They are comparable in a sense that they both went beyond literature, it becomes part of the culture, even the language itself. Jin Yong's novels are so influe

They are comparable in a sense that they both went beyond literature, it becomes part of the culture, even the language itself. Jin Yong's novels are so influential and intervened with contemporary Chinese culture, where his characters have become the go-to reference for certain archetype personality. Like you can refer to something that is short as Hobbits, if you are calling someone 岳不群(pronounced as Yue BuQun, a villain who appeared as leader of the good guys at first) in Chinese, it is even more insulting than calling that someone hypocrite. In fact, considering that Jin Yong had not only several, but 14 installments to create his imaginative JiangHu universe, most of which are vastly popular and recognized and all of them are adapted into movies/tv series, even nowadays, I would say his influence within Sino cultural sphere is probably wider and more profound than that of Tolkien as with English/Western culture.