Youxia, Chinese knights-errant, traveled solo protecting common folk from oppressive regimes. Unlike their European counterpart, they did not come from any particular social caste and were anything from soldiers to poets. There is even a popular literary tradition that arose during the Tang dynasty which centered on slaves who used supernatural physical abilities to save kidnapped damsels in distress and to swim to the bottom of raging rivers to retrieve treasures for their feudal lords (see Kunlun Nu).Liu, James J.Y. The Chinese Knight Errant. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967 .Snow, Philip. The Star Raft: China's Encounter With Africa. Cornell Univ. Press, 1989 A youxia who excels or is renowned for martial prowess or skills is usually called wuxia.
