The Woman in Yellow in Shaolin
The enigmatic Woman in Yellow, whose was only identified by the surname Yang 杨, made only two brief appearances in the 40-chapter Heavenly Sword, Dragon-Slaying Sabre. Hence, a few questions arose regarding these appearances, specifically the later one at the Shaolin Temple:
1. Did the Woman in Yellow go to the Shaolin Temple because she had anticipated some trouble, and hence wanted to keep an eye on the child leader of the Beggars' Gang, Shi Hongshi?
2. Why did the Woman in Yellow interfere when Zhou Zhiruo wanted to kill Xie Xun? After all, it did not appear to be something that the Woman in Yellow should be involved in, unless it was to get back at the Emei School for killing an elder of the Beggars' Gang.
3. In the 2003 series that starred Alec Su, the Woman in Yellow said that Zhou Zhiruo should die. What was the reason for such a statement? Song Qingshu, who killed an elder of the Beggars' Gang, was already dead, so that should square up the debt.
This article, first published by HYS on the Internet on 31 March 2005, provides some insights.
A. Novel Excerpts
HSDS, 2nd ed, Chap 38:
"Suddenly, soft sounds of the zither and the flute were heard coming from the middle reaches of the hill ... A woman in a pale yellow dress of gauze ascended the peak slowly amidst the music. When Shi Hongshi 史红石, the child leader of the Beggars' Union 丐帮, saw her, she ran into her arms and cried, "Sister Yang, Sister Yang! Our Elders and Caretakers have been harmed!" Then, she pointed to Zhou Zhiruo and added, "It was the Schools of Emei 峨嵋 and Shaolin 少林 that did these cruel deeds." The woman in yellow nodded and said, "I have already known about it. Hmmph! The White-Boned Claws of the Nine Negatives (Jiuyin Baigu Zhao 九阴白骨爪) is not necessarily the most formidable pugilistic skill in the world."
Her dramatic appearance and beauty had caught the attention of the people on the peak, so her words were heard even more clearly. Thus informed, the older ones among the gathered pugilists thought: Could this claw technique of the Emei School really be the deadly White-Boned Claws of the Nine Negatives that was renowned in the realm of the rivers and lakes a hundred years ago? They had heard of the White-Boned Claws of the Nine Negatives and knew of its excessive deadliness, but since it had been lost for a long time, no one had actually seen it before.
The woman in yellow took Shi Hongshi by the hand, headed for the group from the Beggars' Union and sat down on a rock in their midst.
A slight change of expression appeared on Zhou Zhiruo's 周芝若 face. "Who is that woman?" she asked in a quiet voice. "I have seen her only once," answered Zhang Wuji 张无忌. "I did not know what her surname or background is. All I know is that she is related to the Beggars' Union."
"
HSDS, 2nd ed, Chap 38 (the last couple of pages):
"Suddenly, a yellow figure flashed by. Someone flew over, seized his [Zhou Dian's 周颠] short sabre. Then, the figure moved forward and sent five out-stretched fingers into the top of Zhou Zhiruo's head. This technique was totally the same as the one Song Qingshu 宋青书 had used to kill the Elders of the Beggars' Union. By then, the five fingers of Zhou Zhiruo were barely a 'chi' (1 chi = 33.33 centimetres) away from the top of Xie Xun's 谢逊 head, but the approach of the enemy had been so swift that she was forced to move her hand upwards to fend the enemy off.
Zhang Wuji's level of internal strength was not beneath the combined efforts of the three monks, but he was unable to reach the point of looking without seeing or listening without hearing. So he was greatly disturbed as soon as he saw Zhou Zhiruo threatening Xie Xun. When Zhou Dian went forward to create a disturbance by trying to kill himself, he became even more anxious. It was at this critical moment when he could have died of internal injury and bleeding that he saw the woman in yellow leaping into the circle, taking away the short sabre in Zhou Dian's hand, attacking Zhou Zhiruo and freeing Xie Xun from danger.
Delighted once more, Zhang Wuji's internal strength multiplied. This enabled him to disperse the energy that the three monks sent towards him. ... Thus, they [the monks and Zhang Wuji] reduced their energy output a little at a time, until all the energy was withdrawn. Then, the four laughed aloud and stood to their feet. ...
Zhang Wuji turned around and saw that the woman in yellow was engaged in a close fight with Zhou Zhiruo. The woman in yellow was unarmed. Zhou Zhiruo had a whip in her right hand and a sabre in her left, yet she was losing ground. The techniques of the woman in yellow appeared to be similar to those of Zhou Zhiruo. ... After a moment, Zhang Wuji knew that the woman in yellow was bound to win, thus ensuring the safety of his godfather. Yet, he could tell from her moves that the woman in yellow seemed to be more interested in finding out what Zhou Zhiruo's martial arts foundations were. If she had sought a win in the first place, she would have struck Zhou Zhiruo down much earlier.
