The Smiling, Proud Wanderer
Prior to its original broadcast, "Swordsman" received popular attention for its teen idol cast in comparison with older adaptations of "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer", and for major amendments made to the original story. Particular attention was shed on Joe Chen's casting as Dongfang Bubai, a minor antagonist in the novel whose role was substantially rewritten in this series to portray him/her as one of two female protagonists alongside Yuan Shanshan's character, Ren Yingying.