Read on Twitter
ok here we go a list of common tropes in wuxia to get started if you're unfamiliar:
1. Fighting on the rooftop under the the moonlight/full moon, could be bc of cì kè, an assassin, or just a test of someone's martial art. A derivative is first meeting fighting/flirting. https://twitter.com/Bluhtack/status/1375812374536450049
1. Fighting on the rooftop under the the moonlight/full moon, could be bc of cì kè, an assassin, or just a test of someone's martial art. A derivative is first meeting fighting/flirting. https://twitter.com/Bluhtack/status/1375812374536450049
2. A Thing everyone is looking/fighting for: a broken piece of iron, a lost manual, a glazed donut. There is always a thing that promises infinite strength, immortality, the key to power, etc.
3. Me and bae against the world
4. Getting poisoned (and then antidote that looks like milk duds to detox or get rid of poison, or using internal energy to expel poison)
5. Someone, most likely the protag, falls down a cliff while in v dire situation and meets a reclusive master, gets healed, restores their strength, and/or levels up their martial arts
6. Or, it just might be that someone falls down a cliff and they don't power up their internal energy, but they just don't die. Seriously, very few people die from falling off a cliff in wuxia.
7. One person in the cp can barely boil water, the other is practically a master chef
8. Qi deviation, having one's meridian blocked. The technical term for this is zou huo ru mo / 走火入魔 or tẩu hỏa nhập ma in vietnamese.
This could be bc of not following martial arts instructions/technique properly or not having the required ethics/morals.
This could be bc of not following martial arts instructions/technique properly or not having the required ethics/morals.
9. Coughing up blood bc of internal injuries or meridian channels are disrupted
10. Kneeling in the rain/snow/extreme conditions to show devotion/commitment/regret
11. Thinly veiled disguises that manage to fool everybody. Just go with it.
12. Idea of yuán (duyên in vietnamese) gets translated as fate but it's deeper than that and is largely a buddhist concept having to do with karma, and it's usually paired with having karmic debt with someone that you have to repay. Repaying debt is a major theme in wuxia.
13. Revenge for family, blood feuds or vendetta. A whole family usually gets wiped out bc if one person is left alive they will seek revenge and the cycle will keep going.
14. Musical instruments as weapons: a qin, a flute, a pipa, etc.
15. Ordinary everyday objects as signature weapons: a walking stick, a fan, needles, etc.
16. Using poetry/literature to flirt or solve a puzzle
17. Cross dressing
18. Peach blossom forest
19. Big meetings pretty much always end badly. Just send a card or zoom in if you get invited to a wuxia wedding/birthday party/conference
20. Drug/liquid to erase memory
21. Prison rescue
22. If there's a caravan through a mountain pass, there will probably be some kind of interference. Try not to sit in sedan going thru a mountain pass in a wuxia.
23. Limited time left to live
24. Bringing soup and tending wound
25. Sect conflicts/power struggle
26. Healing someone using internal energy that results in accelerated aging causing hair to turn white or losing all internal energy/martial arts
27. Rain scene with tragic confession/regret/deep sorrow, usually with an attendant holding umbrella or person holding umbrella and then letting it fall down
28. Misunderstanding
29. Go playing scene
30. Sworn siblings! Sworn brotherhood/sisterhood/siblinghood is usually formalized by letting off a little drop of blood from one's finger into wine, drinking it, and then kowtowing with the earth, sky, and ancestors as witness while swearing an oath of loyalty & protection.
31. Locking/unlocking acupressure points to mobilize or immobilize, or even tickle
32. Roof life. Are you even a wuxia if you don't have flying/fighting/sleeping/sitting/spying on the roof
(btw some of these are actual tropes and others are just common settings/scene/theme i'm sorry i'm muddling this all up. this xiao ren apologizes)
33. Speaking of common setting, call your senator if there's not a lake/pool/hot spring/someone literally hopping on water scene in your wuxia. A jianghu without a body of water is false advertising.
(if you're a feitian reader like me also expect hot springs, like *hot springs*, as a trope)
34. Another common setting is the tavern. If I were a tavern owner in a wuxia I would simply use plastic tables and chairs and tableware bc there is bound to be a fight any minute. And I would just pay my employees above minimum wage bc their workplace is literally deadly.
jianghu insurance belike:
- flooding
- earthquake
- fire
- hurricane
- lightning strike
- wuxia/taoists fights
- poisonous/toxic gas
- snakes
- ne zha https://twitter.com/forochel/status/1376006548259024904
- flooding
- earthquake
- fire
- hurricane
- lightning strike
- wuxia/taoists fights
- poisonous/toxic gas
- snakes
- ne zha https://twitter.com/forochel/status/1376006548259024904
35. Hidden chamber
36. Every sect/clan/school will have a signature martial art style that's developed/innovated by their ancestors.
Their weapons and skills may also correspond to their name/appearance. For example, the chief of the Beggars' Sect carries the Dog Beating Staff.
