While there are few examples of knights-errant with an overriding interest in justice, our recollection of one or two positive attributes dominates our image of these figures. The way we remember selfless Guo Jie and forget his more ruthless contemporaries is a case in point. When people feel oppressed, such idealization is still more common, and whenever China has been in decline the image of knight-errants has waxed bright in the popular mind.
但人都有選擇性記憶，類似郭解廓然忘私，行俠仗義的俠客雖少，但這少數一、二正面特質卻深扣人性，何況人世不如意十常八九，恃強欺弱之事時有所聞，遊俠打抱不平，殺人於市的特質也就特別受人激賞，每逢國勢衰弱，俠義精神就更被標舉推崇。