PROLIFIC WRITER WITH ARMY OF LOYAL FANS
Hong Kong in mourning for popular novelist celebrated for his Wisely series and more than 300 screenplays including Bruce Lee classics
Hong Kong novelist and giant of the Chinese literary world Ni Kuang, who first gained fame with the hugely popular New Adventures of Wisely series, died yesterday at the age of 87.
The prolific author, who specialised in the martial arts and science fiction genres, also penned more than 300 screenplays. His passing was mourned by the city’s artistic community who said he left a void unlikely to be filled any time soon.
Tenky Tin Kai-man, actor and spokesman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, revealed Ni died at home at 1pm.
Tin said he felt “a bit lost” at the news that the city had lost over the weekend two towering figures in the arts scene, as he referred to the death of Hong Kong film director and screenwriter Alex Law Kai-yui.
“For those who are a bit old, they all know that the three greatest talents in the literary world are Jin Yong, [popularly known as Louis Cha], Gu Long, Ni Kuang. After that, no such iconic and epoch-making people have appeared,” he said, referring to the two martial arts novelists.
With the three authors dying one after another in recent years, Tin said: “I am wondering if this is the end of an era.”
Poon Yiu Ming, chief editor from Ming Pao Monthly, said Ni had suffered skin cancer. “Even though he had cancer, he didn’t act like he was ill. He was an optimistic person.”
Poon said Ni had produced the broadest range of work of any Hong Kong author. Many thought his depictions of black holes and clones were fictional, but it was later proven by science, he added.
Author Sun Sai-shing said he was deeply saddened. “There may not be authors like him in Hong Kong any more.”
Ni wrote some of the most beloved novels including more than 140 novels in the Wisely Series, first published in leading Chinese daily Ming Pao in 1963. They centred on a man named Wisely who embarked on adventures around the world, in space and even the future, encountering strange creatures and aliens. The stories were adapted into films, TV series, radio dramas and comics.
Born in Shanghai in 1935, Ni smuggled himself into Hong Kong in 1957 and began working for a local newspaper. After publishing his first novel in 1957, he continued to write a wide range of works including supernatural and detective stories.
He branched out to screenplays during the rise of Hong Kong martial arts films in the 1960s, with screenplay credits including The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, both starring Bruce Lee.
Hailed as one of the “four greatest talents of Hong Kong”, Ni won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2012 and the Jubilee Honour Award from the Hong Kong Screenwriters’ Guild in 2018.
Ni was a critic of the Chinese Communist Party and expressed his distrust in media interviews throughout the years. In an interview with former Bar Association chairman Paul Shieh Wing-tai on RTHK in 2019, Ni said he was once a law enforcement officer on the mainland.
“I had no choice but to leave [the mainland]. The party committee of the unit I was working for decided to blame me for some crimes that I did not do … I offended him,” he said.
“When I heard people saying ‘one country, two systems’ is being destroyed, I could not help but laugh … The Communist Party decides everything. There is not such a thing as ‘one country, two systems’.”
Ni had not returned to the mainland since even though the authorities permitted publication of some of his works and his novels became popular there.
On life and death, Ni said: “I just take things as they come from early on … I have experienced the verge of death a few times but survived. After departing the mainland, I am free without any restrictions and able to talk and think freely. I would be very satisfied if I can live these days for a few years. It has been over 60 years now and I have been very lucky.”
Columnist and radio host Chip Tsao said Ni was the “Stephen King of Hong Kong and the Chinese literary world” and “a man of boundless imagination and prolific creativity”.
Tsao said his stories combined the essence and values of Chinese culture, such as karma and feng shui, presenting an Asian style of science fiction from a unique perspective.
Ni is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
Even though he had cancer, he didn’t act like he was ill. He was an optimistic person
POON YIU MING, MING PAO MONTHLY