Chinese Popular Fiction

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Chinese Popular Fiction

• LIBR 545
• Qiong Yang
• June 13th, 2007

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Chinese popular literature

• Chinese popular literature has been a part of
  Chinese culture since ancient time, but compared
  to mainstream literature and serious literature,
  it has always been inferior to mainstream
  culture. It is a well-known fact that mainstream
  literature is for educated people and popular
  literature is just for illiterate people. Since
  1980s popular literature in Hong Kong and Tai
  Wan was introduced to Mainland China, Those works
  met the hidden needs for entertainment and
  freedom as well as curiosity of sex and power,
  they were widespread and acclaimed in
  Chinese-speaking areas from 1990s. Now popular
  culture and literature are the most important
  part in Chinese entertainment industry.

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Major Genres of Chinese Popular literature

• Wuxia Fiction
• Chinese martial arts fiction It is the most
  popular genre among Chinese popular fiction
• Romance Fiction
• Urban Romance Fiction
• Campus Romance Fiction
• War and military fiction
• This genre is about Chinese armies and has two
  popular time settings during World War II
  especially when Japan invaded China as well as
  the peace time in Mainland China after 1990s. (
  mainly written by Mainland China authors)
• Crime Fiction
• Police and criminal fiction mostly written in
  Mainland China
• Police and gang mainly written by authors in Hong
  Kong
• Nativist fiction.
• Its story setting is in rural areas in mainland
  China

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Appeal of wuxia genre

• Wuxia fiction entertains the young and old with
  stories of powerful, romantic swordsmen and
  superheroes and their adventures to get rid of
  evil. It is a phenomenon that is comparable to
  the popularity of science fiction and fantasy
  novels read by western readers.
• Wuxia novels highly emphasize Chinese traditional
  values, such as proper relationships, loyalty and
  fairness.
• Chinese nationalism is the strong theme in wuxia
  fiction, which is highly advocated in Chinese
  culture.
• Wuxia novels timeline is from 6th century to
  19th century.They are like mini-encyclopaedia on
  Chinese customs and culture, from traditional
  Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, Kongfu, music,
  calligraphy, chess, tea culture, to philosophical
  thoughts like Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism,
  to ancient imperial Chinese history. Historical
  figures often intermingle with characters in
  wuxia fiction.

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Major Wuxia authors and their works

• Jinyong (Born 1924) Hong Kong writer
• One of the most influential wuxia writers
• Founder of modern wuxia genre
• Founder of Ming Bao Newspaper.
• Has written 15 wuxia novels and each of his works
  has been made and remade into movies, TV series
  and video games
• The best selling Chinese author alive so far.
  Over 100 million copies of his works have been
  sold.
• The list of Jinyongs wuxia fictions

TV series The legend of Condor heroes
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Major authors and their works(Continued)

• Liang Yusheng( Born 1926, Hong Kong writer)
• Founder of modern wuxia genre.
• He wrote 36 wuxia novels from 1954 to 1984. Many
  of his works have been made into movies, TV
  series and video games
• His most famous novel The Bride With White Hair
  and Seven Swords.

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Other famous authors and their works

• Gu Long (1937-1985) A Tai Wan writer
• He had written 69 wuxia novels.
• The list of his works.
• Wen Ruian (Born 1954), A writer from Malaysia.
  He has finished about 60 wuxia novels
• The Four Detective Guards (1979)
• Huang Yi A Hong Kong writer.
• The Legend of the Twin Dragons in Tang Dynasty.
  (1997)
• Looking for the Country of Qing.(1997)
• Bu Feiyan (1981- ). A young writer from Mainland
  China. She has published 9 wuxia novels so far.
• Martial Arts Inn (2005) (winner of Huang Yi
  Wuxia Novel Award in 2004)

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Review and magazine

• Reviews
• Popular Literature Review (a journal)
• Contemporary Literature Research.?????? A series
  of contemporary literature research including
  popular literature edited by Hubei Writers
  Association
• Magazines publishing new wuxia novels
• Changjiang Art and Culture (????
• Martial Arts Stories
• Legendary From Ancient To Present Martial Art
• Department of Chinese Literature of Tamkang
  University(????) in Taiwan. (http//www.knight.tku
  .edu.tw/).
• It offers an undergraduate program in Wuxia
  Fiction It founded a websiteWuxia fiction
  website. It is an excellent source of wuxia
  fiction, from reviews, works and authors, to
  related information such as ancient Chinese
  culture, history, philosophy and customs.

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Awards for wuxia fiction

• Wen Ruian Legendary Wuxia Awards
• Huangyi Wuxia Literature Awards
• National University Students Wuxia Fiction
  Competition
• Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese
  Literature.(Only for Hong Kong writers)

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Notable Publishers

• Publishing wuxia fiction is a booming business.
• Publishers in Mainland China
• Beijing Sanlian Book Store
• Shanghai Art and Literature Publishing House
• Changjiang Art and Literature Publishing House
• Publishers in Hong Kong
• Huangyi Publishing Co.Ld. (?????????)
• Crown Bookstore Company (www.crown-bookstore.com)
• Publishers in Tanwan
• Crown Publishing Company (www.crown.com.tw)
• Truth, Kindness and Beauty Publisher Company.

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Online Resources

• www.sina.com
• www.yahoo.cn
• Wuxia World ( www.wuxiaworld.org)
• Wuxia Society (www.wuxiasociety.org)
• New wuxia novels _at_dangdang.com www.dangdang.com
  It is a website similar to Amazon.com. In the
  Novel section, there is a list of different
  subgenres,you can find many new and popular
  novels of this subgenre. There are also popular
  authors and this-month-newly-published subsection
  to help readers to find new novels.
• Wuxia fiction online http//www.5ixiaoshuo.com/wu
  xia/Index.htm

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Thank you for your attention!