There are so many categories of novels nowadays. What are fantasy novels? What are cultivation novels? What are danmei novels?
Cultivation is the ancient Taoist method of pursuing immortality
The rise of cultivation novels
This is the first time I came into contact with cultivation novels. Judging from the name, in ancient times there was "immortal" ”, “real person”, and “god-man”, so cultivation is about cultivating the real person, but most of the current cultivation novels include these three types.
In fact, the entire process of cultivation is also the evolution process of living things, without stagnation. To a certain extent, it reflects the belief that all living things are constantly striving for self-improvement. In ancient mythology, humans were created by gods based on themselves. The first generation of humans even had abilities that were not inferior to gods. But now humans are so fragile and humble, so in order to recreate the glory of the past, intelligent creatures Embark on a journey to find your true self. Once upon a time, the myth became the best goal, but the journey became extremely difficult because of the elusiveness of the myth.
Furthermore, cultivation novels are a type of novel after all, and they should conform to the general rules of novel creation. There are many novels nowadays that advocate getting something for nothing or forming such a concept invisibly, which I think is quite harmful. For example, many novels advocate external elixirs and neglect one's own cultivation. I remember reading a cultivation novel in which many of the protagonists relied on elixirs to discover treasures, turning their cultivation journey into a pie-in-the-sky experience. The process is completely boring. Literature is both human science and humanities. You should write about a good person, a healthy person, not someone who sits on the ground and waits for things to fall.
Moreover, many cultivation novels now center on the concept of self. I am not saying that cultivation novels should have no self, but that as a receiving text, cultivation novels should avoid being too self-centered. Many authors use their own narrow-mindedness to make the path of writing cultivation novels narrower and narrower. There are also some authors who have no self and lack their own involvement in life, but blindly ask themselves to praise other people's lives. Maybe it is a bit difficult for me to say this. In layman's terms, it is obscene.
Finally, I think cultivation novels are entirely Chinese. It's quite creative and meaningful work. A nation like Japan, which has no roots and no culture, can only tamper with other people's culture. Many Japanese stories come from Chinese culture. For example, Saint Seiya is based on ancient Greek mythology. Of course this is well written. I hope everyone will keep up the good work.
The emergence and rise of cultivation novels on the Internet have roughly the same background as so-called fantasy. As the reflection of fantasy novels in the East, the setting world of cultivation novels is more based on Eastern mysticism. foundation. By exploring the bizarre myths in traditional culture and following the example of classical supernatural novels, we recreate a world that our ancestors fantasized about, adding elements and stories from modern novels, and absorbing the writing style and structure of martial arts novels, which has the potential to compete with fantasy.
However, the rise of cultivation novels has inherent shortcomings. Fantasy novels originated in the West, such as the Dungeons and Dragons series and the Lord of the Rings series, which already have mature and complete system settings and roughly the same background. All readers can accept works of a certain type of subject through a generally similar understanding of the world. However, Chinese cultivation novels have abandoned many of the settings of their predecessors. They are basically one novel and one world. The worlds, levels, occupations and other settings of the characters written by each author are all diverse, making it difficult for readers to have a clear world view. Although outstanding people such as Wild Fox Under the Tree have worked hard to explore the legendary settings of ancient ancestors in the Great Wilderness era, it is obvious that this world is too strict and narrow and lacks universality.
Cultivation novels also face acquired disorders. Many of today's cultivation novels are just another variant of martial arts, turning magical skills into immortal magic, turning rivers and lakes into fairyland, human world, etc., so that a strange term has appeared: Xianxia
Fantasy Heat, fantasy fever and science fiction literature
China Reading News 2005/08/03 11:27
What prompted me to write this article was a reporter from Xinhua News Agency’s Shanghai Branch in February 2005 Chen Lishu's visit. She asked me to express my opinion on fantasy novels on "Legend of Little Soldiers". I am familiar with fantasy novels, but I have not read "Legend of Little Soldiers".
It is said that "Legend of Little Soldiers" is one of the most clicked novels on the Internet. So, I quickly checked out "Legend of Little Soldiers" on the Internet. Soon, the Shanghai branch of Xinhua News Agency sent out a telegram "Ye Yonglie Comments on the Fever of Fantasy Novels". After that, Beijing News reporter Shu Shu called again and asked me to comment on fantasy novels. On June 3, 2005, he published a report titled "Ye Yonglie: Fantasy is part of fantasy literature." The reporters’ questions made me pay attention to the “fantasy craze” and “fantasy craze” in today’s Chinese book market...
