Whether you want to write a wuxia novel, historical fiction set in premodern China, or a fantasy novel based on traditional China in some way, there’s a lot of stuff you need to know if you want your work to be as authentic as it can be. When it comes to wuxia, unfortunately there’s not a lot of information available in English, but there is some. I have a list of resources to get you started below, and then another list of books that wil come in handy when researching traditional China in general.
This post is the first in a series in which I will discuss different aspects of Chinese history and culture. Some will be of general use such as how did people address each other, what what were city walls like, etc. Other posts will be specific to wuxia, such as a discussion of the jianghu, martial arts schools, a comparison of different authors’ fight scenes, etc. Just topics I think are good to know when writing wuxia or any other Chinese period piece. I will take requests if anyone has a specific question they want answered. I’ll answer it if I can, or try to point you in the right direction if I can’t.
The dearth of wuxia novels translated into English makes it difficult for those who can’t read Chinese to learn more about the genre. I mean, if you’re going to write wuxia novels then you need to read wuxia novels. That’s just common sense. There are some you can read. I have a list of them on my site you can check out. Only a few authors have been translated, though, mainly Jin Yong and Gu Long. Their writing styles were unique, and though they did influence other writers, still the field of wuxia fiction as a whole was a bit different than these two authors might make it seem. I’m talking about the tropes and conventions used, often overused, the recycled plots, and so forth. This series of posts will address some of that stuff that isn’t available in English currently.
Actually that’s pretty much what this whole site is. But most posts are talking about specific novels. This series will take a general topic and use excerpts where appropriate from different authors to illustrate it. So if I talk about the “code of the jianghu”, I will give examples from multiple authors, including Jin Yong and Gu Long, but also other authors that most people aren’t familiar with.
I’ve been studying and reading wuxia for over a decade. I don’t think I’m an expert, but I have a bit more firsthand experience with the genre than most, at least among English speakers. I want to share some of what I have read in the hopes that those wanting to join the lineage of wuxia in English will be a little better prepared to do so, in lieu of more English translations of wuxia novels (which don’t seem likely to be forthcoming, though we can still keep our fingers crossed).
For now, here’s a list of books and papers to get you started with your research:
Wuxia Resources
The Chinese Knight-Errant, James JY Liu. This is the first work in English on the xia 俠, which Liu translates as “chinese knight-errant”. It’s a seminal work in the field and a good place to start for anyone wanting to learn more about both historical xia and literary xia. Liu discusses the xia in relation to Confucianism, Daoism, and Mohism, and on the literary side he covers fiction, poetry, and drama, capping it all off with a comparison between xia and European knights.
Paper Swordsmen: Jin Yong and the Modern Chinese Martial Arts Novel, John Christopher Hamm. As the title suggests, this book is about Jin Yong, though there is an introductory section that briefly outlines the history of wuxia literature. There’s also a detailed discussion of the real-life martial arts match in Macau in 1953 that led to the beginning of a “new school” of wuxia fiction when Liang Yusheng published his first novel. A year later Jin Yong would bein his wuxia writing career. The rest of the book is analysis of some of Jin Yong’s major works and placing them in context with what was going on in Hong Kong at the time.
The Unworthy Scholar from Pingjiang: Republican-Era Martial Arts Fiction, John Christopher Hamm. Hamm’s second monograph, this one looks at the like and work of Xiang Kairan, who wrote wuxia fiction in the 1920s under the pen name “The Unworthy Scholar from Pingjiang” 平江不肖生. Hamm spends a lot of time placing Xiang Kairan in context with the New Culture Movement in China and the beginnings of serialized fiction from this period. Xiang Kairan’s first novel, Marvelous Gallants of the Rivers and Lakes《江湖奇俠傳》, was the first wuxia novel to be specifically categorized as “wuxia”.
