Lu Guanying (simplified: 陆冠英, traditional: 陸冠英, pinyin: Lù Guānyīng, jyutping: luk6 gun3 jing1) was the son of Lu Chengfeng and the Young Manor Master (少庄主) of Returning Clouds Manor on Lake Tai. A disciple of Great Master Kumu of the Xianxia Ridge School, he led the outlaw strongholds of Lake Tai, and was married to Cheng Yaojia at the command of Huang Yaoshi, his shizu.
Biography
Returning Clouds Manor
Lu Guanying ran the affairs of Returning Clouds Manor for his father, who was crippled in both legs. Lu Chengfeng had been expelled from Peach Blossom Island and, bound by its rules, never taught his son its arts; he hid his skill so completely that Guanying believed his father could not fight at all. Guanying instead became a disciple of Great Master Kumu of Yunqi Monastery in Lin’an Prefecture, learning the external arts of the Xianxia Ridge School, an offshoot of Shaolin.
Though he seemed a courteous young gentleman, he was the commander of all the outlaw strongholds of Lake Tai. When Guo Jing and Huang Rong stayed at the manor, they secretly followed him onto the lake and watched him plan an attack on the Song commander Duan Tiande, who was plundering the region on the pretext of receiving a Jin envoy. Lu Guanying ruled that the loot, being ill-gotten, should be split between the poor of the lakeshore and the strongholds. Ma Qingxiong of the Four Ghosts of the Yellow River, who had joined the outlaws, objected to provoking the authorities and the Jin envoy and tried to leave; Lu Guanying fought him in the cabin and felled him with a punch, and two of the outlaws killed him. The raid took Duan Tiande, and the envoy, Yang Kang, then known as Wanyan Kang, was captured when divers holed his boats.
Brought to the manor, Wanyan Kang broke his bonds and burst into Lu Chengfeng’s study. Lu Guanying fought him there and struck him in the chest with his Bosom Kick, but Wanyan Kang drove his fingers into Lu’s calf and threw him against his father, who caught him with a skill that astonished him. Lu Guanying kept his word and ordered him released, but Lu Chengfeng challenged Wanyan Kang over his Nine Yin White Bone Claw. Wounded as he was, Guanying tried to fight in his father’s place, but Lu Chengfeng sent him aside, overpowered Wanyan Kang from his couch and had him held for questioning. When Mei Chaofeng’s token, a skull pierced by five fingers, was delivered to the manor, Lu Guanying learned for the first time that his father had been expelled by his shifu.
Huang Yaoshi then appeared at the manor and readmitted Lu Chengfeng to his school. Lu Guanying kowtowed to him as his shizu. Huang Yaoshi tested him with a single blow, sneered at Kumu’s skill, and told Lu Chengfeng to teach his son himself from then on.
Niu Family Village and marriage
When Huang Yaoshi ordered Lu Chengfeng and Mei Chaofeng to help him hunt down the Seven Eccentrics of Jiangnan and their families, Lu Chengfeng, unwilling to see them killed but unable to defy his shifu, sighed over it aloud. Overhearing him, Lu Guanying went in secret to Niu Family Village to find Guo Jing and warn the Eccentrics. At the village inn he met Cheng Yaojia, and the two fought off Hou Tonghai with the help of Yin Zhiping. Bound not to betray his shizu openly, he told his errand to the kitchen god on the stove so that the others might overhear. He then quarrelled with Yin Zhiping over Quanzhen’s boasts, fought him with his Arhat Bladework, and was losing when Cheng Yaojia intervened.
Huang Yaoshi, who had overheard them, asked Cheng Yaojia whether she would marry his grand-disciple, and when Lu Guanying declared himself willing and she at last consented by not shaking her head, he had them marry there and then at the inn. The next day the crippled Ouyang Ke seized Lu Guanying and tried to force Cheng Yaojia to strip to save him. Lu Guanying was freed when Yang Kang killed Ouyang Ke, and he left with his wife, bowing to Yang Kang without a word.
Later years
Ouyang Feng burnt Returning Clouds Manor to the ground while Lu Chengfeng and Lu Guanying were away visiting the Cheng family in Baoying: Huang Rong had led him there and then hidden in the manor’s maze, and he set fire to it in his rage. Guo Jing later found only rubble there. The Lu family moved to Dasheng Pass, where they established Lu Family Manor. Years later, as Manor Master of Lu Family Manor, Lu Guanying took part twice in the Beggars’ Guild Hero Banquets, contributing money and men to the resistance against the Mongols.
Personality & traits
Physical appearance
When Guo Jing and Huang Rong met him he was eighteen or nineteen, broad in the back and shoulders and sturdily built, with something of his father’s features.
Character traits
Lu Guanying was courteous and well-spoken, yet commanded the Lake Tai outlaws with ease, assigning every task of a night raid in good order. He was a devoted son, risking his shizu’s anger to spare his father a choice between loyalty and righteousness, and proud of his school, unwilling to let Yin Zhiping belittle Peach Blossom Island even when he knew he would lose. As an outlaw chief he thought little of killing a man, offering to execute Hou Tonghai until Cheng Yaojia objected.
Martial arts abilities
Lu Guanying learned the external fist and leg arts of the Xianxia Ridge School from Great Master Kumu. His leg work was especially strong. After Huang Yaoshi’s ruling his father began teaching him, and within a month his skill had advanced greatly, though not enough to match Yin Zhiping.
Arhat Tiger-Taming Fist
The Arhat Tiger-Taming Fist (罗汉伏虎拳) was the set he was proudest of. It combined the pounce of a tiger with the poses of an arhat, punctuated by tiger-like roars; he ended a display of it by shattering a floor brick and holding a still arhat pose.
Bosom Kick
The Bosom Kick (怀心腿) was his speciality, practised since childhood with his ankles bound by a rope run over a roof beam and pulled tighter each day. In use the foot flew up sole to the sky and over the opponent’s head, striking the chest before it could be blocked.
Arhat Bladework
He fought with a dao, using the Arhat Bladework (罗汉刀法) taught by Great Master Kumu, a heavy, defensive style.
Relationships
Lu Chengfeng
Lu Guanying was Lu Chengfeng’s only son. He tried to fight Wanyan Kang a second time rather than let his crippled father do so, and set out for Niu Family Village to resolve his father’s dilemma.
Cheng Yaojia
Cheng Yaojia, a disciple of Sun Buer, met Lu Guanying at the Niu Family Village inn and married him at Huang Yaoshi’s command within a day. Her earlier fancy for Guo Jing gave way once she met him.
Huang Yaoshi
Huang Yaoshi was Lu Guanying’s shizu. He approved of Cheng Yaojia for her courage in standing by Yin Zhiping, and called Lu “my grand-disciple” in brushing aside the need for her parents’ consent.
See also
- The Legend of the Condor Heroes characters
- Lu Chengfeng — His father
- Cheng Yaojia — His wife
- Huang Yaoshi — His shizu
- Great Master Kumu — His first shifu
- Xianxia Ridge School — His school
- Lake Tai — Home of the outlaws he led
- Returning Clouds Manor — His family manor
External links
- Lu Guanying on Wikipedia
- Lu Guanying (Chinese) on Chinese Wikipedia