The three major types of fantasy novels
When encountering different To understand the meaning, my habit is to look up Cihai. On "Cihai", there is an entry for "science fiction novels", but "fantasy novels" and "fantasy novels" cannot be found. This shows that "fantasy novels" and "fantasy novels" are new terms that are popular nowadays and have not yet been included in the entries of "Cihai".
Fantasy literature is divided into two major categories, namely fantasy novels and fairy tales. As far as fantasy novels are concerned, they are divided into three major categories, namely science fiction, magic novels and fantasy (fantasy) novels.
Science fiction is well known, and its fantasies are based on science. The world's first science fiction novel was "Frankenstein" (also translated as "Frankenstein") published in 1818. The author was Mary Shelley, the wife of the famous British poet Shelley. Since then, France's Jules Verne, Britain's Wells, America's Asimov, the Soviet Union's Belyadev, Japan's Komatsu Sakyo and Hoshi Shinichi have created many excellent science fiction novels and become world science fiction masters. Science fiction has a long history and has become a mature genre.
The fantasy of fantasy novels is based on magic. Magical novels use magic wands, magic rings, magic, magic, and spells to create endless changes and boundless magic, fully displaying the charm of magic. "Harry Potter" written by British female writer Rowling is one of the representative works. The mysterious "Philosopher's Stone" in "Harry Potter" vividly demonstrates the magic of magical novels.
Besides science fiction and fantasy novels, there is the third category of fantasy novels, which have the most names and the most vague definitions, but are the most popular and popular in China today. This third type of fantasy novels has three most common names: "grand fantasy novels", "fantasy novels", and "fantasy novels", commonly known as "fantasy novels".
Exploring the Origins of Fantasy Novels
The term "grand fantasy novels" comes from Japan, represented by the works of the Japanese female writer Naoko Ambo. In the writing of Naoko Anfang, "It was a fantasy country, a world infested by elves, where there were windows of foxes, where the branches were covered with white parrots, where the soul of a girl could be heard crying... ..." Some people call Naoko Afang's "grand fantasy novel" a "contemporary fairy tale". Based on this reasoning, it seems that Chinese writer Pu Songling's "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" can be regarded as the originator of "grand fantasy novels".
The term "fantasy novel", as far as I know, comes from Hong Kong, China. The earliest fantasy novel I have seen is Huang Yi's "Moon Demon" published by "Juxian Museum" in Hong Kong in 1988. At that time, "Juxian Pavilion" was also preparing to publish my works, and the publisher Mr. Zhao Shanqi gave me a novel by Hong Kong writer Huang Yi. Mr. Zhao Shanqi wrote in the preface: "A new genre that combines metaphysics, science and literature was announced. This novel genre we call 'fantasy' novels." This was the first time the term "fantasy novels" appeared, and With a clear definition.
Huang Yi’s fantasy novels form a series, all with a character named Ling Duyu as the protagonist. Ling Duyu has a legendary experience. He grew up in Tibet, then studied in the United States and obtained two doctorates. He also practices Tantric Buddhism and has superhuman spiritual awareness. Therefore, many supernatural mysteries in the world invite him to participate in the exploration.
Huang Yi's series of fantasy novels, each containing 100,000 words, is printed into a compact pocket book. Because Huang Yi's fantasy novels emphasize suspense, have twists and turns in the plot, and display various strange and mysterious realms, his series of fantasy novels quickly became popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan after their publication.
Huang Yi's fantasy novels are said to "combine metaphysics, science and literature", but it is unknown how much scientific content they contain.
However, metaphysics runs through the novel. Zhao Shanqi said that "Huang Yi is a master of metaphysics, and he is expert in Feng Shui, numerology, and divination."
Of course, Huang Yi's so-called metaphysics is only a shallow level of "feng shui, numerology, and divination astrology". It is not the "Three Books of Changes", "Laozi", and "Zhuangzi" that are called "Three Books". The "metaphysics" established by the "Xuan" books is also metaphysics.