...
Just then, the woman in yellow uttered a clear shout, turned her left hand over and seized the whip in Zhou Zhiruo's hand. Then, she used her elbow to strike an acupoint in the latter's chest. Raising the five outstretched fingers of her right hand over Zhou Zhiruo's head, she said, "Do you want to taste the White-Boned Claws of the Nine Negatives as well?" Unable to move or respond, Zhou Zhiruo closed her eyes and waited for death.
Although Xie Xun could not see anything, he could hear the goings-on very clearly. Hence, he stepped forward, bowed and said, "Guniang (Young lady), I am deeply touched by your virtuous efforts in saving my life and that of my son. If this Zhou-guniang here is unrepentant and continues walking in unrighteousness, a day will come when she finally suffers the consequences of her actions. Please let her off today."
"The Golden-Maned Lion King 金毛狮王 has repented very quickly," replied the woman in yellow as she retreated into the crowd.
"
HSDS, 2nd ed, Chap 39:
"... a middle-aged nun from the Emei School walked up to Xie Xun and said, "I want to spit at you too, in revenge for killing my husband!" As she spat, a steel nail shaped like the pit of the Chinese date flew forth from her mouth.
Despite hearing a difference in the sound that the nail made as it sliced through the air, Xie Xun did not move aside. Smiling bitterly, he thought: "Dying at this moment is already rather late."
Suddenly, something flashed as the woman in yellow sprang forward and gathered the pit-shaped nail in her sleeve. "How should I address this 'shitai' (a polite term of address for a nun)?" she asked in an angry voice.
Having failed in her attack, the nun looked rather shocked, but she managed to say, "I am called Jingzhao 静照."
"Hmm, Jingzhao, Jingzhao," repeated the woman in yellow. "What was the name of your husband before you became a nun? How was he harmed by the Great Hero Xie?"
"What has it got to do with you?" snapped Jingzhao. "Why should I need you to be involved in this matter?"
The woman in yellow replied, "The Great Hero Xie has repented of his past mistakes. If anyone wants to chop him up into ten thousand pieces with a thousand sabres, he is willing to accept it. No one could stop such a thing from happening as well. However, if someone with an unfathomable heart wants to take advantage of the situation and silence him, then everyone has a right to be involved."
"I do not have any unresolved grievances with Xie Xun, so why should I silence..." Suddenly, realising that she had uttered the wrong thing, she stopped herself and turned totally white. At the same time, she could not help but glance at Zhou Zhiruo.
"That is right," said the woman in yellow. "You do not have any unresolved grievances with Xie Xun, so why should you need to silence him? Hmmph, among the twelve disciples of the Jing generation at the Emei School, Jingxuan 静玄, Jingxu 静虚, Jingkong 静空, Jinghui 静慧, Jingjia 静迦 and Jingzhao became nuns before they were married, so where did your husband come from?"
Jingzhao did not reply. Instead, she turned and walked away.
"Do you think you can leave so easily?" asked the woman in yellow. Taking two steps forward, she reached out to grab the nun.
Jingzhao avoided the grasp, but the woman in yellow struck her in the waist with the forefinger of her right hand, before kicking the Huan Tiao acupoint 环跳穴 on her leg. Jingzhao snorted and sank to the ground.
"Zhou-guniang," said the woman in yellow with a sarcastic laugh, "this method of silencing a person is very cruel indeed."
"Sister Jingzhao seeks Xie Xun in revenge, so why call it silencing a person?" said Zhou Zhiruo coldly. Waving her left hand, she added, "There are innumerable members of the renowned and upright clans here who do not understand the difference between orthodoxy and heresy, so they are willing to mingle with monsters from the unorthodox and heretical sects. The Emei School is not interested in this muddled mess. Let us go."
The members of the Emei School responded in unison and got to their feet. When two female members picked Jingzhao up, the woman in yellow did not stop them. Then, Zhou Zhiruo led her members down the hill.
Zhang Wuji walked over to the woman in yellow, bowed and said, "Elder Sister, I really do not deserve the great assistance that you have given me. Thus, I hope that you will reveal your name, so that I will remember your kindness from dawn until dusk."
The woman in yellow smiled and replied, "Behind Mount Zhongnan, in the Tomb of the Living Dead, the Heroic Companions of the Great Eagle, end their mark on the realm of the rivers and lakes."
...
Then, the woman's voice was heard coming from the middle reaches of the hill: "Sect-Leader Zhang, please do your best to deal with and assist in the matters of the Beggars' Union."
