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Heroes Shed No Tears
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1979
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About the author
Gu Long
512 books86 followersalso known as: 古龍
Xiong Yaohua (Chinese: 熊耀華) (7 June 1938 – 21 September 1985), better known by his pen name Gu Long, was a Chinese novelist, screenwriter, film producer and director. Xiong is best known for writing wuxia novels and serials, which include Juedai Shuangjiao, Xiaoli Feidao Series, Chu Liuxiang Series, Lu Xiaofeng Series and Xiao Shiyilang. Some of these works have been adapted into films and television series for numerous times. In the 1980s Xiong started his own film studio, Bao Sian, to focus on adaptations of his works. He graduated from Cheng Kung Senior High School in Taipei and from the Foreign Language Department of Tamkang University.
Xiong was born on 7 June 1938 in Hong Kong but his registered identity claimed that he was born in 1941. His ancestral home was in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China, and he lived in Hankou in his childhood. He moved to Taipei, Taiwan in 1952 with his parents, who divorced in 1956. With help from his friends and using the money he earned from part-time work to fund his education, Xiong graduated from the Foreign Language Department of Tamkang University. He found a job in the United States Army Advisory in Taipei later.
In 1960, Xiong published his first wuxia novel, Cangqiong Shenjian (蒼穹神劍), under the pen name "Gu Long". From 1960 to 1961, Xiong published eight novels but did not achieve the results he desired. He moved to Ruifang Town (瑞芳鎮) and lived there for three years, after which he changed his perspective and adopted a new writing style. Between 1967 and the late 1970s, Xiong rose to prominence in the genre of modern wuxia fiction for his works. As the sole representative of excellence in the wuxia genre from Taiwan for an entire decade, Xiong was named along with Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng as the "Three Legs of the Tripod of Wuxia".
While he was still in university, Xiong lived with a dance hostess, Zheng Yuexia (鄭月霞), and had a son, Zheng Xiaolong (鄭小龍), with her. However, later, he started a relationship with another dance hostess, Ye Xue (葉雪), who also bore him a son, Ye Yikuan (葉怡寬). Shortly after that, Xiong met a senior middle school graduate, Mei Baozhu (梅寶珠), who became his first legal spouse and bore him his third son, Xiong Zhengda (熊正達). Xiong's extramarital affairs with other women caused him to break up with Mei later.
In the later part of his life, Xiong suffered from depression and the quality of his works declined rapidly. He had to employ ghostwriters to co-write many of his later works because of his ailing health. He died on 21 September 1985 at the age of 48 due to illness wrought by alcoholism, namely cirrhosis and esophageal hemorrhage, at around 6pm. Xiong's friends brought him 48 bottles of XO at his funeral.
Xiong was said to be influenced not only by wuxia fiction, but also by the works of Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, John Steinbeck and Friedrich Nietzsche. His novels are usually made up of short sentences and paragraphs, and mostly dialogues between characters like a play script.
In contrast with Xiong, other writers such as Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng take an alternative route in writing wuxia fiction, incorporating Chinese history, culture and philosophical ideas in their works. Xiong initially intended to follow them but changed his decision after exposure to western works such as the James Bond series and The Godfather novels. The influence of these works, which relied on the idiosyncrasies of human life, razor-sharp wit, poetic philosophies, mysterious plots and spine-tingling thrills to achieve success, enabled Xiong to come up with a unique way of writing.
(source: wiki)
Gu Long and Khu Lung are the same person, the latter is the Hokkien pronunciation in Indonesia.
Xiong Yaohua (Chinese: 熊耀華) (7 June 1938 – 21 September 1985), better known by his pen name Gu Long, was a Chinese novelist, screenwriter, film producer and director. Xiong is best known for writing wuxia novels and serials, which include Juedai Shuangjiao, Xiaoli Feidao Series, Chu Liuxiang Series, Lu Xiaofeng Series and Xiao Shiyilang. Some of these works have been adapted into films and television series for numerous times. In the 1980s Xiong started his own film studio, Bao Sian, to focus on adaptations of his works. He graduated from Cheng Kung Senior High School in Taipei and from the Foreign Language Department of Tamkang University.
Xiong was born on 7 June 1938 in Hong Kong but his registered identity claimed that he was born in 1941. His ancestral home was in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China, and he lived in Hankou in his childhood. He moved to Taipei, Taiwan in 1952 with his parents, who divorced in 1956. With help from his friends and using the money he earned from part-time work to fund his education, Xiong graduated from the Foreign Language Department of Tamkang University. He found a job in the United States Army Advisory in Taipei later.
In 1960, Xiong published his first wuxia novel, Cangqiong Shenjian (蒼穹神劍), under the pen name "Gu Long". From 1960 to 1961, Xiong published eight novels but did not achieve the results he desired. He moved to Ruifang Town (瑞芳鎮) and lived there for three years, after which he changed his perspective and adopted a new writing style. Between 1967 and the late 1970s, Xiong rose to prominence in the genre of modern wuxia fiction for his works. As the sole representative of excellence in the wuxia genre from Taiwan for an entire decade, Xiong was named along with Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng as the "Three Legs of the Tripod of Wuxia".
