Action Scene as Political Debate: The Battle of Juxian Manor

x_los was tweeting about action scenes as a vehicle for character moments, and about how this is especially legible in written iterations of wuxia. This made me reread two of my favourite action scenes in Jin Yong's oeuvre, which can be found respectively (shocker, for anyone who has heard me go on about this) in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龙八部) and The Smiling Proud Wanderer (笑傲江湖). I'll lay out the action scene in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils here, and the scene from The Smiling Proud Wanderer in another post.

( major spoiler for Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils )

These multiple layers of meaning are most effectively conveyed in written form, which gives room for exposition and explanation. I think it would be extraordinarily difficult to convey the significance of Qiao Feng's choice of technique (or even that he is using a particular technique which is not the one he is best known for) through e.g. cinematic means, unless one resorts to the clumsy device of onscreen exposition.