Nan Xiren

Nan Xiren (simplified: 南希仁, traditional: 南希仁, pinyin: Nán Xīrén, jyutping: Naam4 Hei1 Jan4), the Southern Woodcutter (南山樵子), was the fourth of the Seven Eccentrics of Jiangnan and one of Guo Jing’s shifus. He dressed as a countryman carrying firewood, fought with an iron carrying pole, and spoke so seldom that his few words carried great weight with his sworn siblings.

Biography

Jiangnan

Nan Xiren grew up in Jiaxing with the other Eccentrics; as children he and Ke Zhen’e would pull at one end of the iron spear in the Iron Spear Temple against Zhang Asheng at the other.

At the Drunken Immortal Wineshop, when Qiu Chuji threw the bronze vat of wine at him, he stopped it in mid-air with his carrying pole, drank a mouthful from it, and levered it back into the air. At Fahua Monastery he urged that the two men sent by Jiaomu’s shixiong be questioned first. In the fight that followed he blocked a full-strength punch from Qiu Chuji with the move River-Spanning Iron Chain; the blow split the webs of both his hands, knocked the pole from his grip and left him coughing blood with internal injuries.

Mongolia

When the Eccentrics found Guo Jing after six years’ search and despaired of the slow boy, Nan Xiren alone said, “The child is very good.” Facing the Twin Evils of Dark Wind, he answered Ke Zhen’e’s order to flee with “We share fortune and hardship alike.” In the fight he struck at Mei Chaofeng’s ankles and landed a blow with his pole on Chen Xuanfeng’s back, but Chen Xuanfeng broke his left arm.

He argued against taking Guo Jing back to Jiangnan, saying the steppe was better for training. With Han Baoju he taught Guo Jing the foundation work the boy learnt most soundly, and he trained him in palm technique. After Qiu Chuji’s disciple Yin Zhiping had outfought Guo Jing and left, he said, “Can’t win, still fight!” When the others suspected Guo Jing of studying under Mei Chaofeng and Ke Zhen’e wanted to cripple him, Nan Xiren was the first to object, and Han Xiaoying sided with him. In the ruse that followed, in which Ma Yu and the Eccentrics posed as the Quanzhen Seven to face Mei Chaofeng, he played Tan Chuduan.

Return to Jiangnan

He proposed that Guo Jing go south alone ahead of them, and his parting advice was four words: “Can’t win, run!” On the journey he and Quan Jinfa each killed one of Ouyang Ke’s concubines. At Prince Zhao’s Estate he was no match for Sha Tongtian.

Death on Peach Blossom Island

Nan Xiren went with the Eccentrics to Peach Blossom Island. When they followed Ouyang Feng and Yang Kang into the tomb of Huang Rong’s mother, by Ouyang Feng’s own guess he saw something wrong in their manner, hung back, and fled when he saw Ouyang Feng kill Quan Jinfa. He hid for several days, until Ouyang Feng and Yang Kang found him with the island’s map and had a snake from Ouyang Feng’s staff bite his tongue.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong found him rolling on the ground under a peach tree, grinning and unable to speak, with unnatural strength. He struck Guo Jing and tried to brain him with a rock, and his punch on Huang Rong’s shoulder left his poisoned blood on the spikes of her Soft Hedgehog Armour. Before he died he traced three strokes in the mud, forming “十”. Guo Jing took it for the start of “東” (east), meaning the Eastern Heretic; Huang Rong later reasoned that it could equally be the start of “西” (west), meaning the Western Venom. Guo Jing buried him under the peach tree. Yang Kang was later poisoned when he grabbed at Huang Rong and the armour’s spikes pierced his hand.

Personality & traits

Physical appearance

He was twenty-eight or twenty-nine when the Eccentrics met Qiu Chuji, and looked like a countryman carrying a load of firewood: blue cloth clothes belted with a thick straw rope, straw sandals, big hands and feet and a wooden expression. A short woodcutter’s axe with a nicked blade was stuck in his belt.

Character traits

Nan Xiren rarely spoke, and when it was his turn to speak he always came last; Han Xiaoying complained that he would never spare a word more than he had to. But what he said, he never took back. Beneath his silence he was sharp: Huang Rong called him “sharp as a tack”, and his caution in the tomb was why he alone escaped it for a time. He was also the first to defend Guo Jing, both when the boy seemed hopeless and when he was suspected of treachery.

Martial arts abilities

His skill ran deeper than that of Zhang Asheng, Han Baoju or Quan Jinfa, so that he tired less quickly than they did against Mei Chaofeng.

Palm and fist

He taught Guo Jing the Mountain-Cleaving Palm Technique (开山掌法) and the Southern Mountain Palm Technique (南山掌法), which Guo Jing used in sparring with Huang Rong, and the Southern Mountain Fist (南山拳), which Guo Jing later used with one hand while the other used the Yue Maiden swordplay. Moves he used in sparring included Iron Ox Ploughing the Field (铁牛耕地).

Weapons

His weapon was an iron carrying pole (铁扁担), also called a pure-steel carrying pole (纯钢扁担). He also carried a short axe for chopping firewood, and threw the Bone-Piercing Awl (透骨锥) as a hidden weapon.

Relationships

Sworn siblings

He was the fourth of the Seven Eccentrics of Jiangnan, who had sworn to live and die together.

Disciples

Guo Jing called him Fourth Shifu. Han Xiaoying joked that Guo Jing, so sparing of words, was Nan Xiren’s true disciple.

Behind the scenes

Portrayals

Nan Xiren has been portrayed by various actors in adaptations of The Legend of the Condor Heroes:

Television Series

1983 series — Chan Wai-man as Nan Xiren
1988 series — Liu Dan as Nan Xiren
1994 series — Wang Weiguo as Nan Xiren
2003 series — Bao Tianming as Nan Xiren
2008 series — Wang Gang as Nan Xiren
2017 series — Li Hongtao as Nan Xiren
2024 series — Liu Zhihao as Nan Xiren

Most adaptations emphasize Nan Xiren’s strong, silent nature, his powerful striking techniques, and his tragic death, while showcasing his loyalty to the Seven Eccentrics and his role as one of Guo Jing’s teachers.