"Flower-plucking records" - "Longevity and everlasting vision need no immortal realm": On xianxia literature

My deepest apologies. Starting tomorrow and continuing through the 18th, I had to travel to Akita and Aomori in Japan on business, so I would be unable to update for a while. All I could offer was this article, hastily written today at the request of an editor friend, as a token fulfillment of my duties. I was terribly sorry! Also, a little advance notice: from August 13-16, I would be attending the Sixteenth International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks (2007) in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, and would be unable to update then either. Sorry! :(

Speaking of xianxia, I was rather ashamed to admit that, having always followed the motto "Better to hide your clumsiness than display your cleverness," I had written nearly two million Chinese characters of xianxia fiction in my spare time without ever writing down any reflections on this literary subject. Yesterday, while chatting with a respected editor at a literary website, he suggested that, if I had time, I might write about my thoughts on the subject-for instance, the relevance of xianxia literature to contemporary life and its future development-and share them with fellow enthusiasts. With that encouragement, I summoned the courage to discuss what xianxia literature meant to me and where I believed it was headed, undeterred by the prospect of making experts laugh at my ignorance.

As for the significance of xianxia literature-I believed it was profoundly significant, almost deserving to be placed on the level of preserving and passing down the cultural traditions of the Chinese people!

In its broadest sense, xianxia literature encompassed tales of immortals and supernatural wonders, as well as martial heroes and strange adventures. Journey to the West and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio were xianxia; so were Shushan Sword Heroes and The Heaven Sword and