Jin Yong's Commentary Prose

This paper seeks to discuss Jin Yong's commentary prose in three chapters.The first chapter presents a general overview and categorization of Jin Yong's commentary prose. This chapter attempts to explore the motives, characteristics and significance of his work through two components - the thoughts on human life and society; and his concern over the people's livelihood and politics. Examples are raised for the various categories of his work.The second chapter discusses the literary characteristics of Jin Yong's commentary prose in three sections: (1) the relationship between his commentary prose and literature; (2) the relationship between his commentary prose and chivalry; and (3) the comparison and contrast between his prose and the works of contemporary commentators. Through these analyses, we can discover his rational, matter-of-fact approach to life, fair and balanced attitude as well as his great foresight.The third chapter discusses Jin Yong's commentary prose and his spirit behind running a press in three sections: 1) the essence of commentary prose and traditional Chinese culture, with reference to his emphasis on folk culture; 2) commentary prose and social values. The essence of his works is explored - respect for life, pursuit of a passionate life, yearnings for freedom and the quest for a carefree peasant's life; and 3) the relationship between his commentary prose and contemporary commercial thinking. This section discusses how Jin Yong, with his personal charisma, applied meritocracy during his press career, and used his high-quality editorials to raise the standard of the press. His contributions to improving the fundamentals and characteristics of the editorial are a manifestation of his spirit behind running the press.Hopefully, through these three chapters, this thesis can relate Jin Yong's commentary prose (mainly in the form of editorials) to his charisma, literary mastery, martial arts works, spirit behind running a press and intertwining emotional bonds and organize these issues into a systematic article. This would fill the gap in the field of studies in Jin Yong's works. It is hoped that this work will fuel the interest of the other professionals and academics in this field to participate in deeper and more valuable discussions and analyses of this topic. This would enrich and expand the academic findings in this topic, making it an extended branch in the series of studies of Jin Yong's philosophy.