The novel is widely known and translated as The Legend of the Condor Heroes—so prevalent that fans simply abbreviate it as LOCH. But this popular translation hides layers of meaning and raises interesting questions about cultural translation. Why “condor” when these birds aren’t native to China? And what’s lost when we don’t translate the “shooting” part of the title?
Understanding this title’s translation challenges offers a window into the broader complexities of bringing Chinese literature to English-speaking audiences. Each character in the original title carries layers of cultural and historical meaning that resist simple translation. Let’s examine these layers one by one.
Breaking down the Chinese title
Let’s decode the original title character by character:
- 射 (shè) – to shoot
- 雕 (diāo) – eagle
- 英雄 (yīngxióng) – hero
- 传 (zhuàn) – biography or tale
The final character, 传 (zhuàn), is particularly significant. Often used in classical Chinese literature for biographical works or historical epics, it signals to Chinese readers that they’re about to encounter a grand narrative of heroic deeds.
Chinese words don’t have singular or plural forms, but we use heroes in plural here because the eagle-shooting refers to the multitudes of the heroes who appear in the novel, not just the characterr who shot the eagle.
Eagles, not Condors
The use of the term condor is particularly puzzling since neither species of the condor, the Andean condor and Californian condor, is native to China. The original Chinese term diao (雕 diāo) refers to large birds of prey native to China and Central Asia—most likely the golden eagle, particularly given the novel’s setting in Mongolia where these majestic birds have been central to both hunting and culture for centuries.
The term most likely was used due to a mistranslation of the original Chinese term diao (雕 diāo) that refers to large birds of prey native to China and Central Asia.
Here are some of the most likely candidates:
- Golden Eagle: Native to Eurasia and North America, including China, especially in the northern regions and Mongolia. They are large, powerful birds of prey that have been historically used in falconry.
- Steppe Eagle: Another large eagle species found in the steppes and grasslands of Central Asia and parts of China.
- Imperial Eagle: Also known as the Eastern Imperial Eagle, this bird is found in parts of Asia, including some regions of China.
- Black Kite: While not typically called a diao, this bird is common in China and could potentially be the reference, given some historical descriptions.
- Osprey: As mentioned in one of the historical commentaries in the next section, the term might sometimes refer to this fish-eating bird of prey.
The golden eagle emerges as the strongest candidate through multiple lines of evidence. The story’s setting in Mongolia and northern China perfectly matches the golden eagle’s natural habitat. These powerful birds have a rich history in Mongolian and Chinese falconry, and their physical characteristics align closely with descriptions in the novel. Additionally, golden eagles remain culturally significant in the region today, particularly in Mongolian eagle hunting traditions.
While “eagle” would be a more accurate translation than “condor,” the current title has become so widely recognized in English-speaking communities that changing it might create more confusion than clarity. This illustrates a common challenge in literary translation: balancing accuracy against established convention.
The art of eagle-shooting
Perhaps the most significant loss in the current translation is the omission of “shooting” (射 shè). In Chinese culture, eagle-shooting (射雕 shè diāo) carries deep cultural significance beyond its literal meaning. It has deep roots in Chinese history and literature and its layered meaning is difficult to convey in a concise English title.
A mark of exceptional skill
The term “eagle-shooter” gained its cultural significance largely through Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian (史记, Shǐjì). In his famous account of General Li Guang, he wrote:
“A noble led several dozen horsemen and encountered three Xiongnu. They fought, and the three Xiongnu shot back, wounding the noble and killing almost all of his horsemen. The noble fled to Guang, who said, ‘These must be eagle-shooters.’”
This passage establishes eagle-shooters as archers of such exceptional skill that they could defeat vastly superior numbers. The term is thus used to recognise supreme martial prowess.
Later historical commentaries provide more context. Pei Yin (裴駰 Péiyīn), a scholar from the Liu Song Dynasty who wrote commentaries on the Records of the Grand Historian, wrote in his work Collected Commentaries (集解, Jíjǐe), “The diao is a bird, and is a target specifically for skilled archers to shoot at.”
