Novels by Jin Yong (Book Guide): The Deer and the Cauldron, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain, Other Tales of the Flying Fox, A Deadly Secret, The Book and the Sword

Source: Wikipedia. Commentary (novels not included). Pages: 22. Chapters: The Deer and the Cauldron, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain, Other Tales of the Flying Fox, A Deadly Secret, The Book and the Sword, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, Sword Stained with Royal Blood, Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse, Blade-dance of the Two Lovers, Ode to Gallantry, Sword of the Yue Maiden. Excerpt: The Deer and the Cauldron, also known as The Duke of Mount Deer, is a novel by Jin Yong, and also the last of Jin Yong's works. Although the book is often termed as a wuxia novel, it is not archetypal of the genre, since the protagonist of the book is not a skilled martial arts practitioner and instead relys on his wits to get out of trouble rather than martial skills. The novel is initially published as a serial, and ran between October 24, 1969 to September 23, 1972 in Ming Pao. The choice of the novel's title is alluded to in a section in the first chapter, in which a scholar has a conversation with his son. The scholar recounts that both the deer and the cauldron serve as metaphors for the Central Plains and the Chinese empire. It is written in volume 92 of the historical text Book of Han, "The deer lost by Qin was hunted by all under Heavens ("--"), an illustration of the rise of numerous rivalling warlords contesting for supremacy to capture the prize, the empire lost by the Qin Dynasty. During the Zhou Dynasty, there were the Nine Cauldrons, symbolic of the Divine Mandate of rulership. Zuo Zhuan recorded an account where the ruler of the most powerful Chu state enquired the weight of the cauldron from a Zhou minister. This sent a clear signal that he was coveting the rulership of the empire technically possessed by the king of Zhou. The title refers to the novel's background where the Han Chinese subjects of the fallen Ming Dynasty struggle to restore their former empire by opposing the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty. The story centers on a witty, sly, illiterate and lazy protagonist, Wei Xiaobao, who was born to a prostitute from a brothel in Yangzhou during the Qing Dynasty. The teenage scamp makes his way from Yangzhou to the capital city Beijing through a series of adventures. In Beijing, he is kidnapped and taken to the Forbidden City where he impersonates a eunuch. While in the palace, Wei Xiaobao bumbles his way into a fateful encounter