Hong Kong wuxia legend Louis Cha ‘Jin Yong’ battled liver cancer and dementia in twilight years, friend says
- Fellow writer Chip Tsao recalls final moments in hospital with celebrated author and journalist
- Cha’s eyes ‘lit up’ as Tsao updated him on world events in their native Shanghainese
Legendary Hong Kong martial arts novelist Louis Cha Leung-yung had been suffering from liver cancer and dementia in his twilight years, friend and fellow writer Chip Tsao revealed on Tuesday night.
Cha, also known by his pen name Jin Yong, died at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital in Happy Valley with friends and family at his bedside that afternoon, aged 94.
The respected journalist, who co-founded the Ming Pao newspaper group, was a celebrated author whose novels in the wuxia genre – featuring chivalrous tales of kung fu masters in ancient China – made him a household name both at home and among the global Chinese diaspora.
He was arguably the world’s most popular Chinese novelist.
Editorial: Louis Cha, the man who united Chinese in name of chivalry
In a Facebook post on Tuesday night, Tsao said he had last spoken to Cha in hospital last week and updated him about world events in their native Shanghainese tongue.
“His eyes lit up bright, and he was holding my hand. I told him what the date was and what had been happening between China and the United States,” he wrote. “He listened with rapt attention, like an innocent child.”