Deaf Mute School (simplified: 聋哑门, traditional: 聾啞門, pinyin: Lóngyǎ Mén) was a branch of the Xiaoyao Order founded by Su Xinghe (苏星河 – Sū Xīnghé) to avoid persecution by Ding Chunqiu. The school was based on Mount Leigu1 in Henan2 province and used deafness and muteness as a disguise.
History
Foundation
After Ding Chunqiu killed their master Wuyazi in 1061, Su Xinghe (苏星河 – Sū Xīnghé) was forced to adopt a strategy of pretending to be deaf and mute to avoid persecution. He established the Deaf Mute School on Mount Leigu in Henan province, aiming to avoid direct conflict with the Xingxiu Order while secretly searching for a successor who could solve the Zhenlong Weiqi Game to inherit the Xiaoyao Order’s legacy.
Mission completion
In 1093, Xuzhu accidentally solved the Zhenlong Weiqi Game, completing the sect’s core mission. Xuzhu inherited Wuyazi’s seventy years of cultivated neili and became the orthodox successor of the Xiaoyao Order, with the Deaf Mute School’s martial arts texts and secret inheritance merging into the main Xiaoyao Order.
Organisation
Leadership structure
The school was led by Su Xinghe (苏星河 – Sū Xīnghé), who served as the founder and leader. The organisation maintained a dual structure: a surface level with Su Xinghe as leader managing ordinary disciples who pretended to be deaf and mute, and a core inheritance system that used the Zhenlong Weiqi Game to select successors who could directly receive Wuyazi’s position as Xiaoyao Order leader.
Notable members
Leadership:
- Su Xinghe (苏星河 – Sū Xīnghé) - Founder and leader of the Deaf Mute School
Eight Friends of Hangu:
- Kang Guangling (康广陵 – Kāng Guǎnglíng) - Music expert
- Fan Bailing (范百龄 – Fàn Bǎilíng) - Weiqi expert
- Gou Du (苟读 – Gǒu Dú) - Books expert
- Wu Lingjun (吴领军 – Wú Lǐngjūn) - Painting expert
- Xue Muhua (薛慕华 – Xuē Mùhuá) - Medicine expert
- Feng Asan (冯阿三 – Féng Āsān) - Soil works expert
- Shi Qinglu (石清露 – Shí Qīnglù) - Flower tending expert
- Li Kulei (李傀儡 – Lǐ Kuǐlěi) - Opera expert
Martial arts abilities
Su Xinghe’s Supreme Skills
Su Xinghe’s Supreme Skills (苏星河绝技 – Sū Xīnghé Juéjì) were the martial arts techniques inherited from the Xiaoyao Order. While the sect’s martial arts system inherited the essence of the Xiaoyao Order, Su Xinghe focused more on miscellaneous studies, making their combat abilities weaker than Ding Chunqiu’s.
Zhenlong Weiqi Game
Zhenlong Weiqi Game (珍珑棋局 – Zhēnlóng Qíjú) was the core selection mechanism of the sect, combining weiqi skills with martial arts comprehension as a dual assessment standard. This game was used to test potential successors and determine who could inherit the Xiaoyao Order’s legacy.
Relationships
Connection to Xiaoyao Order
The Deaf Mute School was a special branch of the Xiaoyao Order, maintaining the order’s traditions while operating under the guise of deafness and muteness to avoid persecution. The sect’s mission was to find a worthy successor to inherit the Xiaoyao Order’s legacy through the Zhenlong Weiqi Game.
Conflict with Xingxiu Order
The school was established to avoid persecution by Ding Chunqiu and the Xingxiu Order. The strategy of pretending to be deaf and mute was designed to prevent direct conflict while secretly continuing the Xiaoyao Order’s mission.
Succession by Xuzhu
When Xuzhu accidentally solved the Zhenlong Weiqi Game in 1093, he inherited Wuyazi’s seventy years of cultivated neili and became the orthodox successor of the Xiaoyao Order. This completed the Deaf Mute School’s historical mission and merged their martial arts texts and secret inheritance into the main Xiaoyao Order.
Locations
Mount Leigu
Mount Leigu (擂鼓山 – Léigǔ Shān) was the sect’s headquarters in Henan province. The mountain’s strategic location and hidden position matched the sect’s strategy of “hiding in plain sight.” The mountain’s name, which means “drum-beating mountain,” created a dramatic contrast with the school members’ pretended deafness and muteness.
Henan province
The school operated within Henan province, maintaining their base in the Central Plains region. Their location in this historically significant area connected them to both the broader martial arts community and the Xiaoyao Order’s legacy.
Behind the scenes
Literary role
The Deaf Mute School is one of Jin Yong’s deliberately eccentric minor factions: a community organised around disability and specialised communication, used to surprise readers’ expectations of what a “school” looks like. Its value is atmospheric and episodic — proof that the jianghu contains niches beyond famous mountains and imperial politics — rather than a sustained allegory.
See also
- Jin Yong factions
- Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils factions
- Su Xinghe – Founder and leader of the sect
- Eight Friends of Hangu – The sect’s eight disciples
- Zhenlong Weiqi Game – The sect’s core selection mechanism
- Su Xinghe’s Supreme Skills – The sect’s martial arts
- Xiaoyao Order – The parent organisation
- Xingxiu Order – The faction they avoided