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The series of books from which CTHD is based is largely recognized as the Crane Precious Sword Crouching Iron Pentalogy (or the Crane-Iron Pentalogy for short). Each word is from the first word of each of the five books:
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The first book is 《鹤惊昆仑》 - He Jing Kun Lun (Crane Startles Kun Lun). In the movie CTHD, Southern Crane (Jiang Nan "He") was Li Mu Bai's master. Though Kun Lun is the name of a real mountain in China and a mythical one were gods reside, Bao "Kun Lun" is also the name of Southern Crane's father's master and the one to whom the title refers. Originally, the first book was titled Dancing Crane, Singing Luan. "Dancing Crane" of course refers to Southern Crane. Though Luan is the name of a mythical bird much-like the Pheonix, "singing Luan" refers to Bao Kun Lun's
granddaughter and Southern Crane's love interest in the book, Bao A "Luan". |
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The second book is 《宝剑金钗》 -Bao Jian Jin Chai (Precious Sword, Golden Hairpin). The name "Green Destiny" was adapted by Ang Lee and his very talented team of writers from the name of the sword in the book, "Qing Ming" (the "Clear Blue Sky")."Precious sword" refers to the Qing Ming and Li Mu Bai. "Golden hairpin" (as seen in the movie) refers to Yu Shu Lien. The hairpin was a gift given to her by her fiance's (Meng Si Zhao's) family as an engagement present before his death. |
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The third book is 《剑气?光》 - Jian Qi Zhu Guang (Sword Energy, Pearl Shine). "Sword energy" refers specifically to the Qing Ming and the "chi/qi" energy that can be transmitted through it. "Pearl Shine" refers to the pearl stolen by Luo Xiao Hu's (Lo's) brother (Luo Yang Bao) from the Forbidden City. In this book, we're first introduced to both Luo and Jiao Long (Jen). The prequel will most likely be based on both the second and third books, taking elements from both, while taking the title of the second. |
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The fourth book is of course 《卧龙藏虎》 - Wo Hu Cang Long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). The title refers to Luo Xiao "Hu" (Tiger) and Yu Jiao "Long" (Dragon) and is a Chinese proverb meaning "dangerous and/or talented people hidden from view". Jasmine does an outstanding job detailing many of the differences between the book and the film. Her insights into both the movie and the books are definitely worth reading and can be found in Jasmine's Impressions.For example, there couldn't be a fifth book if Jiao Long actually did jump to her death! |
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The fifth book is 《铁骑银瓶》
- Tie Ji Yin Ping (Iron Knight, Silver Vase). "Ji" means mount (n.)."Tie Ji" together means "superbly armed horseman."After faking her death by jumping from a cliff, Jiao Long and Luo spent one beautiful night together. She quietly left him sleeping and headed for Xinjiang pregnant! "Iron knight" refers to their son, Han "Tie" Fang (Iron).After giving birth to him, he's switch with a baby girl by an aristocrat who wants a baby boy for her husband. Jiao Long spends the rest of her life in search of her son while raising the girl, Chun Xue "Ping" (Vase). She makes a desent living breeding horses in Xinjiang where she dies. |
The books themselves are not yet available in English, but with the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the pre-production of the prequel, Precious Sword, Golden Hairpin, it's just a matter of time. In fact, in the Fall of 2001,
Simon & Schuster purchased the English language publication rights to Crane-Iron, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The books are readily available though in Chinese from various on-line sources and in local Chinatown bookstores and libraries. In the meantime, there are many other great wuxia novels, by arguably better novelists than Wang Dulu, worth reading. You can find many of them, in English and in Chinese, in
Wuxia Fiction.
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