The stories usually revolve around the adventure/growth of a magical practitioner or a mortal person who gets entangled in
supernatural affairs, and include elements such as
gods and immortals,
spirits,
demons,
ghosts and
mythical creatures. These stories are usually "Chinese fantasy rooted in...Taoism,
Buddhism", other Chinese mythological elements and tropes, and
shenmo fiction.
Xianxia novels often contain
action themes against rival practitioners and supernatural beings, as well as
plot twists involving
power struggles,
paranormal romance,
retributive justice and/or
upsets by
underdog (
diaosi) protagonists, making it one of the most popular
wish-fulfillment genres among male readers. There are also
Mary Sue novels featuring
flawless female protagonists, which are gaining popularity with female readers. Due to the genre's popularity,
xianxia has also become a staple of
Chinese television series,
films,
web series,
manhua (
comics),
donghua (
animated cartoons) and
video games, similar to what
wuxia has achieved during the latter half of the 20th century. Such examples of
artistic adaptation include ''
A Record of Mortal's Journey to Immortality (2008-2013) by Wangyu and The Attack of Heaven (2005) by Xiao Ding, both of which started as novels and were later adapted into donghua
, manhua
, television and films; and the The Legend of Sword and Fairy series, which started as adventure computer games and have since expanded into a massive media franchise that includes television dramas, web series, films, stage plays, manhua
, donghua'',
novelizations/
fan fictions,
audiobooks,
trading card games and
figurine collectibles.
Cultivation The
xianxia genre has a popular
subgenre known as "cultivation" or "training" (; ; ; ). The cultivation subgenre was first popularized in the 1990s by
role-playing video games, which introduced the concept of "
level" into the genre's
character development after incorporating elements of the Taoist
Neidan philosophy. In the 21st century, this subgenre became popular with the advent of
web fictions, with
online publishing sites such as
Qidian.com, Zongheng.com, and 17k.com providing a convenient platform for authors to reach wide audiences with high-volume,
serialized content. It was also popularized outside of
Greater China, primarily by
fan translations in the early 2000s. Novels such as
Stellar Transformations,
Coiling Dragon,
Martial God Asura, and
I Shall Seal the Heavens led to a boom in such fan translations. In these stories protagonists are usually "cultivators" or "practitioners" (; ; or ) who seek to become immortal beings called
xian. Along the way, they attain eternal life, supernatural powers, and incredible levels of strength. The fictional theme of cultivation or immortal arts practice in
xianxia is heavily based on the real-life meditation practice of
qigong.
Powers •
Swordsmanship (劍法) —
martial arts and
hand-to-hand combat skills similar in form to those in
wuxia, but often infused with
magic for enhanced effects upon a target. •
Qi refining (煉氣) — manipulation and nourishment of
qi inside the body via
meditation and absorption of external energies, with the purpose of cultivating and enriching the
internal core to enhance the practitioner's physical capabilities and accelerate one's spiritual elevation. •
Pill refining (煉丹) —
cooking and
smelting of rare magical herbs and minerals in a
cauldron to make various
potions,
elixirs and
immortality pills, which can be subsequently used to enhance one's combat effectiveness, heal injuries and
detoxify poisons, accelerate
qi cultivation, or help ward off foul spirit incursions. •
Fulu (符籙) — casting of notes,
talismans,
flags and other ritual equipment with inscribed
asemic writings to project magical power upon a target. •
Magic array (陣法) — The arrangement of magical implements into a
formation that can either enhance one's own abilities,
teleport individuals and/or structures, establish a
force field,
portal or
alternate dimension, or create magical traps that confuse, weaken, imprison or even kill an enemy. •
Fuji (扶乩) —
theurgy that summons
divine intervention onto one's body or instruments. == History ==