Gods and demons fiction

{{Short description|Subgenre of Chinese fantasy fiction}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}} {{Use shortened footnotes|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox Chinese | title = | pic = IOC.UTokyo-010913 映旭齋增訂北宋三遂平妖全傳十八卷刊本 卷首.pdf | piccap = A late Ming printed edition of ''The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt'' | picupright = | t = {{linktext|神魔}}{{linktext|小說}} | s = {{linktext|神魔}}{{linktext|小说}} | l = | mi = {{IPAc-cmn|sh|en|2|m|o|2|-|x|iao|3|sh|uo|1}} | p = shénmó xiǎoshuō | lmz = | w = | j = | y = }} '''Gods and demons fiction''' or '''shenmo fiction''' ({{zh|t=神魔小說|s=神魔小说|p=shénmó xiǎoshuō|first=t}}) is a subgenre of Chinese fantasy fiction that revolves around the deities, immortals, demons and monsters of Chinese mythology. The term ''shenmo xiaoshuo'', coined in the early 20th century by the writer and literary historian Lu Xun, literally means "gods and demons novel".<ref name="chun 120">{{harvp|Chun|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-85AF8dfNNoC&q=shenmo 120]}}</ref> Representative works of ''shenmo'' fiction include the novels ''Journey to the West'' and ''Investiture of the Gods''.<ref name="wang 201">{{harvp|Wang|1997|p=201}}</ref>

==History== [[File:NLC892-GBZX0301010538-249983 新鎸批評出相韓湘子 三十囘 第7冊.pdf|thumb|page=38|A late Ming commentary edition of ''The Story of Han Xiangzi'']] [[File:Harvard drs 53924405 新刻全像三寶太監西洋記通俗演義 v.6.pdf|thumb|page=60|A late Ming edition of ''The Eunuch Sanbao's Voyage to the Western Ocean'', a blend of ''shenmo'' ("fantasy") and historical fiction]] [[File:CADAL07013688 西遊記 第四冊 （第二版）.djvu|thumb|Cover of an early 20th-century edition of ''Journey to the West'' (volume four)]] [[File:CADAL07020949 封神演義 二.djvu|thumb|Cover of an early 20th-century edition of the ''Investiture of the Gods'' (volume two)]] [[File:NCL-002323892 東遊記 v.3.pdf|thumb|Cover of ''Journey to the East'', one of the ''Four Journeys'']] [[File:SSID-11410053 鏡花緣.pdf|thumb|Cover of a 2000 edition of ''Flowers in the Mirror'', a 19th-century ''shenmo'' novel]] ''Shenmo'' first appeared in the Ming dynasty as a genre of vernacular fiction,<ref name="lu 198">{{harvp|Lu|1959|p=198}}</ref> a style of writing based on spoken Chinese rather than Classical Chinese. The roots of the genre are found in traditional folktales and legends.<ref>{{harvp|Lu|1959|p=199}}</ref> Plot elements like the use of magic and alchemy were derived from Chinese mythology and religion, including Taoism and Buddhism, popular among Ming intellectuals.<ref name="lu 198" />

''The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt'' ({{lang|zh|三遂平妖傳}}, {{circa|14th century CE}}) is an early gods and demons novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong.<ref>{{harvp|Lu|1959|pp= 198, 419}}</ref> In the story, Wang Ze begins a rebellion against the government with the aid of magic.<ref>{{harvp|Lu|1959|pp=176–177}}</ref> The ''Four Journeys'' ({{lang|zh|四遊記}}, {{circa|16th century CE}}) is another early ''shenmo'' work composed of four novels and published during the dynasty as a compilation of folk stories.<ref>{{harvp|Lu|1959|p= 190}}</ref> ''The Story of Han Xiangzi'' ({{lang|zh|韓湘子全傳}}, {{circa|17th century CE}}), a Daoist novel from the same period, also shares this supernatural theme but contains heavier religious overtones.<ref>{{harvp|Yang|2008|p= xxxii}}</ref>

The most well known examples of ''shenmo'' fiction are ''Journey to the West'' ({{lang|zh|西遊記}}, {{circa|16th century CE}}) and ''Investiture of the Gods'' ({{lang|zh|封神演義}}, {{circa|16th century CE}}).<ref name="wang 201"/> ''Journey to the West'' in particular is considered by Chinese literary critics as the ''chef-d'œuvre'' of ''shenmo'' novels.<ref name="yu 44">{{harvp|Yu|2008|p=44}}</ref> The novel's authorship is attributed to Wu Cheng'en and was first published in 1592 by Shitedang, a Ming publishing house.<ref name="chun 120" /> The popularity of ''Journey to the West'' inspired a series of ''shenmo'' copycats that borrowed plot elements from the book.<ref name="chun 120" />

===Comedic ''shenmo'' of the Ming and Qing dynasties=== Later works of gods and demons fiction drifted away from the purely fantastical themes of novels like ''Journey to the West''. ''Shenmo'' novels were still ostensibly about monsters and gods, but carried more humanistic themes. During the late Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty, a subgenre of comedic ''shenmo'' had emerged.<ref name="wang 205">{{harvp|Wang|1997|p=205}}</ref>

