Topic

Listen to this article
202108phn024_01
A knight-errant in Chinese martial arts world (Photo credit: Visual China Group)
202108phn024_01

The character of knight-errant (Xia, 俠) can be found in many classic Chinese works, such as Han Feizi (《韓非子》), Water Margin (《水滸傳》), The Three Heroes and Five Gallants (《三俠五義》), and martial arts novels from Louis Cha Leung-yung. A knight-errant was someone who held others by force or this kind of forcible behaviour. A person who was regarded as a knight-errant used his or her forcible strength to help. However, this strength might also force others to submission. Different kinds of knight-errant can be found throughout Chinese history, such as chivalrous knight-errant (Renxia, 任俠), generous knight-errant (Haoxia, 豪俠), selfless knight-errant (Qingxia, 輕俠), wandering knight-errant (Youxia, 游俠), loyal knight-errant (Qixia, 氣俠), and code of knight-errant (Xiaqi, 俠氣). Usually, these people lived at the bottom of society who saw money as nothing. Money to them was simply a possession that they could use to help those in need. They were not interested in becoming an officer or merchant. They were even prepared to exchange their own lives for righteousness.


Han Fei (韓非), the main representative of Legalism in the Warring States period, was the first to propose the four features of knight-errant. First, it refers to “a person with a sword who dared to violate the bans”. They had the personal force (both strength and courage) to fight the monarch. Second, they “gathered like-minded fellows and establish a code of conduct to make their names known in society.” They were usually famous for their charisma (such as upholding righteousness and keeping promises firmly) and others would be attracted by their fame. Third, “they were not keen on being officials but value friendship highly.” For knight-errant, friendship and personal relationships were even more important than the safety of a country. They followed their own free will on whatever they did. Fourth, “they handled matters with courage.” Knight-errant often solved problems with illegal and violent means. Whether it was the way they gathered wealth, created relationships or exercised public power, they did it outside the realms of the law. During the Qin (秦) and Han (漢) dynasties, there was a policy that “famous and wealthy knight-errant” had to move to designated areas where it would be easier for the imperial court to control them. Whether knight-errant was affected by this policy was determined by his wealth. During the reign of Emperor Wu (漢武帝) of Han, those knight-errant with over three million qian (錢, weigh about five grams each) of coins had to move to one of these places under surveillance. It was during the reign of Emperor Cheng (漢成帝) of Han when the stipulation was raised to five million qian of coins. However, they were still welcomed by some people, as they, intentionally or unintentionally, challenged the authority of the law.

 

Sima Qian (司馬遷), a renown historian of the Han dynasty, approved of the value of knight-errant, describing them as a group of people who gave priority to integrity, handled affairs in a result-oriented manner, and always fitted their deeds to their words even at the cost of their own lives. In his work Records of the Grand Historian (《史記》), he dedicated two chapters, namely Ranked Biography of Wandering Knight-errant (〈游俠列傳〉) and Ranked Biography of Assassins (〈刺客列傳〉), to praise the knight-errant. Meanwhile, Sima Qian chose Ju Meng (劇孟), Zhu Jia (朱家), and Guo Jie (郭解) as models of true wandering knight-errant. However, for Sima Qian, the just nature, benevolence, and behaviour of these people were rather subjective and intuitive. They lacked rational thinking to consider the consequences. Sometimes, they acted out of impulse and the sense of righteousness that they might not have a clear-cut judgment criterion when taking action. Also, not all of them were worth praising as some of them were simply criminals.

 

The Tang dynasty (唐朝) is often regarded as a period with great political and military achievements. It is also known for its wide variety of knight-errant, the most remarkable of which was the emergence of sword-bearers (Jianxia, 劍俠) and female knight-errant (Nuxia, 女俠). The sword is an essential element in Taoism and some Taoists bring a mirror and a sword with them to reveal the true features of monsters or evil spirits to defeat them. Sword-bearers acted like Taoists and were proficient in various magic arts such as mysterious divination, teleportation or making themselves invisible. Nie Yinniang (聶隱娘) and Hongxian (紅線) in the novels of the Tang dynasty were sword-bearers famous for their magic skills. In history, the appearance of Nie Yinniang and Hongxian broke the male-dominated tradition in the Chinese knight-errant culture. Although they were not hailed as knight-errant, they were one of its kind. The first appearance of a female knight-errant in written sources dates back to the Song dynasty (宋朝). The second half of the Ming dynasty (明朝) saw its great emergence.

202108phn025_01
The term “female knight-errant” first emerged in ancient books of the Song dynasty (Photo credit: Visual China Group)
202108phn025_01
Author:
Last updated:
2024-01-08