confusing realm of detective solving cases, which makes people want to stop.

suspense in Jin Yong's works sometimes exists in the form of "mystery". Mystery, in fact, is also a suspense, but sometimes it is clear and sometimes it is not pointed out or realized by readers. The mysteries in Jin Yong's novels are often multiple: dark and bright, big and small, combined with each other and interlocking. Take "Chivalrous Man" as an example, that is, there is a small mystery in the big mystery. The map of the poem "Chivalrous Journey" and "Tai Xuan Jing" on the stone wall of Chivalrous Island contains a set of superb martial arts, which no one can decipher. This is a big mystery. This mystery has another side mystery: because the Chivalrous Island Master sends people to punish evil and persuade good every year, once every few years, he invites the leaders of various gangs to the island to drink preserved porridge, and all the people who go there never come back, thus causing panic among the gangs in Wulin, and everyone is afraid of losing their lives as the leader. In this case, the Changle Gang cleverly robbed a little beggar-born figure to be the leader. There is still a mystery below: why did Changle gang rob this little beggar to be a leader? It turns out that he looks very much like the Wang Shi Zhongyu who disappeared before. This Shi Zhongyu used to be a playboy, but after he was praised as a Wang, he just got what he wanted, hunting for women. Before he disappeared, he had caused a lot of troubles, and the consequences were borne by people from a small beggar who looked very similar to him, causing many embarrassing things. And this little beggar has his own life story mystery, which slowly leads to the love triangle contradiction between Shi Qing and Min Rou when they were young, the love contradiction between Bai Zizai and Shi Popo, and so on. The plot is so complicated, but it is like peeling bamboo shoots layer by layer, and it is very compact and well organized. Until the end, it was a semi-open ending: because of the suicide of Mei Fanggu, the foster mother of the little beggar, the answer was clear, but the author did not come forward to reveal it.

The plot composition methods of "Tian Long Ba Bu" are similar but different. The three protagonists here have three mysteries of life experience. They are three rings, which form three interlocking sets with each other. Duan Yu's father, Duan Zhengchun, was merciful everywhere, so that Duan Yu met several girls he liked one after another, but it turned out to be his sister. This is a big mystery. Among them, there are some small mysteries, such as Duan Zhengchun's wife, Dao Baifeng, who had a relationship with Duan Yanqing in spite of her husband, which solved the mystery of Duan Yu's life experience. The mystery of Qiao Feng's life experience and its tragic ending are the most touching and contain many social contents in the period of sharp contradiction between Song and Liao Dynasties. It is connected with the previous riddle through the sworn relationship between Duan Yu and Qiao Feng, the relationship between Duan Yu's half-sisters, Arjun and A Zi, and Qiao Feng, especially through the relationship between Duan Zhengchun and Mrs. Ma Kang Min, and it itself contains several smaller mysteries such as Arjun and A Zi. The third big mystery, Xu Zhu's life experience, was revealed through the gradual solution of the mystery of his sworn brother Qiao Feng. The so-called "evil-doing" Ye Erniang's abnormal character and why Xu Zhu was born a monk were only explained at this time; It also contains several small mysteries, such as Tianshan Tongmu and Xixia Princess. In this way, the structure of the book seems a little scattered at first, but it is quite compact after careful review, and it does reflect a relatively deep and rich ideological connotation. It is really called "all sentient beings are guilty, and no one is unjust". A novel can have such a complex plot structure, which may be an outstanding creation that only Jin Yong can achieve, which is difficult for other martial arts novelists to do.

Three sayings are illusory and confusing.

This is also a secret of Jin Yong's plot setting, which can receive special psychological effects.

in the legendary swordsman, Hu Ling.