Ren Feiyan (simplified: 任飞燕, traditional: 任飛燕, pinyin: Rén Fēiyàn, jyutping: jam6 fei1 jin3), married to Lin Yulong, she formed half of a comedic partnership characterised by constant quarrelling yet unshakeable commitment. Together they learnt the Wedded Blades Style from a wise monk, though their volatile temperaments prevented them from mastering the technique fully. Their relationship exemplified the novella’s central theme about the relationship between emotional harmony and martial effectiveness.
Biography
Marriage to Lin Yulong
After Ren Feiyan’s marriage to Lin Yulong, the couple became notorious within the jianghu for their constant quarrels, earning the reputation as a pair who could neither live together nor live apart, a term describing couples who fought constantly yet remained devoted to each other. Their arguments erupted frequently over trivial matters, yet their fundamental commitment to each other never wavered.
Shortly after their wedding, their quarrels had already become sufficiently notorious that when they encountered a wise monk, he found their behaviour intolerable. The monk’s intervention would transform their relationship in unexpected ways, binding them together through martial arts in ways their marriage vows alone had failed to achieve.
Learning the Wedded Blades Style
The wise monk who encountered the newlywed couple decided to address their constant fighting through an ingenious solution. He taught them the Couple’s Sabers, but with a crucial stipulation—the technique he taught Lin Yulong differed completely from what he taught Ren Feiyan. Only when both practised their respective parts together, with perfect coordination, could the technique function effectively. When used by a single person, it proved utterly useless.
The monk explained that with this technique, they could travel the jianghu together and no enemy, regardless of martial prowess, could defeat them. However, he specifically designed this limitation to force them to remain together permanently—neither could leave the other without losing their martial capabilities entirely. His hope was that the practical necessity of cooperation would eventually cultivate the emotional harmony they currently lacked.
The Wedded Blades Style originated with an ancient couple whose deep mutual affection inspired the technique’s creation. These legendary creators were inseparable and perfectly attuned to each other’s thoughts. Their dao techniques naturally complemented each other, with one advancing whilst the other retreated, one attacking whilst the other defended, creating seamless protection through perfect coordination.
However, the technique proved tragically unsuited to Ren Feiyan and Lin Yulong’s temperaments. Despite both learning their respective parts successfully, their attempts at coordination consistently failed. They managed only three or four moves before their volatile natures erupted—instead of protecting each other as the technique intended, they inevitably began fighting each other. The very quality the original creators possessed in abundance—mutual understanding and emotional harmony—remained perpetually beyond their reach.
Their arguments during practice revealed the fundamental problem. When attempting the first move, Lin Yulong would angrily demand: “Smelly woman! This is the first move. You should scatter your blade in flower patterns to protect my flanks!” Ren Feiyan would retort: “Why must I follow you in the second move? Why can’t you follow me instead?” Their daos would freeze mid-air whilst they continued cursing each other, the technique abandoned in favour of verbal warfare.
Conflict with Zhuo Tianxiong
During their travels pursuing the Mandarin Duck Blades, Ren Feiyan and Lin Yulong encountered Zhuo Tianxiong, a formidable imperial guard whose martial abilities far exceeded most jianghu practitioners. In the confrontation, Zhuo sealed the acupoints of both Ren Feiyan and Lin Yulong, along with Xiao Zhonghui, leaving them completely paralysed and helpless.
When Yuan Guannan used clever deception to frighten Zhuo away and rescue them, the four martial artists sought refuge at the Purple Bamboo Nunnery. However, Zhuo inevitably tracked them to this abandoned temple. Facing this powerful enemy again, Ren Feiyan and Lin Yulong confronted a painful reality—their inability to use the Couple’s Sabers effectively meant they could not defeat Zhuo themselves.
Teaching the younger couple
Recognising their own limitations whilst seeing potential in Yuan Guannan and Xiao Zhonghui, Ren Feiyan and Lin Yulong made a generous decision. They taught the younger couple the Wedded Blades Style, with each separately instructing their respective student. Ren Feiyan taught Xiao Zhonghui her portion of the technique, whilst Lin Yulong taught Yuan Guannan his complementary part.