Huang Yi's concept of fantasy novels that "integrates metaphysics, science and literature" is not only inaccurately reflected in Huang Yi's works themselves, but is also far from the popular fantasy novels in China today. It can be said that today's Chinese fantasy novels represented by "The Legend of Xiaobing" not only have no science at all, but also no metaphysics!
I think that China's current fantasy novels only use the shell of the fantasy novels founded by Huang Yi, while abandoning its core. In today's Chinese fantasy novels, the "mysterious" in it no longer refers to metaphysics, but can be interpreted as fantasy.
I really admire that our ancestors gave the word "Xuan" a magical and mysterious color. Xu Shen's "Shuowen" explains: "Xuan means deep and far away. The word 'Xuan' comes from Laozi's Tao Te Ching, 'Xuan is more mysterious, the door of all mysteries', which means the way is deep and subtle." It is "Xuan" that means "deep and subtle" ”, so it gives fantasy novels a world of unlimited fantasy!
In "Ye Yonglie Comments on the Fever of Fantasy Novels", I once said: "Fantasy novels are a recent rise. They are based on fantasy, emphasizing the word 'mysterious', and the content is more advanced than fantasy. Novels go further. From a creative perspective, authors of fantasy novels can create more freely than authors of science fiction novels. They do not need to be bound by scientific evidence and have more room for development."
Except for "Legend of Little Soldiers". , the fantasy novel "Story of Grace" is also very popular on the Internet. In October 2004, I attended the "Chinese Market of Fantasy Literature" seminar in Beijing. At the seminar, the Oriental Publishing Center of the China Publishing Group launched 20 kinds of fantasy novels signed "Huotianche". The popularity of fantasy novels was due to This is evident.
Overview of fantasy novels
I noticed that "The Legend of Xiaobing" and "Story of Grace" are often called "fantasy novels". The terms "fantasy novels" and "fantasy novels" are used interchangeably. This shows that in today's term "fantasy novels", the "mysterious" can also be interpreted as "strange", which has nothing to do with metaphysics.
Fantasy novels are not limited to China. Fantasy novels are also found in foreign countries, and are often confused with magic novels. Even "Harry Potter" is included in fantasy novels. People trace the history of fantasy novels back to the early 19th century and even earlier to Greek mythology. The representative work of foreign fantasy novels is the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy by British writer Tolkien. Taiwanese translator Zhu Xueheng first coined the term "fantasy novel" when he translated "The Lord of the Rings" into Chinese. Since then, the term "fantasy novel" has become popular in the Chinese-speaking world. Zhu Xueheng founded the "Fantasy Culture and Art Foundation" in Taiwan.
There is no strict definition of fantasy novels so far. In the opening statement written by Taiwanese Xu Qingwen for the "Muse Fantasy Museum", it is said: "We need imagination, not to instigate escaping reality and drowning in nothingness, but to encourage changing horizons and stretching the mind. The uniqueness of fantasy stories The mysterious nature and infinite fantasy space are the source of imagination. "This passage was once considered to give a broad definition to "fantasy novels". In my opinion, the characteristics of fantasy novels are "strange", with magic and magic. Bizarre, bizarre, and bizarre fantasies run throughout the novel. This fantasy has nothing to do with science.
The representative work of Chinese fantasy novels must be Guo Jingming's "Fantasy City".
Guo Jingming believes that the Fantasy City "is a castle in people's hearts, it is your dream" and "the Fantasy City in everyone's heart is different." The "Fantasy City" in Guo Jingming's mind is full of magic: the fire tribe and the ice tribe are incompatible with water and fire, and there is a holy war between the City of Fire and the Fantasy Snow Empire. In the Fantasy Snow Empire, “people have crystal white pupils, long white hair, a thousand-year lifespan, and illusions as gorgeous as nightmares”, and “distant fantasies about holy wars are mixed with fragmented love.”
Fantasy from the sky, light, romantic, wild and uninhibited, leads you to open the mysterious door of dreams in your mind, allowing your imagination to roam freely, and the spirit of thinking to wander in the infinite world. Wherever you go, the scenery is infinite." .
Cao Wenxuan, a professor at the Chinese Department of Peking University and a writer, commented on "Fantasy City": ""Fantasy City" is mysterious. This mystery may not be the result of the author's deliberate pursuit. But this mystery has been attracting us to move forward through the dense forest of words... Until the end, we did not see the world clearly, and the mystery lingered. "
This "mystery" is the strange and fantastic charm of fantasy novels.
