[kansteff]

Taipei, May 27 (CNA) A series of Chinese "Wuxia" (martial arts and chivalry) novels by Jin Yong will hit the market in digital form late June, the publisher said at a press briefing Thursday.

With his 15 reputed masterpieces, Jin, also known as Louis Cha, has built a reputation as the finest Wuxia novelist ever in Chinese-speaking societies, including Southeast Asia and the United States.

"I have never met anyone who says he doesn't know who Jin Yong is, and what's more, everyone has read his works," said Taipei Vice Mayor Lee Yong-ping, the former commissioner of the city's cultural affairs department.

In the beginning of this year, Taiwan-based Yuan-liou Publishing Co., Ltd. had the idea of combining the whole series of Jin's novels with the promising technology gadget e-Reader, and now the idea has come true with help from a California-based visual technology manufacturer, ViewSonic Corporation.

"In the future, all the publishing houses will become digital; all the newspapers and magazines will become digital, too," said Wang Jung-wen, president of Yuan-liou Publishing.

"I hope this new device can be the killer application, " added Wang, who said he hopes that his product can encourage more publishers to share their copyright in the future.

Jin's works have been translated into eight languages, including English, French, and Japanese. Moreover, many people have adapted his works into television series, comic books, video games and films. (By James Lee) ENDITEM/cs

[andrea]

in China, it's very easy to find youngster reading Jin Yong's novel in their mobile phones, or PSPs!

but yeah, it will be great to see more and more people using kindle to read wuxia