Two Swordmasters & Two Women: Chiang Shiao-ho (江小鶴) & Bo Ah-ran (飽阿鸾) Lee Mo-bai (李慕白) & Yu Ceo-lian (俞秀蓮)

In this two-part historical novel the two martial arts masters are the teachers featured in the 2000 film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (based on Chinese author Wang Dulus books). This book offers two interconnected stories about star-crossed lovers in a 19th-century world of Chinese martial arts intrigue and cultural constraints. In the first one Chiang Shiao-ho is determined to kill his fathers murderers and the abuser when he was an orphan. Chang is in agony between the duty of revenge and his love for the patriarchs granddaughter Bo Ah-ran. In Yus (Chinese Mosaic. New Edition 2021) second tale Lee Mo-bai (Chiang Shiao-hos nephew) is a pampered heir of a landowner and an expert in the literary and martial arts. He is torn between his love of a living widow Yu Ceo-lianand an artistic prostitute. These two tragic love stories reflect the Chinese peoples wishes to eradicate two cruel traditions: an eye for eye vengeance and a living widow. The characters in these stores are rich in texture and shaped by both thoughtful moral dilemmas and hyper-dynamic action. The two moving tales are skillfully propelled by acts of betrayal honor and duty.