Cold, innocent, and iconic in white, Xiaolongnü is the beloved female lead in Jin Yong’s novel Return of the Condor Heroes. Her journey with the hero Yang Guo is an all time loved romance that’s been made into more adaptations than we can remember.
Here, we will examine her character with ten questions that cover flaws, consistency, development, etc. To each question, the answer would be either Yes (1 point), No (0 point), or Kind of (0.5 point).
*Our analysis is not based on any particular drama or movie adaptation. The featured image is only for reference.
WARNING: this analysis 1) contains spoilers 2) is humor-free
1. Does she have a story to tell besides romance? No (+0)
In all honesty, Xiaolongnü does not have a story to tell besides romance. She does not have many goals before the romance begins. Xiaolongnü is a reserved being and prefers her peace and isolation. If she had not fallen in love with Yang Guo, she would not have left her cave. Her story from that point onward revolves around the romance.
0/10
2. Does she fall into the Damsel-in-Distress trope? (Does she make things happen or do things happen to her?) Yes (+1)
Yes, Xiaolongnü is a female character who makes key events happen. To list a few: She takes pity on Yang Guo and accepts him as her disciple. She decides to leave Yang Guo (on several occasions) and eventually decides to pursue a life with him. And even though Yang Guo is deeply in love with Xiaolongnü, he respects her decisions, this dynamic between them makes Xiaolongnü’s decisions one of the driving forces of the story because what she does matters. Without her actions, a lot of things would have turned out differently. She certainly gets a point.
1/10
3. Does she take action to accomplish her goals? Yes (+1)
Most of Xiaolongnü’s actions are driven by either her love for Yang Guo or her temporary hatred for him. Her decision to marry Gongsun Zhi, for example, is because she needs to forget him. But there are, throughout, small goals she pursues that strongly define her character.
Xiaolongnü’s life long goal is to live in seclusion, protect her mentor’s place (the old tomb), protect their legacy, and keep out outsiders. This is not a goal that requires a lot of actions. Later on, things happen, of course, and Xiaolongnü is forced to make goals – avenging herself and killing Yin Zhiping, for example. Albeit being situational, this goal reflects Xiaolongnü’s strong stand regarding a woman’s sexual purity, formed by the teachings she received. Her decision to leave Yang Guo afterwards also stems from this belief she holds. It’s less about their romance and more about her view on the matter.
Perhaps another one of Xiaolongnü’s half-romantic-half-not goal is that she wants what’s best for Yang Guo under any circumstances, be it when he is her disciple or lover. Xiaolongnü always prioritizes his happiness and would do anything to maintain it, including jumping down a cliff and let him wait for 16 years for a reunion.
2/10
4. Does she have an interest? Kind of (+0.5)
Even though Xiaolongnü is a very capable female character, it does not look like she has much of an interest. She meditates on an ice bed, sleeps on a robe, and wears white all the time. But it is hard to decide if she does these things out of interest or simply because her training requires her to submit to this lifestyle.
However, it seems that the white-outfit thing is her own thing. The color reflects the innocent and kind person she is inside, which presumably plays a part in what interests her in general. She takes an interest in plain, simple things, and dislikes extravagances.
2.5/10
5. Does she act in accordance with her beliefs? Yes (+1)
Unlike our forever doomed hero Bai Zihua, Xiaolongnü is tremendously straightforward and is never afraid to speak her mind, especially when it comes to her romance with Yang Guo, her disciple. This, of course, also stems from her lack of knowledge of the complexity of society. But still she maintains this belief even when she has become more acquainted with the outside world.
In the very beginning, as cold and indifferent as Xiaolongnü is, she stands up for Yang Guo as a child and takes him under her protection. Later on, she fights for her love with Yang Guo despite prejudice.
During their time in the cave, Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo live as simply as they can, Xiaolongnü herself views life and death as life’s natural factors and is not in the least afraid of them – this is also one of Xiaolongnü’s beliefs that she perhaps acquired during her apprenticeship.