Another fantasy novel - "The Record of Strangers Proud of the World" by Chen Siyu, Published in 26 volumes in Hong Kong and Taiwan, this fantasy novel is also an influential fantasy novel in recent years. It was first published on original websites such as "Fantasy Sword Book Alliance", "Dragon's Sky", and "Novel Channel" as "Ming Mei". Published under a pseudonym, the number of hits is nearly 10 million!
The younger generation of fantasy and fantasy authors
Historically speaking, science fiction novels are better than fantasy novels, and fantasy novels are longer than fantasy novels. , fantasy novels. However, the influence of fantasy represented by "Fantasy City" and "Xiao Bing Xin Zhuan" now far exceeds that of "old" science fiction. A book review wrote: "The great wave of fantasy books. , surpassed science fiction, and in less than three years, fantasy novels suddenly emerged, subverting the dominance of fantasy novels at an alarming speed. ”
After carefully analyzing the new fantasy and fantasy, I noticed that the author is getting younger and the readers are getting younger.
The 17-year-old Guo Jingming wrote " Chen Siyu, the author of the fantasy novel "Fantasy City", is a sophomore majoring in radio and television in the Chinese Department of Chengdu University. The author of "The Legend of Xiaobing" is not as frequently exposed to the media as Guo Jingming, so people think that the author is a shy sister. In fact, the author Xuan Yu is a young man, born in 1980, only two years older than Guo Jingming. Xuan Yu lives in Heyuan, a small town in Guangdong. , only studied in a teachers’ college and worked as an art teacher in a middle school. He “finally found that the teaching profession was not suitable for me and I was too lazy. We all have reversed day and night, working at night, sleeping during the day, and not getting up until 11 a.m. "He started writing. He took the pen name Xuan Yu. The word Xuan was taken from "Xuanhuang of Heaven and Earth", and the word "Yu" was "because I like the feeling of rain very much".
This is how Xuan Yu started Writer of fantasy novels: "I have loved reading novels since I was a child. In 2000, I had nothing to do and read several novels almost a day. I read all the books in the bookstores on the street. When I couldn't find any books to read, I started reading online. However, I have read most of the complete novels online. I started reading books written by online authors out of boredom. This was my first time reading a fantasy novel, and it gave me a completely different feeling from martial arts novels. There are all kinds of weird worlds and adventures in the novel, which immediately fascinated me. But what makes me unhappy is that these beautiful novels are unfinished and updated very slowly. While waiting, I began to fantasize about the plot of the novel in my mind, treating myself as the protagonist and taking risks in the imaginary world. At this time, I realized that the plot in the novel was very different from the plot I imagined and wanted to see, so I began to try to write the plot I wanted to see. That's it, the days of typing on the keyboard began. "
I met the author of the fantasy novel "Huo Tianche" in Beijing and learned that it is a writing team with an average age of only 22 years old. Many of them are women. I asked about "Huo Tianche" For the creation of "Crown Crane", they responded like this: A lady in charge of the overall responsibility wrote the overall concept and designed the characters, and then solicited writers on the Internet. The writers sent their own ideas by email. After the idea was selected by the lady in charge, it was written into a fantasy novel by the writer. After being revised and polished by the lady in charge, it was published under the name of "Huotianche". Because of this, "Huotianche" created fantasy novels. The speed is amazing, dozens of copies are released in one go.
A few days ago, I was asked to write the preface to the long fantasy novel "The Last Royal Family" by Lanzhou author Fu Liangju. The author is also a young college student.
The younger generation of fantasy and fantasy authors is also the case in Taiwan. A first-year girl from Songshan High School in Taiwan wrote five major works of "The Wind Ming" under the name "Shuiquan", which were published by Taiwan Spring Publishing Company.
I admire the youthfulness of fantasy and fantasy authors. In fact, I am also a "young writer". I published my work when I was 11 years old. I became the main author of "One Hundred Thousand Whys" when I was 20 years old. I wrote the science fiction novel "A PHS Adventure in the Future" when I was 21 years old. I know very well that young people are full of youthful enthusiasm and full of strange fantasies. Fantasy and fantasy are youth literature, and it is worth encouraging that so many young people join the creation of fantasy and fantasy novels. Today, as reform and opening up enters a deeper level, China has entered a period of relaxation, and the imagination of young people has been unleashed. Fantasy and fantasy are the vast world where imagination can run wild. Many young authors create fantasy and fantasy novels, which reflects the trend of the times.