Remarkably, despite learning only the first twelve moves and practising them for mere hours, Yuan Guannan and Xiao Zhonghui successfully drove off Zhuo Tianxiong. Their natural harmony allowed them to coordinate the technique effectively where Ren Feiyan and Lin Yulong had consistently failed. This success demonstrated both the power of the Wedded Blades Style when properly executed and the crucial importance of emotional compatibility—the younger couple’s mutual affection enabled what superior experience and more complete knowledge could not achieve for the older pair.
Xiao Banhe’s celebration
Ren Feiyan and Lin Yulong attended the fiftieth birthday celebration of Xiao Banhe, the renowned Great Xia of Jinyang and Xiao Zhonghui’s adoptive father. During this celebration, they completed their instruction by teaching Yuan Guannan and Xiao Zhonghui the remaining sixty moves of the Wedded Blades Style, ensuring the younger couple possessed the complete seventy-two move technique.
The celebration was disrupted when Zhuo Tianxiong arrived with soldiers to arrest Xiao Banhe and seize the Mandarin Duck Blades. Ren Feiyan fought alongside other martial artists in the chaotic battle that followed, demonstrating her commitment to defending her allies against imperial persecution. The group eventually retreated to Zhongtiao Mountain, where various shocking revelations about identities and past events emerged.
Personality and traits
Volatile temperament
Ren Feiyan possessed a quick temper that erupted readily, particularly in her interactions with Lin Yulong. Her fiery nature meant that disagreements escalated rapidly into full arguments, with neither party willing to yield or compromise. This temperamental volatility characterised her throughout the narrative, creating both comedic moments and genuine obstacles to her martial development.
Her explosive temperament was her defining characteristic. This quality mirrored Lin Yulong’s own volatile nature, creating a relationship where two equally headstrong personalities constantly clashed. Their arguments followed predictable patterns, with each blaming the other for their inability to coordinate the Wedded Blades Style, neither recognising their shared responsibility for the discord.
Despite this volatility, Ren Feiyan demonstrated genuine martial capability and personal courage. She never shrank from dangerous situations, whether facing powerful opponents like Zhuo Tianxiong or confronting imperial soldiers during Xiao Banhe’s celebration. Her quick temper did not indicate cowardice—rather, it revealed someone whose emotions ran close to the surface, for better and worse.
Stubborn independence
Ren Feiyan’s arguments with Lin Yulong frequently centred on questions of precedence and authority. Her repeated insistence—“Why must I follow you? Why can’t you follow me instead?”—revealed deeper concerns about autonomy within their partnership. She refused to accept automatic subordination to her husband’s wishes, demanding equal standing even when cooperation would have served their mutual interests better.
This stubborn independence prevented the yielding and accommodation that the Wedded Blades Style required. The technique demanded that practitioners trust their partner completely and accept their complementary role without resentment. Ren Feiyan’s insistence on equality, whilst admirable in principle, created practical problems when translated into martial coordination that required one partner to advance whilst the other retreated, one to attack whilst the other defended.
Committed partnership
Despite their constant quarrels, Ren Feiyan remained fundamentally committed to Lin Yulong. Their relationship embodied the paradox of a couple who fought continuously yet never seriously considered separation. The phrase describing them as unable to live together, unable to live apart captured this contradiction perfectly—their proximity generated constant friction, yet distance proved intolerable.
Their partnership functioned effectively when facing external threats. During confrontations with opponents or dangerous situations, they fought together as a team, their fundamental loyalty to each other overriding their personal discord. This transformation under pressure revealed the genuine depth beneath their turbulent surface—they might quarrel incessantly, but they never doubted their mutual commitment to survival and protection.
Generosity as teacher
Ren Feiyan’s willingness to teach Xiao Zhonghui demonstrated generosity that transcended her temperamental limitations. When circumstances demanded that the younger couple learn the Wedded Blades Style quickly, she transmitted her knowledge freely without hesitation or resentment. This act revealed important aspects of her character beyond the quarrelsome surface—she possessed genuine concern for others and understood that martial knowledge should serve practical purposes.
