While Chinese manhua may not be nearly as mainstream in the West as Japanese manga or even Korean manhwa and webtoons, they definitely have their own tropes, archetypes and culture. One of the most common and popular genres in this medium is that of Xianxia, also known as Cultivation stories. Full of overpowered protagonists who rend the heavens at a moment's notice, Cultivation novels and manhua share similarities to shonen and isekai stories.
Due to their country of origin, these stories are fairly hard to read, but globalization and the increasing presence of manhua and donghua is helping to make these sometimes over-the-top stories more well-known among international audiences. Here's what fans of manga should know about this Chinese literary style.
What Are Cultivation Stories?
Cultivation stories/xianxia are called as such because their protagonists are referred to as cultivators. They fittingly "cultivate" every aspect of their life and being in order to become immortal deities called xian, gaining incredible powers in the process. This stems from Daoist concepts involving meditation and martial arts, although the feats in this genre are certainly beyond anything humanly possible. The stories are, at least on paper, usually set in a variation of feudal China, but this isn't the extent of their scope.
The divine nature of the protagonists and the dangers they face see them eventually take their struggles to the very stars above, with training and enemies becoming cosmic. Ghosts, ghouls, gods and anything in between show up to either help or hinder the heroes, with even their inhuman power levels soon being surpassed. Characters typically yell out the names of their ridiculous attacks, with said monikers being just as ostentatious.
Aiding in battle are commonplace concepts like flying words and otherworldly armaments, with the resulting waves of attacks damaging not only the combatants but everything around them. The genre got its unofficial start with the release of the 1932 novel Legend of the Swordsmen of the Mountains of Shu. From there, it's gone on to inspire different Chinese entertainment mediums, and may soon reach audiences outside of the Middle Kingdom as well.
Why Manga Fans Would Love Cultivation Xianxia Stories
The similarities between xianxia and many shonen anime and manga is quite obvious. For one, shonen franchises such as Dragon Ball Z and arguably even Naruto are known for their overpowered heroes, many of whom shout out attacks in blinding fury. This is exactly like Cultivation stories, where the protagonists keep climbing power ladders and unleashing ungodly attacks on each other with crazy names. Likewise, One-Punch Man could actually be considered a Cultivation story, as Saitama pushes his body to the limit and becomes a hilariously overpowered person in the process. This overpowered nature and the fact that there's increasingly little to stop Cultivators might be a narrative turn-off to some, but those looking for crazy fights need look no further.
Many Cultivation stories also feature protagonists who are reincarnated or reborn in some way. A person being reborn into another world and gaining tremendous powers that put them above everyone else has become part and parcel of the isekai genre. Some isekai light novels, manga and anime even reference the fact that the hero has maxed out some physical stat of theirs to the limit in their very title, emphasizing abilities half past overpowered.
Unfortunately, by nature of being Chinese, there haven't been many Cultivation novels to leave their home country, let alone manhua comics. However, this is finally changing, with many titles either available through Amazon and Kindle or coming to these platforms in the near future. These include Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, a web novel that's finally being collected and translated, as well as Legends of Immortals, A Thousand Li and the Desolate Era manhua series. Some of these are also available as Audible audiobooks, so even those on the go who want to get into these Chinese fantasies can reach the next level and ascend to the heavens.
