There is a saying that, "Wherever you find Chinese people, you'll find Jin Yong's novels." The first exhibition gallery in Hong Kong to be themed on the renowned writer, Dr Louis Cha (pen name Jin Yong), was unveiled today (February 28) at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. The gallery showcases both the creative process behind and wide-ranging impact of Dr Cha's martial arts novels through more than 300 exhibits.
 
     Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, said that Dr Cha has made a distinctive contribution to the development of Hong Kong's society and culture. With his in-depth knowledge and elegant writing, he succeeded in advancing martial arts novels from leisure reading to the level of literary classics, even becoming a subject for experts and scholars to study and discuss. His works have had a far-reaching impact on Hong Kong's popular culture and even on global Chinese literature. Consequently, the Government has established the permanent exhibition at the Jing Yong Gallery to showcase Dr Cha's contribution to novel writing and to the promotion and development of Hong Kong culture.
 
     Mr Lau expressed his gratitude to Dr Cha for creating a wonderful world of martial arts for readers, as well as his strong support for the Jin Yong Gallery by lending the museum his valuable manuscripts, photographs and personal items such as a chessboard and a camera for long-term display.
 
     The Jin Yong Gallery together with its interactive game zone occupies an area of 2 500 square feet. It is located at the G/F of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and will open to the public from tomorrow (March 1). The Gallery will display more than 300 exhibits, including early editions of Jin Yong's novels, invaluable manuscripts, documents and photos, film posters, recordings of TV series' theme songs and some of Dr Cha's personal items, introducing his early career, the creative process behind his martial arts novels, and the impact the novels have had on Hong Kong's popular culture.
 
     To tie in with the inauguration of the Gallery, the museum will organise a special exhibition titled "Exhibition on Paintings adapted from Jin Yong's Novels" in the Function Place on the first floor from March 1 to 27, to showcase original novel illustrations and Jin Yong's martial arts world as seen in the work of various artists.
 
     Dr Louis Cha is a big name in Hong Kong's newspaper industry and also a renowned literary giant. In 1955, he took the opportunity to publish his first martial arts novel, "The Book and the Sword", in the New Evening Post under the pen name "Jin Yong". The novel was an instant success, and he went on to create 15 extremely popular martial arts novels, ending with "The Deer and the Cauldron" in 1972. Jin Yong is hailed as the most influential martial arts novel writer of the 20th century, with readers around the globe.
 
     Jin Yong's martial arts novels have inspired the producers of movies, TV series, radio dramas, stage dramas, video games and various cultural and creative products, deeply influencing the development of Hong Kong's popular culture over the past decades, and even generating a sort of common language for Chinese readers around the world.
 
     Other officiating guests included the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung; the son of Dr Cha, Mr Andrew Cha; the son-in-law of Dr Cha, Dr Ng Wai-cheong; the daughter of Dr Cha, Mrs Edna Ng Cha; the Chairman of the Museum Advisory Committee, Mr Stanley Wong; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Michelle Li; and the Museum Director of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Ms Fione Lo.
 
     The inauguration of the Jin Yong Gallery is one of the events celebrating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Hong Kong Heritage Museum is located at 1 Man Lam Road, Sha Tin. For details of the gallery and exhibition, please visit the Museum's website: www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/en_US/web/hm/exhibitions/permanent_exhibitions/permanent_jin-yong-gallery.html, or call 2180 8188 for enquiries.

Ends/Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Issued at HKT 17:53

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