Her completion of the instruction during Xiao Banhe’s celebration, teaching the remaining sixty moves, showed sustained commitment to proper knowledge transmission. She apparently felt no jealousy watching Yuan Guannan and Xiao Zhonghui achieve with the technique what she and Lin Yulong had never managed. This absence of envy suggested mature self-awareness—she recognised her own limitations whilst appreciating others’ success without feeling diminished by comparison.
Martial arts abilities
General capabilities
Ren Feiyan possessed solid martial abilities that earned her recognition within the jianghu. She and Lin Yulong both had significant martial skills—indicating substantial training and capability. However, specific details about her individual techniques beyond the Wedded Blades Style remain limited in the available sources.
The Wedded Blades Style
Ren Feiyan’s portion of the Wedded Blades Style differed completely from what Lin Yulong learnt, creating complementary halves that required perfect coordination to function effectively. The wise monk deliberately designed this split instruction to force the couple into permanent partnership—neither could practise the technique alone without the other’s complementary movements.
The complete technique comprised seventy-two moves, originally created by an ancient couple whose profound mutual understanding informed its design. The technique’s structure embodied the concept of yin and yang opening and closing, with each practitioner’s movements balancing and complementing their partner’s actions. This philosophical foundation required more than mere technical coordination; it demanded emotional harmony that Ren Feiyan and Lin Yulong could never consistently achieve.
Despite learning her portion successfully, Ren Feiyan found practical application impossible due to her volatile relationship. They managed only three or four moves before their temperaments disrupted coordination. Instead of the intended mutual protection, they inevitably began attacking each other, their personal discord overwhelming the technique’s requirements.
The technique’s original design incorporated a merciful characteristic—it wounded opponents more easily than it killed them. This restraint reflected the ancient creators’ benevolent intentions, suggesting they designed the technique for subduing rather than destroying opponents. This quality aligned with the novella’s ultimate philosophical message about benevolence as the path to true invincibility.
Relationships
Lin Yulong
Ren Feiyan’s relationship with Lin Yulong formed the central dynamic of her character. Their marriage exemplified a particular type of partnership—one characterised by constant conflict yet unshakeable commitment. They are described as a couple who fight as fists never leave hands, curses never leave mouth—emphasising how quarrelling defined their daily interactions.
Their arguments revealed mutual stubbornness. When the Wedded Blades Style failed to coordinate, each blamed the other. Lin Yulong would curse her as smelly woman whilst demanding she follow his lead. Ren Feiyan would retort with equal vehemence, insisting the monk had instructed him to accommodate her, not vice versa. These exchanges demonstrated how their inability to yield to each other prevented the compromise necessary for martial coordination.
Yet beneath this turbulent surface lay genuine partnership. They are a couple who are happy enemies or quarrelsome lovers—a term suggesting that their fighting contained elements of affection and mutual engagement rather than genuine hostility. They are described as a couple who unable to tolerate being together, yet unable to bear being apart.
Their combat cooperation, when achieved, demonstrated the partnership’s underlying strength. When facing external threats rather than practising together, they could coordinate effectively enough to survive dangerous encounters. This transformation suggested that their relationship problems stemmed more from ego conflicts than fundamental incompatibility.
Yuan Guannan and Xiao Zhonghui
Ren Feiyan’s relationship with Yuan Guannan and Xiao Zhonghui evolved through circumstantial connection into genuine mentorship. Their initial encounters occurred during the chaotic pursuit of the Mandarin Duck Blades, with shared dangers creating bonds more quickly than peaceful acquaintance might have allowed.
Her teaching of Xiao Zhonghui represented significant trust and generosity. In the jianghu, martial knowledge constituted valuable property that practitioners typically guarded carefully. Ren Feiyan’s willingness to transmit her portion of the Couple’s Sabers to a relative stranger demonstrated both practical necessity and genuine magnanimity.
Watching the younger couple succeed where she and Lin Yulong had failed might have generated bitter resentment, yet the sources suggest no such jealousy. Instead, Ren Feiyan apparently accepted this outcome pragmatically, recognising that Yuan Guannan and Xiao Zhonghui’s natural harmony provided what she and Lin Yulong lacked. Her completion of their training by teaching the remaining sixty moves demonstrated sustained commitment uncoloured by petty envy.
