Hong Kong's 'unofficial history'

Moreover, the trilogy, especially the third novel, contains a lot of Cantonese dialogue, dialect and even entire paragraphs of Cantonese, which can be challenging for non-Cantonese readers.

Ma says he used Cantonese dialects to achieve linguistic precision in writing. "Dialects aren't obstacles to reading; they enrich regional culture and bring characters to life," he says.

"Language is fundamental in literary creation. To bring characters to life, it's crucial to capture their tone, identity and environment accurately. Many characters in the book are from Hong Kong's underworld, and they naturally speak Cantonese. Translating everything into Mandarin would diminish their authenticity," he adds.

In the third novel, Ma included much more information about Hong Kong's cultural geography than in the previous two books. This includes elements such as the scriptures recited by Taoists during the "hell breaking" funeral ritual, lyrics from popular songs, rain-praying chants, the design and movement of the Southern Lion Dance, slogans from funeral homes, and the origins of famous Hong Kong place names like Yau Ma Tei and So Uk Estate.

Ma says that Hon, the protagonist of the novel, was born in 1957 and that Ma himself was born in 1963.

"I am familiar with and have a personal connection to that period, so it naturally led me to write more about it," he says.

His main goal in including a wealth of information about the city is to recreate the characters' authentic lives.

Dialogue and inner emotions alone can't sustain a complete story; it's crucial to build a tangible world: the characters' clothes, what food they eat, what the gambling dens look like, the popular hairstyles, and the significant events in society, including the severe drought in Hong Kong during the 1960s and the rain-praying ceremonies held by different religions, he explains.

"I aimed to create a complete picture of the era, allowing readers to truly immerse themselves in the time and place where the characters live."

In the third book, martial arts also take a central role.

Like the character Hon, Ma was deeply influenced by the Bruce Lee kung fu craze of the early 1970s. At that time, nearly every teenager in Hong Kong wanted to learn martial arts, making it a collective memory for an entire generation.

In the novel, practicing martial arts shapes the lifelong ambition of the protagonist — to become a martial arts master. Yet, he knows deep down that the traditional martial arts world has long disappeared. By the late 1970s, street fights in Hong Kong no longer relied on fists but on knives and even guns. His ideal was at odds with reality from the start, Ma says.

Another important aspect of martial arts is morality. Martial artists have principles and integrity, and these ideals influence the story's conclusion, which sees Hon refusing to follow the gang leader's orders in a bid to uphold the ethics of martial arts, ultimately leading to tragedy.

Ma notes that even today, in Hong Kong's older districts like Wan Chai, Mong Kok, Yau Ma Tei, and Prince Edward, you can still see remnants of martial arts school signs, such as those for Wing Chun and Hung Kuen. In the past, martial arts schools often doubled as clinics, reflecting how deeply kung fu is embedded in Hong Kong's culture.

"The characters in the book live between the 1960s and 1980s, and their lives are naturally intertwined with martial arts schools and kung fu," he says.