Their weapons and skills may also correspond to their name/appearance. For example, the chief of the Beggars' Sect carries the Dog Beating Staff.
This is important bc this is a major plot device to ID an assassin and investigate how someone was k word.
Sects can also have internal power conflict for inheritance of The Special Weapon, or someone might steal The Secret Manual, and there'd be banishment or betrayal.
Sects can also have internal power conflict for inheritance of The Special Weapon, or someone might steal The Secret Manual, and there'd be banishment or betrayal.
37. They can fly, ok. Flying ancient gays exist.
this is bc of cultivation of nei gong/nội công or internal strength and qīng gōng/khinh công which basically allows martial artists to parkour++ and f̶l̶i̶r̶t̶ fight while balancing on top of peach blossom trees 
38. Someone exclaiming “hǎo jiǔ!”
39. Broken hearted drinking, mumbling, stumbling, passing out on the table or on the step
40. If a gōng zǐ gave you a hairpin, comb, hair clip, hair tie, something related to hair, he’s checking if you vibe and wanna proceed or maybe DTR
(sorry this list is coming together kinda sporadically as I'm remembering tropes as they come to me. for background i grew up reading Jin Yong's novels and watching TVB Hong Kong wuxia dramas and they're very much a part of my formative years)
41. Overhearing a Very Key Intel/Secret (somehow from a very far distance, and somehow the window is usually open when Secret Plan is being plotted)
cw: s**c*de
42. You know that people don't d word from falling off a cliff in wuxia. Here are some ways they do:
- throwing themselves at a wall/column/door head first
- taking an energy blast/sword/strike intended for someone they love
- being Incredibly Angry
42. You know that people don't d word from falling off a cliff in wuxia. Here are some ways they do:
- throwing themselves at a wall/column/door head first
- taking an energy blast/sword/strike intended for someone they love
- being Incredibly Angry
The idea of 恨/hèn (hận in Vietnamese) is kinda hard to explain but it's like a deep seated resentment and anger towards someone who has harmed you, like framing/betraying you, or murdering your family.
It can enrage and aggravate someone so much that they d word
It can enrage and aggravate someone so much that they d word
43. This is more of a xianxia thing, but their sleeves are like the doraemon pouch and can shrink objects and they can store anything. Super convenient for moving.
44. Praying in front of graves or altar of ancestors
45. "If I have to die I'll be happy to die under your hands"
46. Someone will go completely feral to protect or seek revenge without any communication and they'll be ferocious beyond reasoning
47. "I'm sorry I am an unfilial child I haven't fulfilled this wish of yours"
48. Fake objects/forged letter
49. Obvious Hiding Place
50. If there is a cliff there is a mountain. Please, the mountain motif/setting is v v v common no one is plagiarizing anyone for having two people stand on a mountain top.
51. If heaven wills it it will be. Or, the mountain is tall, the river is long, we will meet again.
后会有期
Cao sơn lưu thủy, hậu hội hữu kỳ https://twitter.com/shapolanq/status/1376190142197686278?s=20
后会有期
Cao sơn lưu thủy, hậu hội hữu kỳ https://twitter.com/shapolanq/status/1376190142197686278?s=20
52. The truth will eventually show itself.
青山依旧，绿水长流
qīngshān yījiù lǜshuǐ cháng liú
In vietnamese it's "thanh sơn y cựu, lục thủy trường lưu" meaning "the green mountains are indisputable, the deep rivers flow forever" https://twitter.com/starkjeon/status/1376190807649046530
青山依旧，绿水长流
qīngshān yījiù lǜshuǐ cháng liú
In vietnamese it's "thanh sơn y cựu, lục thủy trường lưu" meaning "the green mountains are indisputable, the deep rivers flow forever" https://twitter.com/starkjeon/status/1376190807649046530
53. Hiding/fighting in an abandoned ancestral temple. There's always a run-down abandoned ancestral temple when our heroes are on the run.
Ok this list is probably long enough to get started for people new to this genre and realize that these themes/settings/tropes are common and recur in a lot of wuxia work.
BUT, a collection of tropes does not really make a wuxia. Wuxia is much more than that.
BUT, a collection of tropes does not really make a wuxia. Wuxia is much more than that.
