The Sentimental Swordsman Ruthless Sword: Reading Guide

Published by Anthony
on November 11, 2026

Read Gu Long’s novel through Li Xunhuan and A Fei. Follow the opening snowbound encounter, then tell the Chinese print editions apart from the 1977 film.

Quick Answer: What Is The Sentimental Swordsman Ruthless Sword?

The Sentimental Swordsman Ruthless Sword (多情剑客无情剑, Duōqíng Jiànkè Wúqíng Jiàn) is a wuxia (武侠, wǔxiá) novel by Gu Long (古龙, Gǔ Lóng). The traveling dagger expert Li Xunhuan (李寻欢, Lǐ Xúnhuān) meets a young swordsman, A Fei (阿飞, Ā Fēi), on a snowy road. Their first exchange is about a drink.^[1][2]

Li’s nickname: Little Li’s Flying Dagger (小李飞刀, Xiǎo Lǐ Fēidāo) refers to Li and his signature weapon. Catalogues also use it as a series label.^[4][5][7]
The central relationship: Li and A Fei recognize something familiar in each other, although they have very different ideas about accepting help.^[2][3]
Where to begin: Find the first volume of a complete Chinese set and read the snowbound encounter before looking up the characters’ later relationships.
The film title: The Sentimental Swordsman is also the English title of Chor Yuen’s 1977 Hong Kong adaptation.^[6]

This guide covers the opening and a few relationships that help you follow it. It leaves the later reversals and the outcome of the novel for your reading.

A guide to the opening encounter, its theme of loyalty and the two Chinese editions.

Before anyone sees Li Xunhuan throw a knife, they see him carve with one. He cuts the figure of a woman out of wood, gets out of a warm carriage and buries it in the snow. A line of footprints beside the wheel tracks then turns his attention to a stranger.^[2]

The opening takes its time with that sequence. Once you know Li by reputation, you may expect an immediate demonstration of his skill. Gu Long first shows what Li does with his hands when he thinks nobody needs him, then gives him someone to notice.

Who Is Who When Li Returns?

Li has been away for years when he comes back to a place he once called home. The publisher’s description of the opening volume emphasizes how little safety the return brings him.^[1] His talent can get him through a confrontation. It gives him considerably less control over the past.

Lin Shiyin (林诗音, Lín Shīyīn), the woman Li loves, is married to Long Xiaoyun (龙啸云, Lóng Xiàoyún). Li’s return brings that old attachment into a household with a child of its own. When you meet Lin Xian’er (林仙儿, Lín Xiān’ér), keep her separate from Lin Shiyin. Lin Xian’er’s important relationship is with A Fei.^[3]

A Fei comes into the story on foot, equipped with a rudimentary sword and unwilling to ride with Li. The carriage driver dismisses the sword. Li takes it seriously.^[2] If you already know the rivalry and disguise plots common in Chinese wuxia fiction, this small difference of judgment is worth watching. The driver jokes that the weapon looks like a toy. Li calls it dangerous.

What the Opening Chapter Shows

On the road, the boy refuses a drink he has not paid for himself. Li asks whether the boy would buy him a drink someday instead. At the inn, the boy’s offer of a drink brings that exchange back in a different setting.^[8]

Pay attention to how Li changes the terms. The warm carriage and the drink initially put Li in the position of a benefactor. By asking for a future invitation, he makes room for the younger man to approach him on equal terms. The boy takes that chance in his own time. Their friendship starts with an ordinary act that each man can understand.

The knife and sword also give the chapter two kinds of suspense. A reader can imagine the boy’s sword moving as soon as his hand goes to it. The account of the knife strike at the inn gives the onlookers the result while the throw itself escapes their notice.^[8] The bystanders recognize Li’s skill after the knife lands. The reader has already seen how quietly he handles a blade.

Gu Long can use an upbringing to set a rivalry in motion, as in The Proud Twins. Here it takes just the road, the inn and a few exchanges to make two people’s attitudes toward debt visible.

What Does Sentimental Mean Here?

The Chinese title places a swordsman with deep attachments beside a weapon without feelings. “Sentimental” makes more sense once you see Li holding on to an old love and taking a strong interest in a boy he has just met. His decisiveness with a blade coexists with a tendency to remain bound to people long after he has reason to walk away.

There is a useful parallel in the two relationships. Li cares about Lin Shiyin long after their circumstances have changed. A Fei’s attachment to Lin Xian’er develops in a different way, with its own claims on his loyalty.^[3] Keep track of which scenes give either man a chance to consider someone else’s account of the relationship. A sincere feeling can keep a person from seeing the person he thinks he understands.

The first chapter puts warmth and cold to work before any of these connections have been explained. A carriage offers warmth without company. An inn puts people in reach of a drink and a quarrel. Readers who like the uneasy place of trust in The Eleventh Son can look for a related question here. How does a person recognize an offer he can accept?

How to Find the Novel and Start Reading

Search a bookseller or library catalogue for 多情劍客無情劍古龍 or the same terms in simplified characters. Check the publisher and volume designations. A Taiwan National Central Library bulletin records the three paperback ISBNs for Fengyun Shidai’s 2024 edition, 978-626-7369-31-9, 978-626-7369-32-6 and 978-626-7369-33-3. The volumes are marked upper, middle and lower.^[4]

CiNii lists a 1997 Hong Kong edition from Tiandi Books in four volumes, with the subtitle 風雲第一刀 on the record.^[5] Use that subtitle to identify that edition. For an individual purchase or library request, the safest check is to match the publisher, year and volume designation before combining books.

The 1977 film, directed by Chor Yuen and starring Ti Lung as Li, is a separate way into the story.^[6] Start the book with the snowy road if you want to experience Gu Long’s timing before seeing how a film stages the same characters. If you enjoy following a Gu Long character from one adventure to another, The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng offers a second way to read his work in the wider world of Chinese literature.

FAQs About The Sentimental Swordsman Ruthless Sword

Is Little Li’s Flying Dagger the same book?

It can point to this novel, but the name can also refer to Li Xunhuan or to a series containing several books. Look for 多情劍客無情劍 and Gu Long’s name on the record to identify this story.^[4][5][7]

Is The Sentimental Swordsman the book or the movie?

The 1977 Hong Kong film uses that English title. English references to Gu Long’s novel can use similar wording, so look for the author and volume information for the book or the director, release year and cast for the film.^[5][6]

How many volumes are in the Chinese novel?

The count depends on the edition. The 2024 Fengyun Shidai printing has three volumes. The 1997 Tiandi Books edition recorded in CiNii has four.^[4][5]