The legend of the jianghu in "Old Cannon"

The triple jianghu of "Old Cannon"

"Jianghu" has two basic meanings: First, it is a concept corresponding to "temple" and "Wei Que". The latter refers to the imperial court and those in power, the former refers to the people and the opposition, and also refers to the social environment in ancient times that did not accept the constraints of the ruling control and the law. Later, adding unique martial arts to these people who are floating in the rivers and lakes, and then using the three themes of revenge, treasure hunting, and competition to intertwine various people, etc., has become the most basic mode of martial arts novels. Secondly, the jianghu must have a set of value scales and rules that are different from temple politics, and are recognized and observed by all people.

The strong jianghu atmosphere in "Old Cannon" comes from the multiple rivers and lakes in its plot structure and its conflict mode.

The first river and lake is called the old jianghu, that is, Zhang Xuejun, Min San, lampshade, foreign fire, these people, they represent the jianghu of a past era, once the stormy and mighty side, just like the box to Zhang Bo praised Zhang Xuejun at that time. But after all, the hero is late, these people are old, from the stunned youth of the year to the current husband and father, the complexity of life is far greater than the rivers and lakes they are familiar with and love, or life is the existence between the rivers and lakes and the temple. Coupled with the change of times, the set they know is a thing of the past. It can be said that this is a jianghu that has almost broken with the passage of time, and some of them have entered the business world and flourished. But most people are struggling at the bottom of society, setting up stalls, repairing shoes, pedaling three wheels, and doing nothing like Zhang Xuejun. These people are full of obsolescence and depravity, if it is not a special situation, their jianghu atmosphere disappears, no different from others. The second river and lake is called Xinjianghu, which is to take Xiaofei and Ah Biao. The children of the new jianghu have distinct characteristics of the times, such as money, door and politics, that is to say, the new jianghu is not famous by its own true ability like the old jianghu, but by other things, relying on the father to rely on money and family status, and these three are closely related. The third river and lake is the top level of the dragon that sees the beginning and the end, that is really a god-like existence, and the vague appearance will make the indispensable new jianghu tyrant be destroyed. Of course, this is the temple, the politics, the state apparatus, and its strength and invincibility are beyond words, and it is not comparable in the wild rivers and lakes. This is different from the jianghu in traditional martial arts novels.

Even in the traditional jianghu, enmity and hatred are not simply caused by treasure hunting and competition, but also revenge, and the generation of hatred is not the causal cycle of treasure hunting and competition, and it must involve the morality of the jianghu, so there is a distinction between the upright and the evil faction. Under the influence of the moral law, the emotions of the reader and the audience naturally have the same destination, and they will not look at the empty heart after watching. Since ancient times, the distinction between good and evil in the jianghu has had a set of conventional rules, such as hoeing the strong to help the weak, not bullying the weak; being bright and upright, not taking down black hands, and not angering others; such as willing to gamble and lose, and if you don't lose, you will lift the table and play with it; you will not make a promise of thousands of dollars, do not go to Qin Twilight Chu, and so on. Compared with this, it is not difficult to understand the emotional tendencies of the creators and audiences in "Old Cannon". Why Xiao Fei, Ah Biao and other new jianghu children are not recognized, that is, they are not authentic, not real jianghu, but fight daddy show off their wealth, greed, injustice, bullying and so on, of course, it is difficult for them to have the chivalrous spirit of the children of the jianghu, and when they encounter danger, they will fall down and scatter. The first and third rivers overlap to a large extent, and both emphasize the rules of justice. In particular, Zhang Xuejun certainly has a side of mischief and chaos, such as the conflict between Zhang Xuejun and the captain of the Chengguan Team, which is certainly not in line with the rules of the temple, but the practice of the Chengguan is obviously not supported by the temple. Therefore, they are not bad in their bones, love and hate are clear, their words and deeds are fruitful, they do not tend to be inflamed, and they do not look down on people. The plot proves that these things are not outdated, although the rivers and lakes seem to have declined, and the children of the rivers and lakes are white-haired and old, but these things in the bones are still there. Of course, this also surprised the children of the old jianghu, who saw the continuation of a certain kind of jianghu moral bloodline in another god-like top jianghu. Whether this arrangement is a true portrayal of reality or a realistic need of the subject, the ingenious structure has great significance.