Quick Answer: What Is The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng?
The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng (陆小凤传奇, Lù Xiǎofèng Chuánqí) is a wuxia (武侠, wǔxiá) mystery series by Gu Long (古龙, Gǔ Lóng). Lu Xiaofeng (陆小凤, Lù Xiǎofèng) gets drawn into cases where a duel, an unusual weapon or an appeal for help conceals a larger problem. Start with The Golden Roc Dynasty (金鹏王朝, Jīnpéng Wángcháo).[1]
- Start here: The Golden Roc Dynasty introduces Lu and his relationships through a request to recover a lost dynasty’s treasure.
- Follow the story titles: Read The Golden Roc Dynasty first, then the embroidery-needle mystery and the duel story.
- Count stories first: One collected edition gives seven stories seven volumes. Another combines two stories in volume two.
- Keep the mysteries intact: Film synopses and character profiles can reveal solutions that the opening chapters hold back.
The story order below follows the collected editions. The English titles are descriptive labels, so match them against the Chinese titles on a contents page.
A person arrives with a grievance and identifies the people to blame. In many martial-arts adventures, that would give the hero his mission. In Gu Long’s opening Lu Xiaofeng story, it gives the hero somebody’s account of what happened. If you like the moment in a mystery when the initial account starts to come apart, this series is a good place to see what Chinese wuxia can do with that device.
Lu Xiaofeng and His Circle
Lu Xiaofeng has a mustache that looks enough like his eyebrows to make it seem as if he has four. Gu Long turns that detail into a test of friendship. Ximen Chuixue (西门吹雪, Xīmén Chuīxuě), an exceptional swordsman, once makes shaving it a condition for helping him.[2]
Ximen takes matters of judgment and swordsmanship seriously enough to decide for himself whether somebody’s cause deserves his involvement.
Hua Manlou (花满楼, Huā Mǎnlóu) is another member of the recurring cast.[1]
In the opening adventure, pay attention to whom Lu consults and what he learns from the conversation. Notice where the conversation ends without telling Lu everything he needs. The people who know him well can make a case harder to read. Ximen is one of the two swordsmen in the third story’s planned duel. The other is Ye Gucheng (叶孤城, Yè Gūchéng).[5]
Readers who met Chu Liuxiang first will recognize Gu Long’s taste for martial-world investigations. Here, keep track of who owes Lu a favor and who can walk away when he asks for help. Those relationships shape the investigation.
The Seven Stories in Collected Order
Start at the top if you want to watch the relationships develop. The order follows the seven-story publisher list and the seven-volume edition.[1][3] One archived list uses the series name for the first story.
| Ordre | Story and Chinese title |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Golden Roc Dynasty (金鹏王朝, Jīnpéng Wángcháo) |
| 2 | The Embroidery Bandit (绣花大盗, Xiùhuā Dàdào) |
| 3 | Before and After the Duel (决战前后, Juézhàn Qiánhòu) |
| 4 | The Silver Hook Gambling House (银钩赌坊, Yíngōu Dǔfāng) |
| 5 | Phantom Manor (幽灵山庄, Yōulíng Shānzhuāng) |
| 6 | Phoenix Dances in the Nine Heavens (凤舞九天, Fèng Wǔ Jiǔtiān) |
| 7 | Laughter of the Sword God (剑神一笑, Jiànshén Yī Xiào) |
The first three give you a good test of whether you like the series.
The Golden Roc Dynasty opens with a request to recover treasure connected to a vanished dynasty.[2]
In The Embroidery Bandit, an embroidery needle is a weapon, and the crimes make the unusual choice of weapon part of the case.[4]
In Before and After the Duel, wagers and the gathering crowd make two swordsmen’s meeting a public event. As the duel approaches, a series of disturbing events gives Lu something else to investigate.[5]
How Gu Long Uses a Mystery
The claimant in The Golden Roc Dynasty names the people he blames.[2] Read the first request carefully. Notice what the speaker expects Lu to take on trust before he has spoken to anyone else. That is an easier clue to track than a long list of suspects.
Before and After the Duel works from a different kind of public knowledge. People know who is expected to fight, and they place bets on what will happen.[5]
Gu Long can use the attention itself to hide the significance of something nearby. Lu’s attention moves from the agreed contest to events that look harder to explain.
The mystery and the martial action depend on each other. Reputation tells the characters what a person should be capable of. Physical evidence, a witness or a friend’s conduct may put that reputation in a different light. For a comparison with a Gu Long novel that puts its hero’s reputation under pressure from the start, see The Eleventh Son.
Choosing an Edition
In the seven-volume edition, Before and After the Duel is volume three.[1] In the six-volume Fengyun Shidai collection, it shares volume two with The Embroidery Bandit. That makes The Silver Hook Gambling House volume three in this edition.[2][4] If a listing shows only the volume number, ask for the titles on the contents page.
Screen versions also circulate under the character’s name. The Hong Kong Film Archive records film adaptations of the embroidery and duel stories from 1978 and 1981 respectively.[6] If you know Lu Xiaofeng from a screen version, use the individual story title to find the book you mean. Search the Chinese subtitle together with Gu Long’s name if a film and a book keep appearing in the same results. For other ways into the tradition, see the Chinese literature guide.
FAQs About The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng
Can I start with Before and After the Duel?
Yes. The planned duel gives you an immediate point of entry. Read The Golden Roc Dynasty first if you want to see how Lu and Ximen interact before the pressure of the duel.
Why are there seven stories but sometimes six books?
The documented six-volume set puts two stories together in the second book. Match the subtitles against the seven-story list above to see what a particular set contains.
Is Lu Xiaofeng the same character as Chu Liuxiang?
They are different Gu Long protagonists with separate series. If you want Lu’s opening case, look for The Golden Roc Dynasty. Chu Liuxiang’s opening sequence begins with Fragrance in the Sea of Blood.
Sources
[1] Wuhan University iReader. The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng: Seven-Volume Edition
[2] Eslite. The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng: Six-Volume Collected Edition
[3] Heidelberg University DACHS Archive. Archived Fengyun Shidai Bibliography of Gu Long
[4] Eslite. The Embroidery Bandit and Before and After the Duel
[5] Douban Read. Before and After the Duel: Gu Long, Volume Three
[6] Hong Kong Film Archive. Hong Kong Film Archive Newsletter No. 49