"I will," answered Zhang Wuji.
"Thank you very much!" said the woman.
"
Question 1: Did the Woman in Yellow go to the Shaolin Temple because she had anticipated some trouble, etc?
When Shi Hongshi reported that the Emei School was involved in the deaths of the Elders of the Beggars' Union, the Woman in Yellow responded that she had already known about the incident. But she did not take any immediate action against Emei, choosing instead to take a potshot at the school's use of the White-Boned Claws of the Nine Negatives. Up until then, no one knew what those claw techniques were actually called. So at the point of arrival, the Woman in Yellow did not seem moved to punish Zhou Zhiruo, although she obviously did not think highly of the latter's use of and reliance on the White-Boned Claws of the Nine Negatives.
Questions 2 and 3: Why did the Woman in Yellow interfere when Zhou Zhiruo wanted to kill Xie Xun? In the 2003 series that starred Alec Su, the Woman in Yellow said that Zhou Zhiruo should die. What was the reason for such a statement?
In the novel, the Woman in Yellow did not say that Zhou Zhiruo should die. But she did not regard Zhou with much respect either, which was indicated by the words she spoke when she first arrived.
Since the Woman in Yellow could identify the White-Boned Claws of the Nine Negatives by sight, it was highly likely that she knew about its unsavoury reputation as well. Thus, as a descendant of Yang Guo (based on the cryptic verse about Mount Zhongnan and the Tomb of the Living Dead that she used as a reply to Zhang Wuji's question about her identity), she might have felt responsible and duty-bound to stop the use (and the subsequent spread) of this deadly technique in the martial arts circle. As a new practitioner, Zhou Zhiruo was not shown using living people as training objects, but the advanced practitioner Mei Chaofeng 梅超风 (in Eagle-Shooting Heroes) did, and such murder of innocent lives was a lowdown act that was generally frowned upon. So when the Woman in Yellow saw with her own eyes that Zhou Zhiruo was about to kill Xie Xun with the White-Boned Claws of the Nine Negatives, she was finally moved to make a stand. By getting into a fight with Zhou Zhiruo using similar strains of movements and techniques, she could show the world what the real White-Boned Claws of the Nine Negatives was.
At this point, it would be good to note that the 2003 series that starred Alec Su is a very poor representation of Jin Yong's "Heavenly Sword, Dragon-Slaying Sabre". Therefore, the events portrayed in that series should *not* be equated to the events written in the novel.
B. The Woman in Yellow, the Beggars' Gang and the Emei School
The Woman in Yellow seemed to have a stronger affiliation with the Beggars' Gang than with the Emei School. This was probably because Yang Guo 杨过 befriended and benefitted greatly from Hong Qigong 洪七公 (arguably the most well-known and the best-loved leader of the Beggars' Gang) before the latter's death. On the other hand, Yang Guo was just a "big brother" to Guo Xiang 郭襄 (the founder of the Emei School). Although he loved her as a little sister and cared for her as the daughter of his Uncle Guo Jing 郭靖, the relationship that he had with Guo Xiang cannot be compared with his relationship with Hong Qigong. Furthermore, his good friend and brother Yelü Qi 耶律齐 succeeded Huang Rong 黄蓉 and Lu Youjiao 鲁有脚 as the head of the Beggars' Gang, probably the last in several generations of capable leaders.
That was probably why Shi Huolong 史火龙 knew how to send his wife and daughter to Mount Zhongnan 终南山 for assistance when things began falling apart in the Gang, and why the Woman in Yellow was willing to lend a hand despite the probability of a self-imposed withdrawal from the realm of the rivers and lakes that began with Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü 小龙女.
Since the self-imposed withdrawal did not allow the descendants of the Tomb of the Living Dead 活死人墓 to participate actively in the matters of the martial arts circle, the Woman in Yellow probably felt that two public appearances were more than enough. Thus, before she was out of earshot, she asked Zhang Wuji to assist in the matters of the Beggars' Gang, especially when the Gang had lost several of its Elders and Caretakers days earlier.
Again, this indicated the extent of the Yang Family's relationship with the Beggars' Gang.
On the other hand, the relationship between the Emei School and the descendants of Yang Guo was, at best, weak and shallow. Emei did not come into being until Guo Xiang was 40 years old. By then, Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü were probably very old and perhaps even dead. So while their descendants knew how Guo Xiang and Yang Guo were related, the link was insufficient reason for any attempts at cleaning out the riff-raff from Emei. That is probably why the Woman in Yellow did not pursue the issue with Jingzhao or stop Zhou Zhiruo and her members from leaving.