Zhou Yunyang (simplified: 周云阳, traditional: 周雲陽, pinyin: Zhōu Yúnyáng, jyutping: zau1 wan4 joeng4), known in the jianghu as “Returning Dragon Jian” (回龙剑), is a disciple of Tian Guinong and the shidi of Cao Yunqi in the Northern Branch of the Tianlong School in Jin Yong’s Flying Fox of the Snowy Mountain. He is pale-faced, and by the text’s account only a second-rate fighter within the school, never a favourite of his shifu and not a capable man (ch. 1, 3).
Biography
Pursuit of the Taos
Zhou rides beyond the pass with Cao Yunqi, their shishu Ruan Shizhong, their shimei Tian Qingwen and Yin Ji of the Southern Branch, hunting Tao Baisui and his son. In the fight at the pit he goes at Xiong Yuanxian with his jian, and the two end up grappling in the snow until the monk Baoshu lifts him off and parts them. He is among the wounded, and Tian Qingwen binds his wounds first (ch. 1).
On Jade Brush Peak
At the manor on Jade Brush Peak he stands by Cao Yunqi when Cao fights Hu Fei’s twin page boys. After Cao has been thrown three times, Zhou joins in with his jian. The boys cut through his weapon and Xiong Yuanxian’s, and when the fight turns on Ruan Shizhong, Zhou, Cao and Yin Ji can only throw hidden weapons (ch. 2).
When Baoshu demands to know what the iron box holds, Zhou alone answers: the school’s treasured dao. Ruan and Cao think he is talking nonsense, since they have only ever seen the dao taken from an old wooden case, but Baoshu confirms it. Tian Qingwen then hands him the box, saying she knows he can open it, and he springs the lid by lifting at its four corners in turn and then pressing the centre of the base with his thumb (ch. 3).
The buried dao
Tao Zian’s account exposes him. On the night Tian Qingwen buried her smothered child, Tao followed her to a graveyard and saw Zhou burying a long bundle there. Zhou caught her trying to dig it up, and the two swore an oath to keep each other’s secrets (ch. 7).
Liu Yuanhe, who lay hidden under Tian Guinong’s bed that night, completes the story. Tian Qingwen told her father that Zhou had stolen the treasured dao and buried it, meaning to have him lured in and killed with a Poison Dragon Awl. When she went to fetch the dao it was gone. Miao Renfeng had seen both burials and brought Tian Guinong the dao and the dead infant together: “Your disciple buried the dao behind your back.” As Liu tells it, Zhou’s face turns ashen (ch. 7).
The treasure cave
At the round peak Zhou falls into one of the hollows in the snow and is pulled out by Ruan Shizhong. Baoshu later sends him out with Tao Zian and Xiong Yuanxian to gather firewood (ch. 8). In the cave, as the treasure-seekers fight over the hoard, he and Xiong Yuanxian grapple again and roll against the fire until Baoshu kicks them apart. He is among those Hu Fei seals inside, and the novel leaves their fate open (ch. 10).
Relationships
- Tian Guinong (Shifu): Zhou stole and buried the treasured dao entrusted to him.
- Cao Yunqi (Shixiong): He fights beside him throughout.
- Tian Qingwen (Shimei): Each knows what the other buried that night; they are bound by a sworn pact of silence.
- Ruan Shizhong (Shishu).
- Xiong Yuanxian (Enemy): The Pingtong Armed Escort’s man, with whom he twice wrestles on the ground.
Martial arts
Zhou fights with the jian and throws hidden weapons. The text rates him a second-rate member of the Tianlong School (ch. 2, 3).