Abstract
The phenomenal popularity of the 15 historical martial-arts romances published by the Hong Kong author Jin Yong in the mid-twentieth century has made him one of the best-selling fiction writers ever, in any language, and his fiction has come to be known as “the common language of Chinese the world over.” Over the past four decades, many studies have examined his novels’ deep engagement with Chinese history, culture, and literature, which is regarded as his stylistic hallmark. In addition to classical Chinese literature, however, Jin Yong held a long-standing appreciation for European literature, and he was a great admirer of the plays of William Shakespeare. The present essay makes the case for Shakespeare’s direct influence on Jin Yong, suggesting that one of the novelist’s best-loved characters – already known to have been partly inspired by a protagonist from the classic Chinese novel, Water Margin – was also heavily inspired by Othello. A key piece of additional evidence – Jin Yong’s newspaper column on Othello – is adduced for the first time and translated as an appendix. The essay’s findings suggest that Jin Yong’s fiction should now be regarded not as a monocultural space, but as a site of multicultural fusion.