The Jin Yong Phenomenon: Chinese Martial Arts Fiction and Modern Chinese Literary History, edited by Ann Huss and Jianmei Liu. A collection of scholarly essays on jin Yong and his work. Some are originally written in English, others translated from Chinese. A great collection of essays. Contributors are: Liu Zaifu, Li Tuo, Chen Pingyuan, Li Yijian, John Christopher Hamm, Weijie Song, Jianmei Liu, Shuang Shen, Xiaofei Tian, Carlos Rojas, and Ping Fu.
The Development of Chinese Martial Arts Fiction: A History of Wuxia Literature, Chen Pingyuan. THE seminal book on wuxia fiction. Just about every book or scholarly paper about wuxia mentions this book. It is the “must-read” book on wuxia if there ever was one. Now I have not read the English version, translated by Victor Peterson, pictured here, so I can’t speak to how good the translation is. But I have read this book in the original Chinese. Chen Pingyuan begins with the historical progression of the xia in xia literature and then gets into more modern works. What really makes this book useful though is his detailed discussion of the various tropes and themes that make a work wuxia. He also places it in context of genre fiction versus literary fiction. Read this book.
The Sword or the Needle: The Female Knight-Errant in Traditional Chinese Narrative, Roland Altenburger. It’s just what the title says, a book about the female xia character in Chinese fiction, from the Tang dynasty to the Republican era. The woman xia character was imporant and quite prominent in the development of xia/wuxia fiction, and this is the only book-length study of it in English (as far as I know). Highly recommended.
Green Peony and the Rise of the Chinese Martial Arts Novel, Margaret B. Wan. In this book, Margaret B Wan focuses on one Qing dynasty novel, Green Peony, and talks about its development and the development of the xia novel in the Qing dynasty. Really interesting read about and often overlooked early xia novel.
The Question of Reception: Martial Arts Fiction in English Translation, edited by Liu Ching-chih. A collection of essays from a conference on wuxia fiction, published in 1997. Some really interesting articles in here if you can find a copy, including an early translation of chapter 1 of Legend of the Condor Heroes by John Minford (who also translated The Deer and the Cauldron) and Sharon Lai. Apparently they were planning to translate the novel in full, though of course that never came to fruition. They gave the novel the crappy title Eagles and Heroes. This volume mainly focuses on translation of wuxia fiction. A few of the essays are in Chinese. Contributors are John Minford, Sharon Lai, Wei Lingdun, Lü Zongli, Laurence K.P. Wong, John Dent-Young, Joy-shan Lam, Liu Jingzhi, Geremie R. Barme and Barry Asker.
Fin-de-Siècle Splendor: Repressed Modernities of Late Qing Fiction, 1848-1911, David Der-wei Wang. Chapter 3 specifically is relevant to wuxia as it discusses early Qing xia and court-case novels. Of particular interest are the discussions of Three Knights-Errant and Five Sworn Brothers, Quell the Bandits (basically an alternat ending to Water Margin) and A Tale of Heroes and Lovers. David Der-wei Wang is one of the most insightful literary scholars I’ve read. Highly recommended.
Stateless Subjects: Chinese Martial Arts Literature and Postcolonial History, Petrus Liu. Haven’t had a chance to read this one yet, but here is part of the publisher’s description: Current scholarship on the subject is characterized by three central assumptions against which this book argues: first, that martial arts fiction is the representation of a bodily spectacle that historically originated in Hong Kong cinema; second, that the genre came into being as an escapist fantasy that provided psychological comfort to people during the height of imperialism; and third, that martial arts fiction reflects a patriotic attitude that celebrates the greatness of Chinese culture, which in turn is variously described as the China-complex, colonial modernity, essentialized identity, diasporic consciousness, anxieties about globalization, or other psychological and ideological difficulties experienced by the Chinese people.
The Early Xia Tradition: Historicity and Topos, Jian Zhao. A great dissertation on the historical development of the xia tradition. Also included discussion of early xia fiction. This is the most detailed look into what “xia” means in English that I have ever seen. A must read if you want to understand xia.
Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia Tradition, Stephen Teo. This is about the development of wuxia movies, not novels, but a great read nonetheless.
Wuxia as Fantasy: An English Translation of Juedai Shuangjiao, Ryan Kueck. A master’s thesis on Gu Long and his novel Legendary Siblings. Includes a translation of chapters 1-20 of the novel.
Strategies of Translating Martial Arts Fiction, Olivia Mok. A paper by Olivia Mok in which she discusses her translation of Jin Yong’s novel Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain.
Keywords in Wuxia Xiaoshuo English Translations of Martial Arts Fiction and a Sample Translation of Gu Long’s Chu Liuxiang Chuanqi zhi Xiehai Piaoxiang, Evan Michael Moore. As the title suggests. This is a master’s thesis. Talks about translating wuxia terminology and includes an excerpt translation of the first book in Gu Long’s Chu Liuxiang series.
Martial Arts Fiction: Translational Migrations East and West, Olivia Wai Han Mok. Olivia Mok’s Ph.d dissertation on translating wuxia fiction.
Roaming Nuxia: Female Knights-Errant in Jin Yong’s Fiction, Yin-Jen Chen. Master’s thesis.
General Resources
Chinese History: A Manual, Endymion Wilkinson. Make this book your first stop for learning about pretty much any topic about Chinese culture. Even though it’s called “Chinese History”, it goes into detail about the cultural history of China. So instead of a romp through each subsequent dynasty, you get chapters dedicated to variosu subjects like language, family and kin, personal names, clothing, hairstyles, food, urban history, central and local government, law, education and examinations, war, migration, travel, astronomy, etc. Like I said, pretty much everything. Want to know how people addressed each other? What food they ate? What the currency was like? How they told time? How they measured things? Then this is the book for you. It’s massive and the ebook is available on Pleco (a Chinese dictionary app that is a must-have for anyone learning or using Chinese). It’s currently in its fifth edition (2018). Whatever info you’re looking for, look here first.
The Cambridge History of China. This is a series of 15-planned books, each dealing with a period of Chinese history. Most are political histories, which means learning about the imperial court, who overthrew who, wars, etc. But there are some dedicated to other things like law, economy, culture, etc. Only volume 4 has yet to be published. The rest are already out. This series is a great way to get an overview of a particular dynasty and so is a great starting point for your research.
Science and Civilisation in China. Initiated by Joseph Needham, this long series of books covers various areas of science and technology in premodern China. Twenty-seven books have been published so far. See the title link to see a list of the books available. If you want to know about how wine was made, if you want to know about metallurgy, silk weaving, fortifications and defense, medicine, herbs, astronomy, alchemy, farm tools, civil engineering, etc, then this series is a good place to look first. Really in-depth and technical information.
Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China, A.C. Graham. Graham’s classic book goes into all of the major philosophies of ancient China, such as Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism (Taoism), Yangism, the School of Names, the Logicians, the Legalists, etc. There’s a lot of books out there on these subjects, but this is the best one I have seen. Graham really knew his stuff and was a more accurate translator than many. In other words, this work is authoritative.
Taoism: Growth of a Religion, Isabelle Robinet. The best book I have read in outlining each of the major schools of Daoism throughout Chinese history. Especially useful is the introdoctory chapter in which Robinet explains many key concepts such as qi, jing, yin/yang, etc. If you have ever been confused about what qi is, then read this book.
To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth: A Translation and Study of Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents, Robert Ford Campany. What the title says, but much more than just a translation of an ancient “Daoist” text. The first ~100 pages is an overview of the quest for transcendence (immortality) as it was practiced in early Medieval China. If you want to know how people tried to be immortals, you will get a lot of that info here. The translated text is a hagiography of allegedly historical transcendents, which means many stories of people transcending and becoming a xian 仙. Good book also for anyone interested in cultiavtion novels who wants to know the reality behind the fiction. Campany is a careful scholar. Highly recommended.
