The Five Younger Gallants is an 1890 Chinese novel and the best known sequel to the hugely popular 1879 novel The Tale of Loyal Heroes and Righteous Gallants. It is followed a year later by Sequel to the Five Younger Gallants. Both sequels were published by Shi Duo who owned the Beijing publisher Wenguang lou. The editor was a "Captivated-Wind Daoist". It's unknown whether he was the same person as "Captivated Daoist", an editor of the 1879 novel. All three novels claim authorship by the famed storyteller Shi Yukun. During the last decade of the 19th century, the first sequel was reprinted 9 times, 7 in Shanghai and 1 each in Beijing and Chongqing.
Authorship controversy
While scholars generally agree that Shi Yukun was the genius behind the original novel, how much he contributed to The Five Younger Gallants and its sequel, if at all, is unknown. The 1879 novel does not complete its tale by the final chapter, and readers are told to wait for The Five Younger Gallants. However, none of the "previewed" plotlines at the end of the original was actually found in the sequel. The editors did not deny that the two novels had different origins: According to Shi Duo's preface, his unnamed friend who was an acquaintance with an unnamed disciple of Shi Yukun brought him the original draft by Shi Yukun, with "over three hundred chapters, was bound in seventy or eighty volumes, contained over three thousand episodes in three major parts", which he acquired "without begrudging the great cost". "Capitvated-Wind Daoist" in his preface hinted that the 1879 novel was not authentic as it was noticeably different from the "original draft" he received. In A Brief History of Chinese Fiction, Lu Xun wrote : One of the prefaces, dated "the first month of winter of 1890", suggestively includes the name Boyin, Pan Zuyin's courtesy name, but as Pan died on December 11, 1890, it was unlikely his work.
The Five Younger Gallants
Ai Hu, nicknamed "Little Hero". He is actually a main character in the later chapters of the original.
Lu Zhen, Lu Fang's son, nicknamed "Powder-Faced Zidu". He appears briefly in the original.
Han Tianjin, Han Zhang's adopted son, nicknamed "Thunderbolt Devil".
Xu Liang, Xu Qing's son, nicknamed "Goose from Shanxi" and "White Eyebrows".
Bai Yunsheng, Bai Yutang's nephew, nicknamed "Jade-Faced Zhuan Zhu".
actors enact a scene from Ch. 9: Mao Gaga accidentally tells Lu Fang about Bai Yutang's tragic death. From a performance in Tianchan Theatre, Shanghai, 20 December 2014.