There are times when she succumbs to hardship but on a whole, Xiaolongnü sticks to her beliefs.
3.5/10
6. Does she develop throughout the story? No (+0)
We are not sure if Xiaolongnü has much development. She begins as an innocent woman who is not familiar with emotions. After she meets Yang Guo, Xiaolongnü remains for the most part, an indifferent person.
She does grow to love Yang Guo; however, her love purely revolves around Yang Guo. The journey they both go through does not bring about that many changes to her character. Xiaolongnü does not learn as much as Yang Guo and she does not evolve because of the hardships she encounters.
3.5/10
7. Does she have a flaw? Yes (+1)
Xiaolongnü is extremely naive even though she is the older one of the two. This is due to the fact that she spends most of her life in a cave. When Xiaolongnü steps out in the real world, most people are very quickly to notice her naivete and attempt to bring harm to her multiple times. Huang Rong also takes advantage of Xiaolongnü’s innocent nature to manipulate her into leaving Yang Guo more than once, causing unhappiness in both of their lives.
This is a real flaw and its consequences affect both Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo immensely.
4.5/10
8. Does she have meaningful relationships with other characters besides her love interest? Yes (+1)
Xiaolongnü literally grows up in a cave. Her only influence during this time is Li Mochou, her older fellow disciple of her sect.
Stepping out of the cave, Xiaolongnü meets Huang Rong (Guo Jing’s wife and the heroine of The Legend of Condor Heroes). Huang Rong is a woman with a conventional view on many issues, including the taboo Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo supposedly commit by falling in love with each other, since they are student and teacher. Huang Rong plays a big part in many of Xiaolongnü’s decisions by explaining to the latter how society views this kind of relationship, making an immense impact on Xiaolongnü’s thinking.
Xiaolongnü however does not have many male influences in her life. She certainly comes in contact with many male characters, but aside from Yang Guo, none of them really plays a part in her development, even Zhou Botong or Guo Jing.
Of course, we cannot talk about the males in Xiaolongnü’s life without mentioning Zhen Zhibing (or Yin Zhiping, depending on what version of the story you have), the widely hated Taoist in this story who sexually violates Xiaolongnü. While Zhen Zhibing’s action causes disturbances in Xiaolongnü’s mind and drives her to nearly leaving Yang Guo, it does not do enough to Xiaolongnü’s character to be regarded as an influence.
Nevertheless, this is the case with Xiaolongnü: it would be unfair to judge Xiaolongnü based on her lack of influence because the lack of influence is exactly the point of her character. It is the cause of her strengths, weaknesses, and the reason why she is who she is. In other cases, the absence of a male influence reduces the score, but we believe Xiaolongnü deserves one whole point here because this lack of influence is well written and contributes to her character as much as the presence of influence does to other characters.
5.5/10
9. Is her character consistent? Yes (+1)
Yes, Xiaolongnü is very consistent. She makes both right and wrong decisions in the story and all are due to her personality.
It is no doubt that Xiaolongnü’s skills are also consistent (since Jin Yong was… you know… a master in Wuxia novels). When she does something extraordinary, there is an explanation. Whenever her skills fail, there is also an explanation. There are no instances where we have to wonder why something happens regarding Xiaolongnü skills or personality.
6.5/10
10. Can you define her character by her personality? Yes (+1)
Xiaolongnü doesn’t have much of a narrative arc, but you can certainly define her by her personality – a innocent, cold, but kind woman who is wholly unfamiliar with the world, who encounters many kinds of people and hardship on her journey but remains true to herself.
SO HOW WELL-WRITTEN IS XIAOLONGNU?
7.5/10
BOTTOM LINE
Return of the Condor Heroes is, for the most part, a hero epic. Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo’s romance only takes up about 50% of the story. But even though Yang Guo’s character is more developed and with much more depth, Xiaolongnü’s character strengths are definitely worth noting. She is naive, dependent on Yang Guo for her happiness, lacking in knowledge, and one-track-minded at times; but her personality is consistent and her influence on the story as a whole is unquestionable.