Wuxia: Your guide to Martial Arts Stories

Wuxia (or Wu Xia) literally means “martial heroes” or “martial arts chivalry.” It is a genre in Chinese literature that focuses on the lives and adventures of martial artists in ancient China, or a similar setting.

To better envision the wuxia story, think back to the widely successful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and the more recent Kung Fu Panda. Both are excellent portrayals of the genre.

Key Characteristics of Wuxia

Wuxia stories vary widely in content, and it can be easy to confuse them with Xianxia, another Chinese genre with similar narratives. Here are a few essential characteristics of wuxia to help you better identify them:

1. Plot and Setting

The protagonists of wuxia are typically born into a family of low stature. While young, they experience a great tragedy (their family is murdered, they are disgraced, etc.). This puts them on the path of improvement, where they go through many hardships and trials. They may or may not be accepted into the tutelage of a master martial artist.

They eventually emerge as masters unequaled in all of the land, and use their martial skills to uphold justice and punish evildoers. In some cases, their journey culminates into a battle against their nemeses, who are just as powerful as they are.

A close western counterpart to this is the knight-errant trope, where knights go on extended journeys to search for adventure and develop themselves. Unlike knights-errant though, wuxia characters don’t belong to any class but are considered free spirits.

2. Martial Philosophy

In wuxia stories, martial artists are expected to be loyal to their master (or shifu). They must assimilate their master’s teachings and bring honor to their school. They must also strive not to bring dishonor to their master’s or their school’s name.

Bao Quan is a salute in Chinese martial arts, often used by students to their masters.

If a martial artist has cause to be offended by another’s action or attitude, the dispute is settled through a duel. The results are strictly upheld regardless of personal feelings. Any attempt to retaliate after the duel is considered shameful.

Martial artists are also expected to embody these eight attributes:

• benevolence (being kind or well-meaning)
• justice (being fair and reasonable)
• individualism (being independent and self-reliant)
• loyalty (having a strong sense of faithfulness to a person or community)
• courage (having strength in the face of fear or pain)
• truthfulness (being able to speak the truth despite doubt or fear)
• disregard for wealth (being able to resist the temptation of riches)
• and desire for glory (striving for excellence as a martial artist)

Following these eight attributes means they must defend the weak and help the needy. There is also an emphasis on repaying their benefactors after receiving en (“grace” or “favor”), and in seeking chou (“vengeance” or “revenge”) on villains.

Though not all martial artists uphold these moral codes, those who do are respected, admired, and given the honor of being called a xia (hero). The western counterpart to this is the knight’s chivalric code that largely shapes how knights think and act in many stories.

3. Martial Arts

Wuxia is based on real-life martial arts, but amplifies them to superhuman levels. While these exaggerations are normal in the genre, they are not considered to be magical or supernatural, but rather a natural part of being a martial arts practitioner.

For example, qing gong is a real martial arts technique for making the body extremely light. This is exaggerated to levels where people can glide on the water, jump over or scale walls, leap tremendous distances, and perform other gravity-defying stunts. This can be seen in many wire-fu movies.

Martial artists also demonstrate neili or neigong, the ability to build up and control inner energy called qi to boost their intrinsic abilities. With qi, they gain increased strength, speed, healing, and durability. They may also direct it into energy blasts or convert it into elemental attacks.

Characters obtain these skills and abilities through years of study and experience, though there are instances where masters can instantly pass on their knowledge and energy to a student. Another way to learn such skills is through secret manuals called miji.

The western counterpart here is the magic and science that is regularly employed in western literature. A character gains access to otherworldly powers or advanced technology, which they eventually use for heroics or villainy.

4. Martial Arts World

Jiang Hu (“rivers and lakes”) is the world of martial arts. It is not a different physical world but rather a community that operates separately from normal society and the law. Here, martial artists often gather into schools, sects, or disciplines with their own rules and social norms.

Wuxia stories often feature ancient Chinese architecture.

The Jiang Hu is often described as a kind of “shared world”, populated by martial artists and monks, bandits and thieves, beggars and prostitutes, merchants and craftsmen, and anyone who operates outside of mainstream society and into the grey areas of the law. The complex relationships between these different people are often explored in wuxia stories.

A common characteristic of Jiang Hu is that the law and the government are ineffective, corrupt, or largely powerless to command martial artists. This requires the xia to enforce justice through force, guided by their moral code. This often forces them to become outlaws despite their chivalrous nature.

Law and order within this world is maintained by an alliance of the best martial artists. The alliance leader is an arbiter that presides over all disputes and is the ultimate judge for all martial artists.

A more romantic term for the martial arts world is Wulin (“martial forest”), which refers specifically to martial artists and warriors and is separate from the criminal undertones that often follow Jiang Hu.

A western counterpart to this is the “Wild West,” where cowboys frequently battle with bandits, search for gold, and protect an innocent town. These cowboys are bound by a sense of camaraderie and a hard set of moral codes influenced by the harsh world they live in.

Recommended Wuxia Books

Until recently, the only readily accessible wuxia stories were found in movies. Nowadays, the advancement of the internet and increased interest has made it easier to find wuxia novels and comics. Here are a few recommendations to get you started!

1. A Hero Reborn by Jin Yong

Jin Yong is considered to be the most accomplished writer of wuxia, with many of his works cited as the best examples of the genre. A Hero Reborn is the first book of his Legend of the Condor Heroes series which follows the adventures of a bumbling man who slowly turns into one of the best in the martial arts world.

2. The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

A small gang of “roving contractors” (a.k.a. bandits) walk into a coffeehouse and unexpectedly leave with a new member — a former nun turned coffeeshop waitress named Guet Imm. Sequestered in a temple for over a decade, she must now learn to navigate a war-torn land as the group gets themselves entangled in a highly dangerous mission.

3. The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

In-yo is an exiled royal with few resources and even fewer friends. Her family is dead and their armies defeated. Alone and even reviled, she must defeat the complexities of courtly intrigue and gender oppression in a bid to take down her enemies.

You can find more recommendations here.

Reading Wuxia Stories

Wuxia has had a strong influence in many aspects of storytelling, especially in the film industry. The most obvious influence is how martial arts is portrayed in film and television, where characters are often shown doing superhuman feats. Check out this fight scene in The Matrix, where Neo fights Morpheus.

With the onset of serial fiction and self-publishing, there are now many novels with wuxia elements being written. And while wuxia was once exclusively written by Chinese writers, widespread interest has made other writers try their hand in this genre. Evidence of this is that many stories in the massively popular LitRPG subgenre are influenced by wuxia, whether people realize it or not.

One of the biggest obstacles that beginners have with wuxia is that it’s so steeped with Chinese culture that it’s often difficult to understand the story if you have no familiarity with their ways of life. So hopefully this article helps you out in understanding what wuxia truly is.

Have you enjoyed any wuxia novels? Share your experience in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!