The Deer and The Cauldron: The First Book (Bk. 1) [Hardcover]

Louis Cha (Author), John Minford (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1997

This is the first of a three-volume picaresque historical romance by China's best-loved author. It tells the story of Trinket, an irreverent and comic anti-hero, and his adventures through China over more than twenty years at the beginning of the Qing dynasty. The story spans vast territories, from desert islands to northern ice fields, from Peking and the Imperial Court to the sacred mountain of Wu-tai-shan to the legendary Shaolin Temple to the boudoir of Princess Sophia. Rich in plot and historical detail, the book is peopled by a multitude of characters, including members of the Brotherhood of River and Lake, song girls, gamblers, beggars, itinerant (and often fighting) monks, Taoists, Cossacks, Jesuits, herbalists, dissident literati, corrupt magistrates, Manchu princes, Ming loyalists, and the one-armed Princess with the deadly 'flicking' style of kung fu. Anyone with a taste for popular culture or modern China will find The Deer and the Cauldron a fascinating read.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

About the Author

Louis Cha is probably the most widely read author in modern China. His martial arts novels, originally serialized for newspapers, have been adapted for TV, film, cartoons, video games, and even restaurant menus, and they have been translated in numerous languages.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 596 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195903234
• ISBN-13: 978-0195903232
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Asian

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Foulmouthed and gruesome, but hugely entertaining, March 17, 2001

By 

Jean-Francois Virey (59500 DOUAI France) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Deer and The Cauldron: The First Book (Bk. 1) (Hardcover)

Very little Chinese martial arts fiction (wuxia xiaoshuo) has been translated into English, and even the phenomenal success of *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* does not seem to have convinced any publisher that the American public might actually want to read the original novel by Wu Du Lang. Apart from the first two books of *The Deer and the Cauldron* (and of course such classics as *The Water Margin*), I have only been able to find a translation of Li Shanji's (a.k.a. Huanzhulouzhu) *Blades From the Willows* (Wellsweep Press, 1991), which I found so dumb I could not finish it (it is actually closer to the worst Japanese monster TV series than to any martial arts movie from Hong Kong); and a French translation of a novel by Gu Long (Picquier, 1990), which was better, but not particularly memorable.

Given this lack of competition, I would not be paying *The Deer and the Cauldron* much of a compliment if I said it was by far the best martial arts novel I have ever read, so I will simply state that it is the most addictive novel I have read since the early 1990s, when I discovered *The Fountainhead* and *Atlas Shrugged*.

Louis Cha's (Jin Yong's) *The Deer and the Cauldron* is the story of Trinket (Wei Xiaobao), the thirteen-year-old son of a Yangzhou whore, in the Eastern province of Jiangsu, who finds himself caught up in the political intrigues of the early Manchu era, in the mid-1660's. A crafty, lazy, unprincipled opportunist, Trinket ingratiates himself with a member of the Triads, which in those days were not a mafia, but secret loyalist societies opposing Manchu rule and seeking to restore the Ming Dynasty; and becomes friends with the Emperor of China himself, another lad of thirteen. Set mostly in Beijing's Forbidden City, the novel involves a quest for copies of a sacred buddhist text, the *Sutra in Forty-Two Sections*, whose importance is only revealed in volume two; an evil Imperial eunuch seeking vengeance for murders most horrid; and power squabbles among the various Triads.

The novel is written in a very lucid and unostentatious style, focusing on telling the story rather than on describing the settings. Louis Cha's main interest is in the plot of this wonderfully convoluted tale of deception and false identities: he sees his genre as a Chinese cousin of the historical fictions of Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alexandre Dumas and Prosper Merimee. Unfortunately, the use of foul language, the frequent references to bodily functions and the numerous murders and mutilations described make the novel unsuitable for younger readers, who might otherwise have enjoyed this brilliant adventure (the most recurring term of abuse is "turtle" which, one learns in the glossary of volume 2, is a euphemism for penis; as for "tamardy", I haven't a clue.)

The Second Book of this excellent series (Louis Cha's last work) was published in 1999, also by Oxford University Press, and if you hate cliffhangers, you might want to buy both volumes at once. The translator, John Minford, who also worked on the Penguin edition of *The Story of the Stone*, initially intended to publish a third volume, together with two other works of Cha's, *Book and Sword* and *Eagles and Heroes*. I sincerely hope none of these projects has been abandoned or postponed.

(This volume contains a map of Ancient China, a glossary of people and places and a glossary of terms - all of them extremely helpful.)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Louis Cha's Farewell, March 29, 2001

By 

taisou "senfeng" (CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Deer and The Cauldron: The First Book (Bk. 1) (Hardcover)

This is the last of Cha's masterful storytelling efforts and it is by far his most original. The siver-tongued and foulmouthed anti-hero (Trinket Wei) will definitely fill your hours with amazement, laughter, gasps of "WHAT!" and "HOW'D HE DO THAT!?!". For me these comments and expressions were spoken out loud (and very loud somthings), which is something I almost never do. The other characters in this book are very loveable, mostly heroic, and uncommonly very vulnerable. At first glance, the men and women of River and Lake seem to exude the aura of stereotypical "heroes" (and villains) that as children listening to storytellers we have come to believe to have lived in that era. But their personalities and character faults envelope them with a third dimensional layer that definitely makes them leap of the page. Only the first two (of three) books are currently available and you'll definitely want to pickup the second before finishing the first. I think I read about 600 pages the first night.

So... Tired of the "poo" that's been floating around in you're Fantasy or Adventure sections of the bookstore? This is one of the books that you'll want to snatch up! Now! Currently, I'm pulling my fingernails out with my teeth waiting for Oxford to put out the THIRD part of this book. I'm also anxiously awaiting Cha's "The Book and The Sword" which was translated by Graham Ernshaw (GREAT translation BTW). This one is mentioned in the intro of TD&TC, so I'm hoping that it comes out soon!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just martial arts and adventure, October 4, 2003

By 

C. Y. Wah (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Deer and The Cauldron: The First Book (Bk. 1) (Hardcover)

I read the Chinese version of this when I was in high school. I don't think I will be exaggerating if I say that Louis Cha is probably one of the most widely read Chinese writer in the 20th century. You may stumble across a lot of Chinese who haven't read Dreams of a Red Mansion, but they have read Cha.

Mr. Cha is very knowledgeable of Chinese history, literature and geography, and has managed to incorporate much of his knowledge into his works. Therefore, if the reader is interested in and somewhat familiar with Chinese culture, you will find the reading more enjoyable and not just an adventure/martial arts story. His characters will take you through tradition, culture, poetry, and landmarks. Verses of famous poets from hundreds to 2 to 3 thousand years ago are quoted by the characters at times, quite appropriate to their situation in the novels. I have read somewhere that the Chinese government is now using excerpts from Cha's novels in textbooks.

I really hope there will be more translations of other works out soon for everybody to enjoy. Some people will dispute whether the "Deer" book is the best. Almost all of Cha's 4-volume sets are extremely popular. Many claim that his third book (can't translate the name) is the best.