Land And The Ruling Class In Hong Kong by Alice Poon

The flash of an idea then became the impetus to engage fully with a new writing project, which eventually ends up as a wuxia-myth duology called Sword Maiden from the Moon.ģ.- What would you say it's different in this genre from the classical occidental novel? Somewhere along the line, I began reminiscing on my childhood predilection for wuxia stories. Having written and published two such novels ( The Green Phoenix and Tales of Ming Courtesans) between 20, I found that while I immensely enjoyed writing such stories, I felt that the historical fiction genre is somehow a bit too restrictive for my imaginative capacity to have a full spin. Yong’s wuxia novels (which all have historical settings), and one of my cherished dreams hasīeen to introduce to Western readers the true stories of spirited and resilient Chinese female historical figures. I have always been a dabbler in Chinese history thanks to my childhood passion for Jin This genre is similar to the “Wuxia” genre but with a focus on Taoist cultivation aiming at reaching immortality.Ģ.- You previously were writing mostly historical fiction.

A prominent example is the globally acclaimed action drama series titled The Untamed based on the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. Regarding “Xianxia”, this genre came about as a result of the huge popularity of webnovels written by mainland Chinese writers and of their equally sought-after multi-media adaptations. In the last century, the iconic Hong Kong-based wuxia fiction writer Jin Yong (1924-2018) came to be celebrated as the godfather of modern wuxia fiction, with global sales of his books surpassing 100 million copies and countless multi-media adaptations. All “Wuxia” fiction shares some or all of these themes: knight-errant righteousness, brotherhood loyalty, resistance to tyrannical regimes, chivalric benevolence, and altruistic ideals. Books that belong in this genre are mostly categorized under “Asian Myth & Legend Fantasy” and/or “Action & Adventure Fantasy”.Īs for the definition, I’d say the “Wuxia” genre is specific to Chinese culture and literature that dates back to at least the Tang dynasty (600-900AD) and has these three traditional hallmarks: (1) it has ancient historical settings (2) the main characters are martial artists with superb kung fu skills (3) the main plot is about violent conflicts.

If you look at the Amazon book categories, you won’t find such a genre. Presently in the English-language mainstream book market, the “Wuxia” genre doesn’t exist. Today we are accompanied by Alice Poon, author of The Heavenly Sword, who also has published historical fiction.ġ.- How would you define the wuxia genre? And the xianxia? Welcome to my favourite section of the site, being able to talk with the authors.

Land And The Ruling Class In Hong Kong by Alice Poon