Yang Kang

Yang Kang (Traditional Chinese: 楊康) is a fictional character in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, a wuxia novel written by Jinyong. He was the sworn brother of Guo Jing and the father of Yang Guo. Yang Kang was also a disciple of Mei Chaofeng and Quanzhen priest Qiu Chuji. His biological father was Yang Tiexin and mother Bao Xiruo. He was known as Wanyan Kang before he knew his true parentage, and he always thought that he was the son of Wanyan Honglie, the sixth prince of the Jin emperor. He married Mu Nianci and had a son Yang Guo

Biography

* Family name: Yang (楊)
* Given name: Kang (康)
* Gender: Male
* Birth: 1203
* Father: Yang Tiexin
* Mother: Bao Xiruo
* Step-Father: Wanyan Honglie
* Wife: Mu Nianci
* Children: Yang Guo

Yang Kang's Martial Arts

Quanzhen Pai Wu Gong (Quanzhen Sect Martial Arts) (全真派武功)

Qiu Chuji taught Yang Kang the martial arts of Quan Zhen Sect after discovering that he is the son of Yang Tiexin. He was taught the martial arts by Qiu Chuji due to a competition between Qiu Chuji and Jiangnan Qi Guai (江南七怪) to train him and Guo Jing to settle a martial arts competition between them.

Nine Yin White Bone Claw (九陰白骨爪)

Mei Chaofeng taught a young Yang Kang the "Nine Yin White Bone Claw" after he stumbled upoon Mei's refuge and discovered her secret. In exchange for keeping the secret of her training and providing fodder for her practice, she taught him the skills.

Life

Yang Kang was born Wanyan Kang in the royal courts of Jin and grew to believe that Wanyan Honglie was his real father. He was initially taught martial arts by Qiu Chuji, who made a bet with Jiangnan Qi Guai that they would locate and train the offsprings of the Yang and Guo family, and let the disciples compete. Qiu did not educate Yang well on virtues, a failure he later regretted greatly. Yang Kang, bored and tired of Qiu's righteous personality, secretly sought training from a refuging Mei Chaofeng.

When he was eighteen years old, Yang Kang came across a martial arts contest to find a spouse for Mu Nianci. He easily defeated Mu Nianci and molested her in public, but refused to marry her and took her shoe with him as a souvenir. Thinking it was absurd, Guo Jing came out and had a fight with him, trying to retrieve the shoe and the girl's honor. The fight ended after Yang Kang's mother Bao Xiruo came to the scene. Later, Yang Kang captured Mu Nianci and her father Mu Yi (actually his real biological father Yang Tiexin), whom he had accidentally hurt during the fight with Guo Jing.

After Mu Yi and Mu Nianci were freed by Bao Xiruo, Mu Yi went to visit Bao Xiruo later that night to reveal his true identity to her. Yang Kang ran into them and his mother told him that Yang Tiexin was his true father, but he refused to believe it.

Even after confirming his true identity as the son of Yang Tiexin, and that Wanyan Honglie was the real mastermind behind his family's tragedy 18 years ago, he still recognized Wanyan Honglie who raised and indulges him with luxury as his father. By accepting Yang Tiexin as his father, he would have denounced his claim as a prince of the Jin Empire. Throughout the story, Yang Kang was constantly in conflict, having to choose between the relationship with his stepfather Wanyan Honglie and his moral obligation toward fellow Han Chinese. Once while Wanyan Honglie was sleeping, Yang Kang took out a knife to stab Wanyan Honglie, but hesitated and covered him with blanket instead. Ultimately, he turned into a cunning and ambitious mastermind who betrayed his fellow Han people.

He was later killed when he hit Huang Rong's protective "Hedgehog Soft Vest", which was incidentally coated with Ouyang Feng's lethal poison when Guo Jing's master, Nan Xiren previously hit her in his dying delirium. His corpse was later scavenged by wild ravens, and what remained of it was eventually buried by his sworn brother Guo Jing. His death was ironic because Yang Kang killed Ouyang Feng's nephew/illegitimate son Ouyang Ke in order to become his disciple, and he was directly responsible for Na Xiren's poisoning.

Yang Kang's treachery are stark contrasts against the patriotic Yang Clan Generals of which he is a scion. More than seven generations of that clan had dedicated their lives of zealous service to the Song dynasty and were all people of noble character. However, his deeds also pivotal to the decisions that would shape the life of his sworn brother Guo Jing, when Guo was torn between the loyalties towards Mongol and Southern Song Empires, and his son Yang Guo's heroic destiny as "The Condor Hero".