Behind the scenes
Literary function
Ren Feiyan served multiple purposes within narrative of Mandarin Duck Blades’s structure. Most obviously, she provided comic relief—her constant quarrels with Lin Yulong created humour through their absurd yet recognisable relationship dynamics. The image of a couple freezing mid-technique to argue about whose fault the failure was carried inherent comedy that lightened the novella’s tone.
However, her character transcended mere comic relief to embody significant thematic concerns. Her relationship with Lin Yulong demonstrated how personal character limitations could prevent martial achievement regardless of technical knowledge or physical capability. They possessed access to a powerful technique and genuine motivation to master it, yet their temperamental incompatibility created insurmountable obstacles. This situation illustrated Jin Yong’s recurring theme that true martial mastery required corresponding personal development.
Her role as teacher to the protagonists enabled crucial plot development whilst exploring questions about knowledge transmission. The circumstantial teaching—driven by immediate necessity rather than formal master-disciple relationships—reflected Jin Yong’s interest in how martial knowledge spread through jianghu communities beyond rigid institutional structures. Ren Feiyan’s generosity in teaching contrasted with the hoarding behaviour that created many conflicts in wuxia narratives.
Thematic significance
Ren Feiyan’s character contributed to the novella’s exploration of harmony, partnership, and the relationship between emotional cultivation and martial effectiveness. Her partial mastery of the Couple’s Sabers demonstrated that technical knowledge alone could not overcome fundamental character limitations—a message reinforced by the novella’s ultimate revelation about the blades’ inscription advocating benevolence rather than martial supremacy.
The contrast between her relationship and that of Yuan Guannan and Xiao Zhonghui sharpened the thematic point. The younger couple’s natural harmony enabled them to achieve with twelve moves what Ren Feiyan and Lin Yulong could not accomplish despite knowing the complete technique. This comparison emphasised that emotional compatibility and mutual understanding proved more crucial than technical mastery or extensive knowledge.
Her acceptance of this reality without apparent bitterness added complexity to the thematic exploration. Rather than creating tragedy through unfulfilled potential, her story suggested that self-awareness and acceptance of limitations could constitute their own form of wisdom. She and Lin Yulong found ways to function effectively within their constraints rather than achieving impossible transformation, offering a realistic model of partnership that acknowledged human imperfection.
Character archetype
Within Jin Yong’s body of work, Ren Feiyan represented the temperamental female martial artist whose emotional volatility created both strength and weakness. This archetype appeared in various forms across his novels, with each iteration exploring different aspects of how personality affected martial development and relationships.
Her quarrelsome partnership with Lin Yulong fit patterns Jin Yong explored regarding martial cooperation and personal relationships. The author frequently examined how emotional states affected martial performance, with Ren Feiyan’s situation representing an extreme example—a technique specifically designed to require harmony, learned by a couple constitutionally incapable of achieving it consistently.
The comedic aspects of her character connected to Jin Yong’s broader interest in using humour to explore serious themes. The constant quarrelling provided entertainment whilst simultaneously illustrating genuine philosophical concerns about the relationship between character cultivation and martial mastery. This combination of comedy and depth characterised Jin Yong’s sophisticated approach to popular fiction.
Portrayals
Ren Feiyan has been portrayed in film adaptations of Mandarin Duck Blades:
Film adaptations
- 1961 film Twin Swords (Parts 1 and 2) – Actress unknown
- 1982 film Lovers’ Blades – Hsueh-Erh Wen
The 1982 Shaw Brothers production Lovers’ Blades featured Hsueh-Erh Wen as Ren Feiyan. Shaw Brothers’ characteristic emphasis on spectacular martial arts choreography likely highlighted the Couple’s Sabers sequences and the comedic dynamics between her and Lin Yulong. The film, directed by Lu Jungu with screenplay by renowned wuxia writer Ni Kuang, presented an action-oriented interpretation that emphasised visual spectacle alongside character relationships.
External links
- The Mandarin Duck Blades – Novel article
- Lin Yulong – Character article
- Couple’s Sabers – Martial arts technique
- Baidu Baike - 任飞燕 – Related character information