Four Xias of Taiyue

Four Xias of Taiyue

Contents

The Four Xias of Taiyue (simplified: 太岳四侠, traditional: 太岳四俠, pinyin: Tài Yuè Sì Xiá, jyutping: taai3 ngok6 sei3 haap6) are four sworn brothers who claim to uphold justice, rob the rich and help the poor. Their grand epithets far outstrip their skill, and every robbery they attempt goes wrong, yet they end the novella by capturing the most dangerous man in it.

Members

  • Xiaoyaozi the Dragon Amidst the Clouds — the eldest

  • Chang Changfeng the Twin Palms of Slab-splitting — the second

  • Hua Jianying the Meteor Chasing the Moon — the third

  • Gai Yiming Eight Steps Chasing Toads, Rivalling Zhuan Zhu, Treading Snow Without a Trace, Skimming Water with One Leg, and the Twin Daggers Renowned in Seven Provinces — the youngest

History

The escort

The four block the road of Zhou Weixin’s convoy in a pine forest and demand the treasure he carries. Gai Yiming announces their names, and Zhou, unnerved by Xiaoyaozi smoking with his eyes half shut, takes him for a hidden master.1 When Zhou flees, Xiaoyaozi hits his whip with a muddy shoe; the escorts drive the four off, and an escort’s dao gashes Xiaoyaozi’s shoulder. The brothers have barely regrouped when they step between Ren Feiyan and her fleeing husband, and her slingshot leaves Chang with a bloodied nose and a tombstone on his toe, Gai with a lump on his forehead and Hua without a front tooth.2

The scholar and the maiden

They next try to charge a passing scholar, Yuan Guannan, for the headache his singing gives them, and find only old books in his baskets. He flatters them as great xia and asks to borrow travelling money, and too proud to refuse, they hand over their last silver; the books are lined with gold leaf. Trying to take a fine horse with a trip-rope made of their belts, they meet Xiao Zhonghui, who disarms them all and carries Xiaoyaozi off by the nape of the neck.3 The other three chase her and ask to die with their sworn brother, and their loyalty so moves her that she spares them. Learning that they want a gift for Xiao Banhe’s fiftieth birthday, she gives them her golden hairpin.4

The birthday and the net

At the birthday, they present the hairpin, and the two madams briefly mistake Gai for their daughter’s sweetheart. Watching the younger pair practise the Wedded Blades Style, they keep pointing out supposed flaws, until Lin Yulong asks what wedding gift they will give. Ren Feiyan suggests the Blue-Blood Golden Toad of the muddy river, worth ten years of training to whoever eats one, and they resolve to catch some.5 Hunting toads, they see the wounded Zhuo Tianxiong limping past, throw their fishing net over his head and carry him to the Zhongtiao Mountains, with the genuine Yang blade still at his waist.6

Martial arts abilities

None of the four is a match for any serious fighter in the novella. Zhou Weixin finds Hua’s and Gai’s techniques unremarkable and their neili average.2 Xiao Zhonghui defeats all four at once from horseback.3 Their one victory, over Zhuo Tianxiong, comes from a fishing net thrown over an injured man.6

See also

Footnotes

  1. See Part 1. ↩

  2. See Part 2. ↩ ↩2

  3. See Part 3. ↩ ↩2

  4. See Part 4. ↩

  5. See Part 10. ↩

  6. See Part 12. ↩ ↩2

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