Linghu Chong, the eldest disciple of Huashan Sect, is open-minded and unrestrained by nature. When he first entered Huashan, his martial arts skills were ordinary. Later, he met a master who taught him the "Nine Swords of Dugu" and accidentally obtained the essence of the swordsmanship of the Five Mountains. This aroused the suspicion of his master Yue Buqun, who expelled him from the sect on the pretext of expelling him. In fact, Yue Buqun was upright on the surface, but treacherous on the inside. In order to obtain the "Sunflower Treasure Book", a secret book of the world, he designed a plan to make the martial arts sects plot against each other, but in the end, he killed himself. Linghu Chong had been in love with Yue Lingshan, the daughter of Buqun, since childhood, but Lin Pingzhi appeared and made Yue Lingshan turn to him. Later, Linghu Chong met Ren Yingying, the only daughter of the leader of Blackwood Cliff, and the two had similar interests. After several life and death misunderstandings, they realized that they loved each other deeply, but Yingying had been poisoned and was dying. After experiencing the hegemony disputes in the world, Linghu Chong and Ren Yingying finally appreciated each other and got married, and they have been proud of the world ever since.
Renaming of Shaolin Monastery to Lingjiu Monastery
In the series, Shaolin Monastery (or Shaolin School) is renamed Lingjiu Monastery (靈鷲寺; "Divine Eagle Monastery"). The change is believed to be because the producers wanted to avoid trademark infringement, since Shaolin Monastery has officially registered "Shaolin" as a trademark and has been involved in lawsuits with commercial companies over the use of "Shaolin" as a brand name or trademark.[2][3]
Prior to its original broadcast, Swordsman received popular attention for its teen idol cast in comparison with older adaptations of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, and for major amendments made to the original story.[4] Particular attention was shed on Joe Chen's casting as Dongfang Bubai, a minor antagonist in the novel whose role was substantially rewritten in this series to portray him/her as one of two female protagonists alongside Yuan Shanshan's character, Ren Yingying.
During and following its broadcast, the series received mixed and largely polarised reviews. The series was both praised and criticised for its unfaithfulness to the novel, although producer Yu Zheng asserted that it is one of the 'most faithful' adaptations of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. Nevertheless, the series maintained high ratings throughout its run. The new characterisation of Dongfang Bubai sparked controversy, even though Joe Chen's performance as a complex character was praised, and Dongfang Bubai became a feminist pop icon. Chen Xiao's portrayal of Lin Pingzhi was also critically acclaimed, but Yuan Shanshan's Ren Yingying was critically dismissed as a miscast of the original character in the novel. Attention was directed towards the prominence of romantic plotlines and subplots in the series which were similarly met with mixed reviews. However, new romantic pairings among the cast as follows were well received by younger audiences: Wallace Huo's Linghu Chong and Joe Chen's Dongfang Bubai; Han Dong's Tian Boguang and Deng Sha's Yilin; Chen Xiao's Lin Pingzhi and Yang Rong's Yue Lingshan; Lü Jiarong's Lan Fenghuang and Han Dong's Tian Boguang.[5]
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