Chinese literature, the four classics, and the web novel business

Topic13 guides

• 01Chinese canonWho is the most famous Chinese writer?Jin Yong sold the most books, Mo Yan won the Nobel, Lu Xun founded the modern canon. Four names, four different questions, one honest answer.
• 02Chinese canonWho is the real mastermind in The Untamed?Not Jin Guangyao, who did the killing, and not Wei Wuxian, who took the blame. The architect is the man in the corner of the temple fanning himself.
• 03Chinese canonWho is the real villain in The Untamed?Jin Guangyao is the one you can name. The thing that actually killed Wei Wuxian has no face, no sword and no fan, and it is still in the room.
• 04Chinese canonWhat is considered the greatest Chinese novel?Dream of the Red Chamber wins on every count that can be counted. But the strongest argument about Chinese fiction says the question is the wrong one.
• 05Reading listWhat is the most famous wuxia story?One Jin Yong novel wins on adaptations, sales and penetration. Two other answers are defensible, and one of them is not a novel at all.
• 06Chinese canonWho are considered the best Chinese authors of all time?Six names come up in every serious list, and the boundaries between them are where the real argument lives.
• 07Chinese canonWho is the #1 writer in the world?The question hides at least five. By copies sold it is Agatha Christie, by standing Shakespeare, by a single book Cervantes. Pick the measure first.
• 08IndustryHow much does Webnovel pay their writers?There is no single rate. Contracts are bought out, shared or guaranteed against, and the spread runs from a few dollars a month to seven figures a year.
• 09ComparisonIs Kung Fu Panda a wuxia?It borrows the master, the escape and the empty scroll. It borrows none of what makes wuxia wuxia. Here is what the film owes and what it does not.
• 10IndustryWhat are the big 3 of webnovels?Two trios wear the name: Qidian, Zongheng and Jinjiang in Chinese, Wuxiaworld, Webnovel and Gravity Tales in English. One of those six is now a memory.
• 11IndustryWhat is the longest webnovel ever published?By character count it is From Zero, at twenty million characters. By chapter count the crown moves. The record changes because these books are still running.
• 12How toIs cultivation online completed?No. Cultivation Online is still running, several hundred chapters in, with a slow and irregular release schedule. Here is how to check its status yourself.
• 13Chinese canonWhat are the four famous Chinese novels?The Four Great Classical Novels are Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber — the source code of nearly every web novel.