This emphasises the difficulty of shooting the diao, implying that only skilled archers would attempt it, and connects the act of shooting the diao with demonstrating archery skill.
Additional scholarly perspectives further enriched the term’s meaning. Sima Zhen’s commentary Investigating the Obscure (索隐 Súoyǐn) notes the scholar Fu Qian’s equation of diao with osprey. He cites the Explaining and Analyzing Characters (说文解字, Shūowén Jǐezì), an early 2nd-century Chinese dictionary, which describes the diao as vulture-like, black in colour, and known for having many offspring.
Wei Zhao (韦昭 Wéi Zhāo), a scholar from the Eastern Wu kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period similarly wrote in his commentaries, “The osprey is also called diao.”
Gao Qi of the Ming Dynasty wrote in his poem “Presented to General Ma”: “Wishing to cross the Wolf River, to directly capture the diao-shooting general.”
This expresses his desire to confront and defeat a powerful enemy general, another reference of a long-standing literary tradition of using this term to evoke ideas of heroism and exceptional ability.
A legacy in idioms
The cultural importance of eagle-shooting is preserved in Chinese idioms, most famously in 一箭双雕 (yī jiàn shuāng diāo)—“to shoot two eagles with one arrow.” This phrase, similar to the English “killing two birds with one stone,” originated from a remarkable historical account.
Chang Sunsheng (长孙晟) was a skilled archer from the Northern Zhou period (557-581 CE), demonstrated this feat while serving as an envoy to the Turkic Khaganate in the year before the establishment of the Sui Dynasty (581 CE). Due to his impressive qualities, the Turkic leader Ishbara Qaghan requested that Chang Sunsheng remain with them. For a full year, Chang Sunsheng accompanied Ishbara Qaghan on hunting expeditions.
When Ishbara Qaghan observed two eagles circling in the sky, fighting over a piece of meat, he called for two arrows to be brought and challenged Chang Sunsheng to shoot down both eagles. Chang Sunsheng took the arrows, mounted his horse, and rode towards the eagles.
As he approached, he raised his bow, nocked an arrow, and tracked the eagles’ movement with his hands. Then, with incredible strength and precision, he released a single arrow. The arrow pierced through the chests of both eagles simultaneously, causing them to fall from the sky together.
This remarkable feat of archery, where Chang Sunsheng achieved two objectives with a single action, became legendary, eventually evolving into a widely used expression in Chinese language to describe accomplishing two objectives with a single action. The idiom perfectly captures both the literal difficulty of eagle-shooting and its metaphorical significance as a mark of exceptional skill.
The Translation Dilemma
The prevalence of The Legend of the Condor Heroes as the English title, despite its inaccuracies, presents a fascinating case study in translation philosophy. While The Legend of the Eagle-shooting Heroes would more faithfully capture both the correct bird species and the crucial martial significance of shooting, the existing title has become deeply embedded in English-speaking wuxia culture.
This raises several key questions about literary translation:
- How do we balance historical accuracy against established convention?
- Once a translation gains widespread acceptance, does changing it cause more confusion than clarity?
- What happens when a “wrong” translation becomes right through widespread cultural adoption?
- How much cultural context can we reasonably expect to preserve in a title?
Recent adaptations have attempted different solutions—some reverting to “eagle,” others simplifying to Legend of the Heroes. Each choice reflects different priorities in the ongoing challenge of cultural translation, demonstrating that there’s rarely a perfect solution when bringing complex cultural works to new audiences.
A Legacy in Translation
The journey of Jin Yong’s title from 《射鵰英雄傳》to The Legend of the Condor Heroes illustrates how translation choices shape cultural understanding. While the current English title may miss the rich martial symbolism of eagle-shooting and the geographical accuracy of the birds involved, it has created its own cultural resonance among English-speaking wuxia fans.
This case illustrates a fascinating aspect of literary translation: sometimes, historical accidents and early choices become cultural touchstones in their own right, even when they deviate from literal accuracy.