The novel was later revised by philologist Yu Yue and republished in 1889 under the title The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants (七俠五義), with the story essentially unaltered.

Set in 11th-century Song dynasty, the story detailed the rise of legendary judge Bao Zheng to high office, and how a group of youxia (knights-errant)—each with exceptional martial talent and selfless heroism—helped him fight crimes, oppression, corruption and rebellion.

Even in the modern era, the tales have been continuously reenacted in popular cultural mediums, including oral storytelling, operas, films and TV dramas.

[6][7] Another source mentions a Xiang Leting (祥樂亭) and a Wen Liang (文良) who "would every day go and listen to the telling of the story and after returning home together write it down comparing notes.

[9] Based on Longtu Erlu, the 120-chapter The Tale of Loyal Heroes and Righteous Gallants was printed by a movable type at the Juzhen tang (聚珍堂) in 1879, which caused a sensation in Beijing.

[15] Years later, Suzhou-based scholar Yu Yue received the book from his friend Pan Zuyin, president of Qing's Board of Works, who recommended it as "quite worth reading".

[17] Most of his changes were textual and superficial, including: The only major change from Yu Yue was that he completely rewrote Chapter 1, which was previously titled "The Crown Prince is Substituted at Birth by a Scheme; the Imperial Concubine Is Rescued by a Heroic and Gallant Martyr" (設陰謀臨產換太子 奮俠義替死救皇娘) and tells of a fictional story that does not follow history.

Stories from the first part were largely taken from literary and oral traditions and as such contain supernatural materials (what "Bamboo-Inquiring Master", possibly Shi Yukun himself, described as "the occasional strange and bizarre event"[27]).

Instead, in the final page, readers are referred to a sequel book titled The Five Younger Gallants (小五義), which was said to be "close to a hundred chapters".

[38] An explosion of copycat novels also flooded the market in the last years of the 19th century, assuming similar titles such as In a 1909 essay, writer Shi An (石菴) lamented the cheapness of such works (as translated by Paize Keulemans):[41] From the time The Seven Knights and the Five Gallants appeared, not less than one hundred imitators have followed... At first I could not understand how so much writing of this kind could suddenly appear, but later a friend told me that novels such as these are produced by Shanghai publishers who, seeking petty profits, specially hire half-educated literati to put together such books, all so as to sell them widely.

Now such books as these are most suited to find favor with the lower echelons of society, so [the publishers] just change the title a bit and thus produce yet another novel, and as a result a thousand—no, ten thousand—volumes appear.

These novels are like the feet of peasant women: they're both long and smelly, filling the streets and avenues, they appear everywhere.The famous pingshu performer Shan Tianfang also produced a televised radio drama The White-Eyebrow Hero (白眉大侠), which follows the adventure of Xu Liang, one of the main characters from The Five Younger Gallants, and his group of fellow fighters to defeat various evil forces of jianghu outlaws.

[50] The novel places great emphasis on Confucian values, such as yi (righteousness) and ren (altruism), which characterize all heroes and gallants.

In Chapter 13, the storyteller added a short commentary on the definition of "hero" (translated by Susan Blader):[51] Zhan Zhao is truly a practitioner of good deeds and righteous acts.

In Chapter 29, for example, Zhan Zhao confessed (as translated by Song Shouquan): "As to my promotion to the imperial guard, I find it prevents me from doing what I like best and that is travel around enjoying the beauties of nature.