Rare Jin Yong, Gu Long manuscripts on display at wuxia exhibition, part of City Reading@SG festival
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Original manuscripts by wuxia novelists Jin Yong and Gu Long, rarely accessible to the public, will be on display at the exhibition From Ink To Blades: A Century Of Wuxia Legends.
PHOTO: TOH LAM HUAT
Felicia Keok
SINGAPORE – Get up close to original manuscripts by wuxia novelists Jin Yong and Gu Long at a new exhibition that traces how their stories moved from the page into film, television and popular culture.
Jin Yong’s The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (1967) and Gu Long’s The Legend Of Lu Xiaofeng (1979) are on loan from former Shin Min Daily News editor Toh Lam Huat, a friend of both writers. The Smiling, Proud Wanderer was written during Jin Yong’s time in Singapore, and serialised in Shin Min Daily News.
These manuscripts are at the heart of From Ink To Blades: A Century Of Wuxia Legends, part of the annual City Reading@SG festival organised by SPH Media’s Chinese Media Group (CMG). The exhibition at The Arts House is on from May 1 to 7.
Co-curated by CMG and collector-researcher Su Zhangkai, 43, the exhibition draws largely on Mr Su’s personal archive of wuxia materials. The exhibition was developed by about five people working alongside him, with support from a wider CMG team.
It traces wuxia’s journey across formats, beginning with manuscripts and early print forms such as newspaper serialisations from 1967 and physical novels from the 1960s and 1970s, before its expansion into film, television and music.
As Mr Su explains, the aim is to show “how wuxia evolved from printed culture into visual images”, as stories once read in instalments found new life on screen and through sound.
Newspaper pages from the 1960s show how wuxia stories were serialised before reaching wider audiences on screen.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Alongside early newspaper pages and novels, the exhibition features cinema lobby cards from the 1970s, Shaw Brothers magazines, Singapore television drama posters and vinyl records of wuxia soundtracks from the late 1970s to 1980s.
Ms Loh Woon Yen, deputy editor-in-chief of CMG, says: “In many ways, wuxia has shaped generations of readers. We wanted to revisit it as a living cultural tradition, and invite new audiences to discover it in a fresh and engaging way.”
She adds that the exhibition “provides a physical and immersive space where visitors can engage with literature beyond the page”, extending reading into “experience, interaction and shared cultural memory”.
Popular titles such as The Sentimental Swordsman (1977), Clans Of Intrigue (1977) and The Romance Of Book And Sword (1987) are included, pointing to a period when wuxia stories became part of mainstream entertainment.
Rarer items include 1940s pre-war movie fliers – among the earliest adaptations of wuxia stories – loaned by collector Wong Han Min.
Collector-researcher Su Zhangkai with the wuxia collection to be shown at the exhibition.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Visitors can browse manuscripts on iPads and take a personality quiz which matches them to a wuxia character. They can dive into the jianghu, the wuxia universe, via an AI photo booth and try on traditional costumes. There are stamps to collect throughout the exhibition.
Mr Su, who has been collecting popular culture materials since the 1990s, says the genre continues to resonate with new generations. “A lot of these stories deal with relationships and how people respond to different situations. That’s something that still applies today.”
The organisers hope the exhibition will appeal to both older audiences familiar with the genre and younger visitors encountering it through newer formats such as games and fantasy dramas – showing how wuxia has continued to evolve while holding on to its core themes.
Book It/From Ink To Blades: A Century Of Wuxia Legends
Where: Gallery II, The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane
When: May 1 to 7, 10.30am to 9.30pm
Admission: Free
Info: str.sg/a6BQ
