Legend of Xin Qinji

Legend of Xin Qinji (1993)
Aka: Blood Legend of Xin Qi Ji
Chinese Title: 辛棄疾鐵血傳奇
Translation: Xin Qiji Iron-Blooded Legend

 

Starring: Liu Yanjun, Jiang Qinqin, Yang Xinzhou, Yu Rongkang
Director: Li Lingming
Action Director: Yu Daijun, Han Fuchun

 

Xin Qiji is a historical figure that I honestly do not know a lot about. He lived during the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960 – 1279), more specifically in the Jurchen-led Jin Dynasty. History lesson: When the Song Dynasty started, there were three major kingdoms that defined the geographical area that we know as modern-day China (and Mongolia). There was the Song Dynasty, led by the Han Chinese people, which occupied Northern and Southern China; the Liang Dynasty, led by the “proto-Mongol” Khitan people, which occupied Mongolia and Inner Mongolia; and finally, the Western Xia Dynasty, led by the Tibetan-adjacent Tangut people, which occupied Western China and part of the Tibetan plateau.

The three kingdoms were constantly involved in border conflicts with each other. Eventually, a fourth group, the Jurchens, hailing from Manchuria, appeared and conquered the Liang Dynasty and the Northern half of the Song Dynasty. At this point, the Song Dynasty has been labeled as the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1127 – 1279). In the end, Genghis Khan and his Mongol hordes showed up, conquered the Jin and Song empires, utterly annihilated the Western Xia kingdom, and established the Yuan Dynasty in China.

Xin Qiji lived at a period that Jin and Southern Song Dynasties existed as uneasy neighbors. The Song emperor wanted to avoid prolonged conflict; the Jins wanted to unify China under their rule. Although he was a Han Chinese living in Jin Empire, he was taught patriotism by his grandfather and ultimately decided to side with the Song Dynasty. He led several insurrections against the Jurchens and ultimately defected over to the Southern Song empire.

Once in the Song Court, Xin Qiji’s opinions and counsels were ignored by the Emperor and his advisors. He became a minor official and started a series of sweeping reforms in the province he governed. Success often begets envy, and lots of other officials started persecuting him. He was essentially exiled, after which he became one of the most celebrated poets in Chinese history (plus one of the true Chinese patriots of that time period).

The film opens with Xin Qiji (played as an adult by Liu Yanjun) as a child, witnessing the murder of his father during an insurrection against the Jins. The culprit is 5^th Prince Wu Shuai, one of the top people of the Jin court. Xin Qiji has his life spared by his adoptive grandfather, Ye Duan, who renounces his Song citizenship and becomes a Jin dynasty citizen. Ye Duan raises and educates both Xin Qiji and another boy, Dang Huaiying, in literature, philosophy, poetry, art, and the martial arts. When both men come of age, Ye Duan retires to a Buddhist temple to spend the rest of his days.

The two martial “brothers” take different paths in life. Dang Huaiying takes the public examination to become a Jin official. Meanwhile, Xin Qiji uses his martial skills and education, especially art, to observe and draw military maps of Jin outposts and military positions. This draws the ire of a Jin General, who tries to capture him. Fifth Prince Wu Shuai wants to recruit Xin Qiji to the Jin court, although the General thinks that’s a bad idea.

The General chases Xin Qiji to a tent where a Han scholar, Kong, is working as a historian and storyteller, whose stories are enjoyed by one of the other five princes. Kong challenges Xin Qiji to a duel under the guise of being a Jin loyalist. However, Kong is impressed by Xin’s dedication to the Song cause and reveals that he was a Deputy General under the command of the famous General Yue Fei, who fought against the Jin people (before being betrayed and killed by his own). Kong gives Xin Qiji a bunch of maps and documents he has amassed over the years to take back to Song territory. Kong is killed in a subsequent battle with the General and Xin Qiji is back on the run.

Xin Qiji ends up in the estate of a Mr. Fan Bangyan, a county magistrate. He also happens to be the future father-in-law of his brother, Dang Huaiying. A marriage between Dang and Fan’s daughter, Xiaguan (Jiang Qinqin, of Bloody Brothers and The Sino-Dutch War 1661), was arranged when they were young. Although Fan appears to be a faithful Jin servant, he is actually a Song patriot and sympathetic to Xin’s cause. Young Miss Fan also finds herself despising her future husband upon discovering that he’s a Jin official, and falls for Xin Qiji instead. Xin Qiji is captured (again) by the Fifth Prince, but Magistrate Fan and his daughter help him escape. Fan Xiaguan also puts on a cape and mask and helps him escape the Jins (yet again), where he ends up in the same temple where his adoptive grandfather has retired.

Legend of Xin Qin Ji is more interesting for its history than for its storytelling in itself. There is a lot of melodrama, which can grate at times. A lot of the dialog comes in the form of poetry, which makes sense, given Xin Qiji’s reputation. Although Dang Huaiying becomes an official for the enemy, the script doesn’t exploit that for an epic battle of brothers, like Junbao and Tianbao in Yuen Woo-Ping’s The Tai Chi Master. Dang just hangs around the Fifth Prince and the General, but doesn’t really contribute anything to help or hurt the character. He almost feels superfluous. The film is interesting in that it depicts Fifth Prince Wu Shuai as a very wise and pragmatic person, as opposed to the General, who just wants to slay Xin Qiji where he stands. In the end, the General is probably the righter of the two, although history would dictate that it probably didn’t make a huge difference, because the Song Dynasty didn’t treasure Xin’s counsels anyway.

There are a number of fight scenes, most of which involve swordplay. The choreography is done in typical 1980s Mainland wushu style, so if you liked the swordplay in films like Kids from Shaolin, you should enjoy the action here. It is well done, especially the opening battle between the Song rebels and the Jin army. The General fights with a melon hammer, which is a nice bit of variety. The action stumbles in that the climax isn’t as good as it should have been. It is a final showdown between Xin Qiji and the Prince’s men at the temple. There is no definitive fight between him and Prince, or him and the General. He fights—to the soundtrack of a traditional Chinese song—and then escapes. Some intertitles inform us that he defected over to the Song Dynasty…etc.

I’m glad I finally watched this. It’s really unessential kung fu viewing, but it works as a historical-spiritual successor to Jimmy Wang Yu’s The Invincible Sword.