A Path to Glory, When Ren Zhe's Statue Greets Jin Yong's Wuxia Universe in Jakarta

indonesiasenang.com - 2 October 2025

Tower of Strength by Ren Zhe at Townhall, IDD, PIK2

Indonesiasenang, Jakarta - is once again becoming a meeting place for Chinese classical art and literature. Linda Gallery, one of the art galleries that consistently presents international exhibitions, presents A Path To Glory, an exhibition of sculptures by young Chinese sculptor Ren Zhe, as part of the centenary of the birth of wuxia literary maestro Jin Yong. The exhibition is being held at Townhall IDD PIK 2 from October 3 to 19, 2025.

The name Jin Yong is almost impossible to ignore in the Asian literary landscape. This Hong Kong-based author has written 15 works that explore the world of martial arts (wuxia) through the lens of Eastern philosophy. His legendary trilogy, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, also known as the Eagle Knight Trilogy, has become a cross-generational icon of popular culture.

Jin Yong's stories are not only about sword duels or family feuds, but also about courage, virtue, loyalty, and the search for identity. It is no surprise that his works have been adapted more than 130 times for the big screen and television, reaching a global audience from China and Hong Kong to Southeast Asia. In his home country, surveys have even recorded that 80-90% of citizens have been exposed to Jin Yong's world through books, films, or TV series.

In A Path To Glory, Jin Yong's spirit finds a new body in Ren Zhe's contemporary sculptures. A graduate of the Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, Ren Zhe is known as a young sculptor with a strong visual language: dynamic postures, energetic gestures, and detailed expressions that capture the spirit of struggle.

Ren Zhe's work does not stop at the aesthetics of form. He encapsulates Confucian values such as courage, generosity, respect, and honesty into sculptures that feel alive. Through contemporary materials, he constructs a dialogue between tradition and modernity, East and West. Like Jin Yong's warriors who are always at a crossroads in life, Ren Zhe's work seems to oscillate between the old world and the new.

The theme of A Path To Glory itself finds resonance with Jin Yong's work. The "path to glory" in wuxia is not just about victory on the battlefield, but an inner journey towards virtue and truth. With his sculptures, Ren Zhe transforms Jin Yong's narrative into physical form: a form that can be touched, seen, and absorbed.

In the context of Jin Yong's 100th anniversary, this exhibition is more than just an art event. It is a form of respect for an author who shaped the collective imagination of the Chinese world, as well as a bridge for the current generation to absorb the eternal values behind the stories of the warriors.

Interestingly, the celebration of Jin Yong's centenary is not only echoed in Haining, the maestro's hometown, but also in Indonesia. The presence of A Path To Glory in Jakarta opens up opportunities for the Indonesian public, who are also familiar with martial arts stories and heroic traditions, to find cultural common ground.

Just as Jin Yong's work transcends language barriers, Ren Zhe's work also speaks in universal languages, namely the language of struggle, the language of virtue, and the language of beauty.

In the shadows of these statues, it is as if we can hear the echoes of the Rajawali warrior who transcended time, telling us that true glory is not merely a sword in one's hand, but a soul that is faithful to the truth.