At the same time, fantasy and fantasy are widely spread on the Internet, and the main readership of online novels is teenagers. Therefore, fantasy and fantasy have attracted the attention of thousands of teenagers with the help of the infinite magic of the Internet. . In addition, the novel, wonderful and wonderful fantasy realm displayed in fantasy and fantasy novels is also loved by young readers full of youthful vitality. Because of this, "Legend of Little Soldiers" has such a high click-through rate, and "Fantasy City" also shocked the Beijing Book Fair with a print run of 100,000 copies.
Looking forward to the healthy development of fantasy and fantasy
Fantasy and fantasy works are springing up in China like mushrooms after a rain. I think this kind of "fantasy craze" and "fantasy craze" is gratifying. In the news "Ye Yonglie Comments on the Craze of Fantasy Novels" sent by Xinhua News Agency's Shanghai Branch, there is this passage: "Facing the hot scene of fantasy novels, Ye Yonglie bluntly said: 'Fantasy novels can inspire readers' imagination, and this is exactly what China What students lack. Therefore, the popularity of fantasy novels is something to be thankful for in general. '"
The report also wrote: "Ye Yonglie pointed out that the shortcoming of fantasy novels today is that they are 'eager to seek speed. "I don't believe in slow work and careful work, but I don't appreciate quick writing that is just a commercial gimmick. "Fantasy" also expects high-quality works to be popular all over the country. trend, but as an important branch of fantasy novels, it also faces creative dilemmas. ”
I believe that in the face of “fantasy craze” and “fantasy craze”, the literary world must strengthen theoretical research and strengthen research. Work reviews provide guidance to young writers so that the "fantasy craze" and "fantasy craze" develop in the right direction, and a number of masterpieces like "Fantasy City" can emerge.
Science fiction creation needs to catch up
After all, I am a "retired" science fiction veteran. Faced with the boom in fantasy and fantasy creation, looking back at the oldest "Big Brother" science fiction, I feel that I am lagging behind. , must catch up.
There are a lot of Chinese science fiction novels in recent years, but the quality is mediocre and the business is poor. The print run usually hovers around the "breakfast line" of 5,000 to 10,000 copies. . The Chinese science fiction community lacks works as influential as "Fantasy City" and newcomers as influential as Guo Jingming.
In fact, the level of science fiction creation in a country is directly proportional to its scientific and technological strength, because scientific and technological strength reflects the overall scientific quality of its citizens, and the level of scientific quality determines the level of science fiction creation. I often go to the United States. In American libraries and bookstores, you can always see shelves and shelves of science fiction novels. Among the American blockbusters every year, there are always several science fiction films. Whether it is the American science fiction film "Star Wars", "The Empire Strikes Back", or "ET" ("Alien"), "Jurassic Park", "The Fifth Element", "I, Robot", etc. etc., have had a wide impact around the world... All of this is a reflection of the strong scientific and technological strength of the United States.
There is a gap not only between Chinese science fiction novels and emerging fantasy novels and fantasy novels, but also between American science fiction novels.
Chinese science fiction novels should have a distinct Chinese style. Today's Chinese science fiction novels are too deeply influenced by Western science fiction novels and are excessively "Westernized" and "Westernized". This is also the reason why there is a lack of influential new works in Chinese science fiction.
However, after all, I still prefer science fiction. In my opinion, science fiction novels are based on science after all. They will provide scientific enlightenment to young readers and make readers have a strong interest in science. This is something that fantasy novels and fantasy novels cannot achieve. I am not against fantasy novels and fantasy novels, but I hope that more science fiction novels can be published and encourage young people to read more science fiction novels.
The author of this article: Ye Yonglie
Answer: Chop Er Ye Yida - Scholar Level 2 11-22 18:40
The questioner's evaluation of the answer:
It seems that fantasy novels are the preserve of teenagers. Middle-aged and older writers are not capable of fantasy novels, but I still like science fiction novels.