Famous Chinese Martial Arts Novelist Passed away in Sydney

2009-2-3 11:32:00

The famous Chinese martial arts writer Liang Yusheng was buried in Macquarie Park Cemetery in northern Sydney on Saturday, January 31, 2009.

Another renowned Chinese martial arts writer Jin Yong sent a condolence wreath to the funeral home.

Liang, whose real name was Chen Wuntong, had been in poor health in recent years. Born to a prominent family in China's southern Guangxi region on April 5, 1924, Liang was schooled in classical Chinese literature and Chinese history. He studied economics at Lingnan University in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and joined Sin Wan Bao newspaper as an editor after graduation.

His writing career started at Sin Wan Bao which asked him to pen a kung fu series in 1954, capitalizing on a martial arts fever in Hong Kong sparked by a public duel between two rival fighting styles. Liang went on to write 36 novels over a three-decade career before retiring in Sydney.

Liang's works reflected his knowledge of Chinese literature and history. He often opened his novels with a poem and included characters interested in literature. Some of Liang's novels were adapted for TV and film. Among the more famous movie adaptations were director Tsui Hark's Seven Swords (2005) and Ronny Yu's The Bride with White Hair (1993), which were big screen versions of Seven Swords of Mount Heaven and Romance of the White Haired Maiden.