{"id":38,"date":"2026-10-29T17:45:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T17:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/suiyuanexpress.com\/?p=38"},"modified":"2026-10-29T19:13:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T19:13:03","slug":"why-mongolia-blame-kwee-ceng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/suiyuanexpress.com\/?p=38","title":{"rendered":"Why Mongolia ? Blame Kwee Ceng"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I didn\u2019t go to Mongolia because of a travel list. I went because of a book my father bought me when I was a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He found it at Kramat, in an Ejaan Lama (old spelling) book, the kind where the \u201cj\u201d is still \u201cdj\u201d. 1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The title was Sia Tiauw Eng Hiong<\/em>, which most of the world now knows as The Legend of the Condor Heroes<\/em>, by Louis Cha (Chin Yung). The names in my copy were in Hokkien, so the hero was Kwee Ceng, not Guo Jing as he is in Mandarin. To me he will always be Kwee Ceng.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A boy raised on the steppe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the novel, Kwee Ceng grows up in Mongolia from early childhood into his teens, living with his mother in a yurt. He becomes sworn brother (anda<\/em>) to Tolui, the son of Genghis Khan and the future father of Kublai Khan.3<\/a><\/sup> Genghis Khan promises Kwee Ceng in marriage to his daughter, Gochin\/Huazheng. I read those chapters over and over, and I imagined a huge sky, endless grass, and a life that moved with the seasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betamax from Jatinegara<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later came the 1980s TV series, on rented Betamax tapes from a shop in Jatinegara. Wong Yat Wa played Kwee Ceng, and the late Ang Mei Ling played Oey Yong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I think the above is the best version of LoCH, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Legend_of_the_Condor_Heroes_(1983_TV_series)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why the festival felt familiar<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The novel\u2019s title means \u201cshooting the eagle,\u201d from the scene where Kwee Ceng brings down two great birds with a single arrow. Decades later I stood at the Golden Eagle Festival in Bayan Olgii, where nobody shoots eagles. The hunters ride out with eagles on their arms. It is the same drama, in reverse. I also thought of the white eagles that Kwee Ceng and Gochin keep in the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In every version of the series, there will be Kwee Ceng pose with arrow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is Hu Ge version. (2008):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ci Sa version (2026):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is real and what is not<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because this blog will mix history and fiction, I\u2019ll mark the line clearly in every post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n