The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Fabrizio Pregadio. What the title says. Has entries on all kinds of things related to Daoism. pretty handy reference for understanding concepts like xuan 玄, qi, etc., or specific Daoist texts. Two volumes.
Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives, edited by K.C. Chang. A chapter on food in each period of Chinese history. The Tang dynasty chapter is written by Edward H. Schafer, a personal favorite sinologist of mine. His attention to detail was unmatched. If you want more info on what food people ate in a certain period, this is it.
Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty, Charles Benn. Details various aspects of life in the Tang dynasty, such as clothing, recreation, travel, holidays, architecture, etc. There’s a lot of anecdotes from various historical sources as well. A good reference for learning about the minutiae of everyday life.
Everyday Life in Early Imperial China, Michael Loewe. Another “daily life” book, but this one is about the Han dynasty. Like the above book on the Tang, this one illustrates the lives of normal people.
Sui-Tang Chang’an: A Study in the Urban History of Medieval China, Victor Cunrui Xiong. Great monograph on the ancient capital city of Chang’an. Very detailed about the ins and outs of the city, and a great map of the city as well.
Pacing the Void: T’ang Approaches to the Stars, Edward H. Schafer. Schafer goes into detail about Chinese astronomy and cosmology during the Tang dynasty. A lot of great information; Schafer is one of those scholars whose footnotes are just as interesting as the main text. Lean about Chinese concepts of stars, planets, constellations, etc.
The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T’ang Exotics, Edward H. Schafer. This book is all about Tang dynasty material culture, specifically imports. What kinds of gems, animals, minerals, food, birds, wood, plants, etc., were imported into China from other places? This book lays it out. If you’re wanting to know about the Tang dynasty specifically, then it is important to realize how cosmopolitan it was and so how much foreign goods and culture influenced it.
The Vermilion Bird: T’ang Images of the South, Edward H. Schafer. All about the south of China during the Tang dynasty, including the Nam-Viet region. Plants, animals, customs, etc. There’s a really interesting section on gu 蠱 poison. Again, even the footnotes are as interesting as the main text. Basically read anything by Schafer.
The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period, Patricia Buckley Ebrey. Just as the title says, this book goes into marriage law and customs. The chapter on concubines is especially important, in my opinion, because there is a misconception that concubines were just secondary “wives”. But of course there was only one “wife”. Concubines were in a gray area between spouse and servant. Although this book is specifically about the Song dynasty, much of it is applicable to traditional China as a whole.
The T’ang Code, translated by Wallace Johnson. A two-volume translation of the Tang dynasty legal code. Yep. That’s it. Wanna know what the laws were during the Tang dynasty? And what the punishments were? Here ya go. This is an important work that influenced Chinese law down to the present day, so even if you want to know about other periods, this book will still be helpful.
The Great Ming Code, translated by Jiang Yonglin. This is a translation of the legal code of the Ming dynasty. Same as above, but for the Ming instead of the Tang. The Ming code became the basis for the subsequent Qing legal code.
A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China, Charles O. Hucker. A great resource if you want to know not just how to translate various official titles, but also learn what they were. Hucker explains how these titles and their offices changed throughout the dynasties. The introduction section lays out the administrative structure, both civil and military, of each dynasty. This is a great resource. I use it all the time.
Chinese Martial Arts: From Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century, Peter Lorge. Outlines the weapons and martial arts of each period in Chinese history. Good overview for anyone wanting to know which weapons were used in which period, and when the major developments in battle technology and strategy developed.
The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts, Meir Shahar. A study of the history of the Shaolin Monastery, including its martial arts history.
This is just a drop in the ocean as far as resources go, but these are a good start for anyone who wants to learn more about Chinese history and culture. When researching, check the bibliographies at the end of the book for more sources to continue your research. When it comes to wuxia, I haven’t even touched on Chinese-language resources, of which there are many. I figure most of my readers can’t read Chinese, but probably some can. I will make another post in the future listing some useful Chinese-language wuxia books and articles.