While he was still in university, Xiong lived with a dance hostess, Zheng Yuexia (鄭月霞), and had a son, Zheng Xiaolong (鄭小龍), with her. However, later, he started a relationship with another dance hostess, Ye Xue (葉雪), who also bore him a son, Ye Yikuan (葉怡寬). Shortly after that, Xiong met a senior middle school graduate, Mei Baozhu (梅寶珠), who became his first legal spouse and bore him his third son, Xiong Zhengda (熊正達). Xiong's extramarital affairs with other women caused him to break up with Mei later.
In the later part of his life, Xiong suffered from depression and the quality of his works declined rapidly. He had to employ ghostwriters to co-write many of his later works because of his ailing health. He died on 21 September 1985 at the age of 48 due to illness wrought by alcoholism, namely cirrhosis and esophageal hemorrhage, at around 6pm. Xiong's friends brought him 48 bottles of XO at his funeral.
Xiong was said to be influenced not only by wuxia fiction, but also by the works of Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, John Steinbeck and Friedrich Nietzsche. His novels are usually made up of short sentences and paragraphs, and mostly dialogues between characters like a play script.
In contrast with Xiong, other writers such as Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng take an alternative route in writing wuxia fiction, incorporating Chinese history, culture and philosophical ideas in their works. Xiong initially intended to follow them but changed his decision after exposure to western works such as the James Bond series and The Godfather novels. The influence of these works, which relied on the idiosyncrasies of human life, razor-sharp wit, poetic philosophies, mysterious plots and spine-tingling thrills to achieve success, enabled Xiong to come up with a unique way of writing.
(source: wiki)
Gu Long and Khu Lung are the same person, the latter is the Hokkien pronunciation in Indonesia.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 15, 2026
A fan-translated English version of Gu Long's classic wuxia novel that was originally serialized in a Taiwanese newspaper between 1978 and 1979.
Young swordsman Gao Jianfei enters the martial arts world to resolve a conflict between the Great Protection Agency and the Lion Clan, as instructed by his master. He carries the "Tear-Stained Sword," which is said to be cursed. The true conflict is orchestrated by the villainous Zhuo Donglai, who works from the shadows to pit various heroes against each other to seize control of the martial arts world.
This was a fun but confusing read. There are so many duels and double-crosses that the plot is a bit difficult to follow, but Gu's writing is stylish, slick, and spare. His heroes are flawed in interesting or eccentric ways. Fight scenes are thankfully brief, a distinctive feature of Gu's novels, especially compared to Jin Yong (Louis Cha), whose fight scenes often span several pages.
Gu's writing has several cinematic flourishes; for instance, each chapter starts with three paragraphs that establish the day, city, and time, much like a scene heading in a screenplay. Like many filmmakers (e.g., Hitchcock and Leone), Gu frequently expands or collapses time to emphasize or de-emphasize events in the narrative. Finally, much of the novel consists of dialogue, similar to a movie screenplay.
The only oddity I noticed in the translation was that several times the narrative mentioned that a character spoke "one word at a time” for emphasis. Um, is there any other way to speak? I assume that Gu meant that the character spoke slowly to command the attention of other characters.
This book has been adapted for movies and television several times, most notably in 1980 in a Shaw Brothers movie directed by Chor Yuen and starring Alexander Fu Sheng and Derek Yee.
Young swordsman Gao Jianfei enters the martial arts world to resolve a conflict between the Great Protection Agency and the Lion Clan, as instructed by his master. He carries the "Tear-Stained Sword," which is said to be cursed. The true conflict is orchestrated by the villainous Zhuo Donglai, who works from the shadows to pit various heroes against each other to seize control of the martial arts world.
This was a fun but confusing read. There are so many duels and double-crosses that the plot is a bit difficult to follow, but Gu's writing is stylish, slick, and spare. His heroes are flawed in interesting or eccentric ways. Fight scenes are thankfully brief, a distinctive feature of Gu's novels, especially compared to Jin Yong (Louis Cha), whose fight scenes often span several pages.
Gu's writing has several cinematic flourishes; for instance, each chapter starts with three paragraphs that establish the day, city, and time, much like a scene heading in a screenplay. Like many filmmakers (e.g., Hitchcock and Leone), Gu frequently expands or collapses time to emphasize or de-emphasize events in the narrative. Finally, much of the novel consists of dialogue, similar to a movie screenplay.
The only oddity I noticed in the translation was that several times the narrative mentioned that a character spoke "one word at a time” for emphasis. Um, is there any other way to speak? I assume that Gu meant that the character spoke slowly to command the attention of other characters.
This book has been adapted for movies and television several times, most notably in 1980 in a Shaw Brothers movie directed by Chor Yuen and starring Alexander Fu Sheng and Derek Yee.
Want to read
November 30, 2021Gu Long!! Finally being translated! One of my fav (and manys!) Wuxia author for sure.
August 13, 2021
Esta novela no la recomiendo. Plagada de cliches y frases hechas. Los héroes presentados en la novela carecen de profundidad, sentido y lógica.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews