Sand a Camacho
RoCH:
Fandom and he nos algic e u n
So i s a s wi h looking back, i s a s wi h a e u n.
susan pui san lok’s (b. 1972) RoCH (Re u n o he Condo He oes)
Fans & Legends began wi h a wish o he London-bo n a is o
look back a he Chinese ances y; o ela e o a cul u e ha ,
simul aneously, was and wasn’ he own. To make his e u n
she ook no o his o y books, o o unp ac ised adi ions and
cus oms, bu ins ead looked o wha had always connec ed he –
and he Chinese diaspo a – o hei pas and o each o he : he
ele ision adap a ions o Jin Yong’s wuxia 1.
The e a e many names a p ojec can ake: i can begin wi h i s
in luencing oo s, i s concep ual basis, and i can be modi ied as
he wo k is adap ed o assumes di e en shapes – o li es. RoCH
Fans & Legends ook i s name om wo elemen s: he i le o one
o Yong’s mos popula no els – Re u n o he Condo He oes; and
he an communi y ha su ounds i , ha a den ly discusses and
is inspi ed by i , and ans o ms i in o RoCH.
Fandom is key o RoCH, as i is key o lok’s p ojec , as i is
key in unde s anding he wo k. Bu le us con inue wi h he
1 The simples ansla ion o wuxia – wi h wu deno ing ma ial o mili a y ene gies, and xia meaning
a he oic o chi al ous indi idual – is as a gen e o li e a u e ha p ima ily ocuses on he ales o
ma ial a he oes in ancien China ( o whom he closes Wes e n app oxima ion would be ha o
he ‘e an knigh ’). Ha ing began in li e a u e, wuxia came none heless o encapsula e, om he
ea ly 20 h cen u y, ilm and ele ision gen es.
Sand a Camacho, RCH: Fandom and he nos algic e u n
140
issue o names o a momen . O iginally w i en in adi ional
Chinese, and published in se ialised o m om 20 May 1959 o
5 July 1961 in he Hong Kong newspape Ming Pao (also owned
by Jin Yong – bu we will come o ha ), Re u n o he Condo
He oes is he second pa o Yong’s The Condo T ilogy. Wi h no
au ho ised ansla ion o he no el in English, i was only wi h
he publica ion o olumes 9-12 o he 36- olume Collec ed Wo ks
o Jin Yong (1975-1981) in 1976 ha an o icial English i le was
eleased: The Gian Eagle and I s Companion. So how did RoCH
come o exis ? I is an explana ion ha can only be ound in an
o ums; and senio membe bliss exp esses i mos eloquen ly:
LOCH and ROCH came abou om he TV Se ials ha
mos o us g ew up wa ching and ha e ing ained in ou
minds. Legend o he Condo He oes came i s , and is a
somewha ee in e p e a ion o he name Eagle Shoo ing
He oes S o y. Then, since he nex one was he sequel,
hey p obably jus go lazy and called i Re u n o he
Condo He oes 2.
So i was no he au ho ha p oduced he name ha has
come o de ine e en he o iginal ex , i was he an communi y
and hei app op ia ion, no o he book, bu o he ele ision
adap a ions. And i is h ough app op ia ion – o he no el, o
he ele ision and ilmic adap a ions, o he an ansla ions and
hei c ea i e p oduc ion, and o a collec i e a chi e – ha lok’s
p ojec has come o exis .
Lok’s RoCH Fans & Legends began as an elemen o a la ge
p ojec – Ou Ances o s – and had i s i s public display as RoCH
Fans in ea ly 2013, as pa o The Global A chi e exhibi ion in
Hanmi Galle y, London 3. He e i occupied he o h lou o he
2 ‘How did he i les LOCH and ROCH come abou since i ’s no o iginal?’, <h p://www.spcne . /
o ums/show h ead.php/11419-How-did- he- i les-LOCH-and-ROCH-come-abou -since-i -s-no -
o iginal#.V ID5VIqK2w> [accessed 12 Feb ua y 2017]
3 The exhibi ion was cu a ed by Ma qua d Smi h, in collabo a ion wi h Emma B asó and Nina
P i edi, and an om he 24 h o Janua y o he 9 h o Feb ua y 2013. Besides susan pui san lok, i
ea u ed he wo ks o Young-In Hong (b.1972), Shezad Dawood (b.1974), and Tom Co by (b.1966)
and Ga in Baily (b.1971). M. SMITH, ‘A Mino Ju idical Dis u bance in he Global A chi e’,
A s o y is always bo n wice
141
galle y: p in ou s o Google Image sea ch esul s co e ed he
walls om op o bo om; a ele ision se played exce p s om
he 1983 Hong Kong ele ision adap a ion – sub i led wi h an
ansla ions; mul iple ansla ions o he wo k’s i le we e w i en
on a wall (almos as i hei we e pa o an enchan men ha
needed o be cas o hese he oes o inally e u n); colou ul
o igami condo s we e placed in a ci cle on he loo ; and a wing
o a condo was d awn in black ma ke on he window, aming
he building in on . I is his i s i e a ion o he p ojec , and
he issues i aises – on au ho ship, on an communi ies and
diaspo a, on nos algia, on he a chi e – ha will be analysed
h oughou his essay 4. Bu pe haps we should begin a he
o igins; pe haps we should begin wi h Jin Yong, wi h Hong Kong
and wi h displacemen .
Jin Yong: F om Hong Kong o he Wo ld
In 1948, be o e he came o be known by his pen name – Jin
Yong –, Louis Cha (Zha Liangyong) eloca ed o Hong Kong o
assis in he es ablishmen o he local edi ion o Shanghai’s
newspape Dagong bao 5. No long a e , in 1949, he People’s
Republic o China was ounded and Louis Cha, as many o he
Chinese na ionals, chose o emain in he B i ish colony. In he
yea s ha ollowed hey we e joined by housands o o he s, wi h
Hong Kong’s popula ion g owing om 1.600.000 in la e-1946 o
o e 2.300.000 in he sp ing o 1950 6. A numbe o hese people –
MaHKUsc ip : Jou nal o Fine A Resea ch, 1 (1): 9, pp. 1-9, <DOI: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.5334/mj a .1>
[accessed 12 Feb ua y 2017]
4 Since his i s exhibi ion, elemen s o he p ojec ha e been published as pa o a special edi ion
on he subjec o he a chi e o he Jou nal o Visual Cul u e – S. PUI SAN LOK, RoCH Fans and
Legends (En ies), «Jou nal o Visual Cul u e», Decembe 2013, 12, pp.364-374. The p ojec has also
been ecen ly de eloped in o RoCH Fans & Legends o an exhibi ion a De by QUAD (De by, UK)
(19 Sep embe – 15 No embe 2015).
5 Bo n in 1924 in Haining, Zhejiang, o a amily o schola s, Louis Cha ini ia ed his ca ee as a
jou nalis in 1945 o Dongnan ibao in Hangzhou. Du ing his i s decade in Hong Kong Yong also
collabo a ed in ilm e iews and edi o ials, sc eenplay w i ing, and ilm di ec ion.
6 J. CHRISTOPHER HAMM, Pape Swo dsmen: Jin Yong and he Mode n Chinese Ma ial A s No el,
Honolulu: Uni e si y o Hawai’i P ess, 2005, p.43.
Sand a Camacho, RCH: Fandom and he nos algic e u n
142
susan pui san lok’s amily included – con inued hei jou ney o
se le in o he coun ies – such as Taiwan, Aus alia, Canada, he
US, and he UK 7. In hei displacemen , hese indi iduals could
be seen h ough he lens o he exiled, bu pe haps a di e en
e minology migh be be e sui ed:
Exile sugges s pining o home; diaspo a sugges s
ne wo ks among compa io s. Exile may be soli a y,
bu diaspo a is always collec i e. Diaspo a sugges s
eal o imagined ela ionships among sca e ed ellows,
whose sense o communi y is sus ained by o ms o
communica ion and con ac such as kinship, pilg image,
ade, a el, and sha ed cul u e (language, i ual,
sc ip u e, o p in and elec onic media) 8.
These ne wo ked communi ies migh no ha e been pining
o home, bu hey con inued o es ablish ela ionships be ween
hemsel es, and wi h hei o igins. Pa o wha allowed hem o
do so was hei sha ed cul u al alues – Jin Yong ic ion included.
Pe haps, as lok men ions, «aspi a ions o se le and e u n may
no be con adic o y, and nos algia may be unde s ood in mo e
complex e ms han a backwa d gaze»9. Pe haps Yong’s wo ks
we e pa icula ly appealing o hese communi ies – e en i hey
we e ini ially consumed h ough he ele ision adap a ions
– because hey o e ed a my hical ep esen a ion o China:
«nos algia wea s a dis inc ly u opian ace, a ace ha u ns
owa ds a u u e-pas , a pas which has only ideological eali y»
10. Jin Yong’s s o ies we e cen ed on noble ac ions, an as ical
igh scenes, impossible omances, momen s o con lic om
7 In he 1950s he UK was a pa icula ly popula des ina ion, as i allowed Commonweal h ci izens
ee access o se le.
8 J. DURHAM PETERS, ‘Nomadism, Diaspo a, Exile: The S akes o Mobili y wi hin he Wes e n
Canon.’ in House, Exile, Homeland: Film, Media and he Poli ics o Place. ed. H. NAFICY, London:
Rou ledge, 1999, pp. 17-41, p. 20.
9 M. SMITH, S. PUI SAN LOK, Jou neys, Documen ing, Indexing, A chi es, and P ac ice-Based Resea ch:
A Con e sa ion wi h Susan pui san lok, «A Jou nal», Vol. 65, No. 4 (Win e , 2006), pp. 18-35, p.35.
10 S. STEWART, On Longing: Na a i es o he Minia u e, he Gigan ic, he Sou eni , he Collec ion,
Du ham: Duke Uni e si y P ess, 1984, p.23.
A s o y is always bo n wice
143
Chinese his o y 11, and he oes ha s a as ou side s un il he
momen hey p o e hemsel es wo hy o belonging o he
communi y 12. These we e «lonely, homeless, a he less [he oes],
ceaselessly wande ing on an endless jou ney» 13. They a elled
a wo ld ha was always jus on he ma gin o socie y, he wo ld
o jianghu – he wo ld o Ri e s and Lakes. Pe haps he nos algia
ha was el was no o he place ha had had o be abandoned,
bu o a place ha had ne e been.
S ill, as widesp ead as Jin Yong’s wo ks we e, his la ges
eade ship con inued o be based in Hong Kong. On 1 Janua y 1957,
he i s ins almen o wha would come o be known as Legends
o he Condo He oes was published in he Hong Kong newspape
Xianggang shangbao. By hen Yong, ha ing w i en wo p e ious
se ialised no els, was s a ing o be an acknowledged wuxia
w i e 14. None heless, he success LoCH ga ne ed su passed all
p eceding accomplishmen s and enabled Yong o es ablish his
own newspape : Ming Pao.
Ming Pao w as la un c h e d wi h h e i s i n s a lm e n o RoCH in May
1959. Wi h a ocus on ic ion, wi y edi o ials, and a posi ioning
ha was simul aneously na ionalis ic and c i ical o he policies
o he Chinese Communis Pa y, he newspape soon made a
name o i sel . I became di icul o disen angle he popula i y
11 Many o he no els a e se a pe iods when China was unde a ack, o a isk o being occupied,
by o eign powe s. The Condo T ilogy, o ins ance, begins du ing he Ju chen In asion o China
(a ound 1127 AD) and he es ablishmen o he Jin Empi e. I con inues, h ough he sequels, o
he Mongol In asion o ea ly 1200s and he ounda ion, and subsequen all, o he Yuan Dynas y
(c. 1271 AD - c. 1368 AD).
12 Again, he e a e ans ha a e ex emely a icula e in hei iews as o he popula i y o Jin
Yong’s no els. On analysing Guo Jing, he main cha ac e o LoCH, Owbjhx men ions: «Guo
Jing a icula es a ypical ‘diaspo a an asy’ o being a o eign-bo n pe son who e u ns o he
mo he land, ge s o e his s a us as a hal - o eign ‘cul u al e a d’ (which GJ’s so-called dumbness
is eally jus a me apho o ), and is e en ually coun ed among he mos local o his coun ymen
- a an asy which is su ely deeply appealing o many o he pos e s he e.» in ‘Jin Yong’s depic ion
o he Juchen Jin Empi e in LOCH’, <h p://www.spcne . / o ums/show h ead.php/5785-Jin-Yong-
s-depic ion-o - he-Juchen-Jin-Empi e-in-LOCH#.V H k1IqK2w> [accessed 12 Feb ua y 2017]
13 A. HUSS, J. LIU (ed.), The Jin Yong Phenomenon: Chinese Ma ial A s Fic ion and Mode n Chinese
Li e a y His o y, New Yo k: Camb ia P ess, p.11.
14 The Book and he Swo d was published in Hong Kong’s The New E ening Pos be ween 8 Feb ua y
1955 and 5 Sep embe 1956, and Swo d S ained wi h Royal Blood was se ialised in Hong Kong
Comme cial Daily be ween 1 Janua y 1956 and 31 Decembe 1956.

Sand a Camacho, RCH: Fandom and he nos algic e u n
144
o Yong’s wo ks o ic ion om he popula i y – and espec abili y
– o his newspape . I on he one hand ans pu chased he pape
o he se ialised no els, eading he poli ically con o e sial
edi o ials almos as an ex a, on he o he hand eade s looking
o a poin o iew ha challenged ha o he le and o he
People’s Republic o China we e ne e heless exposed o Yong’s
ic ion – and o i s nos algic ecalling o a Chinese spi i , o an
admi able Chinese pas .
Wi h an impossible lo e s o y be ween wo membe s o dis inc
ma ial a s sec s a he cen e o i s plo 15, RoCH ans o med an
es ablished w i e in o a sensa ion. Reade s began analysing and
discussing Jin Yong’s s o ies o such an ex en ha a name was
e en gi en o his s udy: Jinology. Yong con inued o w i e and
publish new ales (15 in o al) un il he ea ly 1970s, a which poin
– a a ime when ilm and ele ision adap a ions o his wo k we e
inc easingly widesp ead 16 – he s opped and s a ed o e ise –
and ew i e – e e y single one o his wo ks ins ead.
In No embe 1998 a h ee-day con e ence on he schola ly
s udy o Yong as a mas e no elis was held in Taipei. Amongs
i s p incipal sponso s we e wo o he publishing houses ha
ca ied Yong’s wo ks. And as mul iple adap a ions ( om comic
books and illus a ed no els o ele ision se ies and ilms) we e
p omo ed o launched du ing his week, he con e ence became,
o he mos pa , a ma ke ing coup. The di e ence be ween
buying he book and TV show sound ack bundle o a book o
con e sa ions be ween he au ho and Japanese philosophe
Daisaku Ikeda became e y much diminished 17. I was all pa o
15 The male lead, Yang Guo, is a ebellious o phan who is aken by his a he ’s swo n b o he (Guo
Jing – he leading cha ac e in Legend o he Condo He oes) o a my hic ma ial a s communi y in
Peach Blossom Island. A e unning away, he mee s Xiaolongnü, a disciple o he Ancien Tomb
(an all- emale ma ial a s sec ), sa ing he om an a ack by Taois p ies s. Xiaolongnü akes
Yang Guo as a s uden , which hinde s hei omance, as ma ial a s laws o bid ela ionships
be ween mas e and pupil.
16 Fo he RoCH p ojec susan pui san lok has ca alogued o e 90 adap a ions on The Condo T ilogy,
many o which s a ed being made only one o wo yea s a e he ini ial publica ions o he se ies.
S. PUI SAN LOK, Adap a ions, <h ps://susanpuisanlok.wo dp ess.com/ och- ans/adap a ions-2>
[accessed 12 Feb ua y 2017]
17 J. CHRISTOPHER HAMM, Pape Swo dsmen: Jin Yong and he Mode n Chinese Ma ial A s No el,
p.116.
A s o y is always bo n wice
145
one wo k. Yong’s oeu e became no a simple se ies o books; i
u ned in o a hyb idised piece composed by he w i en ex , he
ilmic and ele ision adap a ions, and he an con ibu ions. Such
migh no be e y di e en om he handling o popula books
in he Wes – Hollywood adap a ions end o be agg essi ely
ma ke ed and a e, a imes, endo sed by he au ho i sel 18. Wha
is imp essi e in Yong is he scale o i ; i is he numbe o wo ks
de i ing om he o iginal ex s – a p esen he e a e well o e
100 ilm and ele ision adap a ions alone – bu i is also he easy
inco po a ion Yong makes o hese wo ks in o his own no els.
I is unusual o a w i e o e ise any o his wo ks and emo e
inconsis encies de ec ed by ans; i is e en mo e unusual o
cha ac e s popula in ele ision adap a ions o suddenly gain
mo e p ominence in he book; bu o an au ho o make such
e isions on all o his books no once bu wice, ha is some hing
ha has possibly no been wi nessed many imes be o e 19.
Bu why has he done so? In an a emp o ma ke his wo ks
once again? Gi en he popula i y o he books is ma ke ing e en
a necessi y? Pe haps i goes back o how he no els came o be in
he i s place. Se ialised s o ies a e no no el – Cha les Dickens
and Alexand e Dumas published se ials in he 19 h cen u y –,
and hey end o acili a e he con ac be ween eade and au ho .
Fans we e as quick o w i e in wi h sugges ions on A hu Conan
Doyle’s She lock Holmes as hey a e in e iewing he la es
ele ision adap a ion o RoCH. The di e ence is ha Yong owned
he newspape ha was publishing his wo ks, and by ha ing
ull con ol o Ming Pao he had ull con ol o he dis ibu ion o
his s o ies. «One p ominen s a egy [was] an insis ence on he
popula i y o Jin Yong’s wo k, cas no as me e sel -celeb a ion
bu as an ex ension o he newspape ’s o e all populis s ance, an
exp ession o solida i y be ween he pape and i s eade s» 20. This
18 J. COLLINS, B ing on he Books o E e ybody, Du ham: Duke Uni e si y P ess, 2010, p.151.
19 Jin Yong published he i s ound o e isions du ing he 1970s and 1980s. Be ween 1999 and 2006
Yong wo ked on a second e ision o all his wo ks, which is known o ans as he ‘Thi d Edi ion’.
20 J. CHRISTOPHER HAMM, Pape Swo dsmen: Jin Yong and he Mode n Chinese Ma ial A s No el,
p.171.
Sand a Camacho, RCH: Fandom and he nos algic e u n
146
solida i y came h ough pa icula ly in he p ominence gi en o
an le e s. By publishing and esponding o co espondence, Jin
Yong cul i a ed a dedica ed an-base ha came o eel as i hey
we e pa icipan s in he de elopmen o he s o y: W i e in, le me
know wha you hink, and maybe you will be su p ised wi h wha
you ind in he nex ins almen .
Fans ook o his call; hey w o e in. Howe e , hey also
s a ed w i ing o hemsel es, hey began o o ganise discussion
g oups and communi ies. And he Chinese diaspo a de eloped a
RoCH communi y o i s own, al hough one i s bo n ou o he
ele ision adap a ions.
Fandom and a Mu able A chi e
In a ele ision sc een, placed o one side o he galle y oom,
susan pui san lok p esen ed iewe s wi h clips o he 1983 Hong
Kong adap a ion o RoCH. They did no o m a speci ic episode,
a he hey o e ed glimpses o a na a i e. They s ood o he
iewe as a poin o con ac o his my hical China, jus as hey
had o lok in he childhood:
The Condo T ilogy a i ed a ou doo s ep ... Boo leg
ideos in plas ic bags, deli e ed o ou home, ia a local
ne wo k o i s gene a ion Chinese immig an s who
main ained egula connec ions wi h Hong Kong. So
hese ideos we e being lown o shipped o e weekly
and we would ge ou weekly ixes o he la es popula
Hong Kong d ama 21.
I was hese ideos, o ma ial a s and wuxia, ha «allowed
hose o Chinese o igins in o he pa s o he wo ld ... o imagine
hei cul u al he i age and ela ion o China» 22. I was h ough
hese cinema ic his o ies ha membe s o hese communi ies
21 Anima e P ojec s – ‘In e iew wi h susan pui san lok’, <h p://anima ep ojec sa chi e.o g/
in e iews/in e iew_wi h_susan_pui_san_lok> [accessed 12 Feb ua y 2017]
22 K. SZETO, The Ma ial A s Cinema o he Chinese Diaspo a: Ang Lee, John Woo, and Jackie Chan in
Hollywood, Ca bondale: Sou he n Illinois Uni e si y P ess, 2011, p.18.
A s o y is always bo n wice
147
con inued o es ablish bonds; con inued o ac i ely discuss he
la es episodes (almos as i hey we e gossiping abou common
acquain ances); and con inued o deba e wha eally ma e ed:
wha has happened o ou a ou i e cha ac e . In many ways such
deba es migh ha e o e old hose ha would be held yea s la e
in online o ums. Pe haps he e a e ways in which he online
communi y migh be compa able o a diaspo ic communi y.
«[F]andom ga he s a li e, communal audience o s o ies, and
ans ha e adap ed and adop ed e e y mode o communica ion»
23. Such li e communica ion migh be es ablished in he physical
p esence o ano he , o , as we ind in online o ums, in a i ual
p esence. The u h is ha o mos ans i doesn’ eally ma e
how he wo ks a e being discussed as long as he e is a chance
o discuss hem. A guably, his absence o physicali y migh
ac ually p omo e a kind o andom ha is inhe en ly nos algic.
The i ual communi y begins o s and in o an idealised g oup
o people, wi h ans longing o he ime hey a e able o spend
wi hin i .
Fo ans don’ jus w i e o commen on a ou i e scenes
o exp ess hei app ecia ion o he au ho . They imme se
hemsel es in o e e y ins an o he no els and adap a ions: hey
b eak down he igh cho eog aphies, hey ha e hea ed deba es
on he bes leading man 24, hey e ise he e isions and sugges
new changes 25, hey e en collabo a e in he ansla ion o 500-
page books 26. A communal p ocess ha has gi en nume ous
eade s access o wo ks ha would o he wise ha e been beyond
hei each.
The no ion o a collec i e in elligence 27 – o he con ibu ion
o mul iple indi idual in e p e a ions o o m a uni – is a s ong
23 F. COPPA, ‘W i ing Bodies in Space’ in K. HELLEKSON and K. BUSSE (ed.), The Fan Fic ion S udies
Reade , Iowa: Uni e si y o Iowa P ess, 2014, pp. 218-237, p.232.
24
‘Bes RoCH adap a ion?’, <h p://www.spcne . / o ums/show h ead.php/13012-Bes -ROCH-
adap a ion#.V Cd VIqK2w> [accessed 12 Feb ua y 2017]
25
‘Thi d Edi ion Changes’, <h p://www.spcne . / o ums/show h ead.php/12038-Thi d-edi ion-
changes#.V CgBFIqK2y> [accessed 12 Feb ua y 2017]
26 ‘RoCH T ansla ion...8 onwa ds’, <h p://www.spcne . / o ums/show h ead.php/763-ROCH-
T ansla ion-8-onwa ds#.V Cgd1IqK2w> [accessed 12 Feb ua y 2017]
27
H. JENKINS, Con e gence Cul u e: Whe e Old and New Media Collide, NY: New Yo k Uni e si y
P ess, 2006, p.4.