I see a lot of people comparing wuxia/xianxia to knight errant or sword & sorcery genre and superimposing a v eurocentric/western-centric lens on Chinese stories and I REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO NOT DO THAT. It really hurts my meow meow.
The current incarnation of wuxia work can be traced back to works by Jin Yong, Gu Long, Wolong Sheng, Liang Yusheng, and Woon Swee Oan (in Vietnamese they're considered Võ hiệp ngũ đại gia, the five wuxia greats/大家)
Jin Yong's first book is 書劍恩仇錄/The Book and the Sword, published in 1955. There is a v specific context & history that his & his contemporaries' books came about.
I encourage you to at the barest minimum understand that wuxia/xianxia is NOT "Chinese LOTR" or "Chinese GOT."
I encourage you to at the barest minimum understand that wuxia/xianxia is NOT "Chinese LOTR" or "Chinese GOT."
I am a tiny obscure fan account and some of you have a large following, so while I have you here can I also make a PSA 
for you to pls share, that for ppl learning about wuxia, pls be wary of VERY DEEP SEATED sinophobia that’s ENTRENCHED everywhere. Like this white author here:
for you to pls share, that for ppl learning about wuxia, pls be wary of VERY DEEP SEATED sinophobia that’s ENTRENCHED everywhere. Like this white author here:
- Is it possible for a white person to learn about and write a guide to wuxia/xianxia? Yes.
- Is it possible for them to be Orientalist? Also yes.
- Is it possible for them to be married to a Chinese person, live in China, and still be Sinophobic? 100% https://twitter.com/AngelicNyaoko/status/1376722557525651456
- Is it possible for them to be Orientalist? Also yes.
- Is it possible for them to be married to a Chinese person, live in China, and still be Sinophobic? 100% https://twitter.com/AngelicNyaoko/status/1376722557525651456
(I really don't wanna make this thread about this person bc it's not, but he is out there literally MAKING MONEY off of Chinese culture, and yet still spewing really dehumanizing and degrading racist things about Chinese people, and that is not ok.)
Hello 
to everyone reading this thread. I hope it's useful in your wuxia journey, whether you're brand new or have been reading/watching/listening for years.
There are replies saying how wuxia is like shonen anime, or some other hollywood fantasy, so I wanna respond to that
to everyone reading this thread. I hope it's useful in your wuxia journey, whether you're brand new or have been reading/watching/listening for years. There are replies saying how wuxia is like shonen anime, or some other hollywood fantasy, so I wanna respond to that
In fact, wuxia influenced shonen, not the other way around.
Dragon Ball is arguably one of most influential shonen manga, and it is on the record that it was inspired by Xī Yóu Jì/ Journey to the West / Tây Du Ký.
Dragon Ball is arguably one of most influential shonen manga, and it is on the record that it was inspired by Xī Yóu Jì/ Journey to the West / Tây Du Ký.
Hollywood also "borrows" from wuxia in particular and Asian cultures in general, and it's understandable if this is not widespread knowledge, bc hollywood PR is really good at getting people to think it's the center of innovation
For example: https://twitter.com/CarlZha/status/1191251015128866816?s=20
For example: https://twitter.com/CarlZha/status/1191251015128866816?s=20
People familiar w wuxia, however, will not miss the fact that "the force" is essentially qi/chi/khí/prana, that when yoda teaches luke skywalker, it's the oldest wuxia trope of finding a shifu and training neigong/nội công to level up. And that the Jedi is an orthodox sect.
While everybody praises quentin tarantino or the wachowskis for Kill Bill and The Matrix, few people know about King Hu or Yuen Woo-ping, who are revolutionary giants in film making and action choreography.
Yuen Woo-ping literally worked on Kill Bill and The Matrix.
Yuen Woo-ping literally worked on Kill Bill and The Matrix.
King Hu's Come Drink With Me, Dragon Inn, and A Touch of Zen basically established the "new school wuxia" aesthetics of swordplay/jumping/somersaulting/being airborne and mysticism & expressiveness, born partly from his lifelong love of Beijing Opera
https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/hu/
https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/hu/
I need to clarify that there's wuxia literature AND wuxia cinema. I muddled them in this tropes list.
Saying that bc if you really wanna understand wuxia as a fiction genre & wuxia as a film genre there's history & development for both, especially literature which goes waay back
Saying that bc if you really wanna understand wuxia as a fiction genre & wuxia as a film genre there's history & development for both, especially literature which goes waay back
(Thank you sm for all the rt and boost on sinophobia awareness! I’ll share more about wuxia later. if you are new to c-ent and wuxia can I recommend watching minning town for a well rounded perspective on china and Chinese culture )