The grotesque exposés of the Qing dynasty (''qiangze xiaoshuo'') reference the supernatural motifs of ''shenmo xiaoshuo'', but in the Qing exposés, the division between the real and unreal is less clear cut. The supernatural is placed outside conventional fantasy settings and presented as a natural part of a realistic world, bringing about its grotesque nature.<ref>{{harvp|Wang|1997|pp=183, 202}}</ref> This trait is embodied in the ''Journey to the West'' and other ''shenmo'' parodies of the late Qing dynasty.<ref name="wang 204">{{harvp|Wang|1997|p=204}}</ref> In ''A Ridiculous Journey to the West'' (''Wuli qunao zhi xiyouji'') by Wu Jianwen, the protagonist Bare-Armed Gibbon, a more venal version of Sun Wukong, aids the Vulture King once he is unable to wring any money out of a penniless fish that the vulture had caught and dropped in a puddle.<ref>{{harvp|Wang|1997|pp=202–203}}</ref>

The monkey returns in another Wu Jianwen story, ''Long Live the Constitution'' (''Lixian wansui''), and bickers with other characters from ''Journey to the West'' over a constitution for Heaven.<ref name="wang 204" /> The four main characters of ''Journey to the West'', the monkey, Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing, travel to modern Shanghai in the ''New Journey to the West'' (''Xin xiyouji'') by Lengxue. In Shanghai, they mingle with prostitutes, suffer from drug addiction, and play games of mahjong. ''Journey to the West'' was not the only gods and demons novel lampooned. ''New Investiture of the Gods'' (''Xin Fengshenzhuan'') is a parody of ''Investiture of the Gods'' by Dalu that was published as a ''guji xiaoshuo'' comedy.<ref name="wang 204" />

Novels in this subgenre include an expanded revision of ''The Sorcerer's Revolt'', ''What Sort of Book Is This?'' (''Hedian''), ''Romance of Devil Killing'' (''Zhanggui zhuan''), and ''Quelling the Demons'' (''Pinggui zhuan''). Instead of focusing only on a supernatural realm, ''shenmo'' comedies used fantasy as a social commentary on the follies of the human world.<ref name="wang 205" /> Lu Xun theorized that the ''shenmo'' genre shaped the satirical works later written in the Qing dynasty.<ref name="wang 264">{{harvp|Wang|2004|p=264}}</ref> The genre also influenced the science fantasy novels of the late Qing.<ref name="wang 201" />

===20th century=== ''Shenmo'' literature declined in the early 20th century. The generation of writers following the May Fourth Movement rejected fantasy in favor of literary realism influenced by the trends of 19th-century European literature.<ref name="wang 264" /> Chinese writers regarded fantasy genres like ''shenmo'' as superstitious and a product of a feudal society. Stories of gods and monsters were seen as an obstacle to the modernization of China and scientific progress.<ref name="wang 264" /> The writer Hu Shih wrote that the spells and magical creatures of Chinese fiction were more harmful to the Chinese people than the germs discovered by Louis Pasteur. Stories of the supernatural were denounced during the Cultural Revolution, an era when "Down with ox-ghosts and snake-spirits" was a popular Communist slogan.<ref name="wang 265">{{harvp|Wang|2004|p= 265}}</ref>

''Shenmo'' and other fantasy genres experienced a revival in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and, later, in Mainland China after the Cultural Revolution ended.<ref name="wang 265" /> Having returned to Chinese popular culture, fantasy has populated film, television, radio, and literature. Contemporary writers frequently use supernatural themes to accentuate the otherworldly atmosphere of their works.<ref>{{harvp|Wang|2004|p=266}}</ref>

==Etymology== The term ''shenmo xiaoshuo'' was coined by the writer and literary historian Lu Xun in his book ''A Brief History of Chinese Fiction'' (1930), which has three chapters on the genre. The literary historian Mei Chun translates Lu Xun's term as "supernatural/fantastic".<ref>{{harvp|Chun|2011|p=120 note 28.}}</ref> The term was adopted as a convention by the generations of Chinese literary critics that followed him.<ref name="yu 44" /> In their 1959 translation of Lu Xun's book, Gladys Yang and Yang Xianyi translate ''shenmo '' as "Gods and Devils".<ref>{{harvp|Lu|1959|pp=198–231}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Yang|2008|p=xxxi}}</ref> Lin Chin, a historian of Chinese literature, categorized the fantasy novels of the Ming dynasty as ''shenguai xiaoshuo'', "novels of gods and strange phenomenon".<ref>{{harvp|Yang|2008|p= xxxii}}</ref>

== Notable adaptations == The 1986 television adaptation of ''Journey to the West'' is one of the most well-known adaptations of the novel.

From 1996 to 2000, Ryu Fujisaki published ''Hoshin Engi'' in Weekly Shonen Jump. The story and characters were based on ''Investiture of the Gods.''

In August 2024, a Chinese company released ''Black Myth: Wukong'', a video game featuring characters based on ''Journey to the West''.

==See also== * Zhong Kui * ''Xianxia'' — a related Chinese fantasy genre based on human practitioners of supernatural abilities and encounters with supernatural beings.

==Notes== {{reflist|15em}}

==References== *{{cite book|last=Wang|first=David Der-wei|author-link=David Der-wei Wang|title=Fin-de-siècle Splendor: Repressed Modernities of Late Qing Fiction, 1849-1911|year=1997|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-2845-4}} *{{cite book|last=Wang|first=David Der-wei|title=The Monster that is History: History, Violence, and Fictional Writing in Twentieth-century China|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-93724-6}} *{{cite book|last=Chun|first=Mei|title=The Novel and Theatrical Imagination in Early Modern China|year=2011|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-19166-2}} *{{cite book|last=Lu|first=Hsün|translator=Yang Xianyi|translator2=Gladys Yang|title=A Brief History of Chinese Fiction|year=1959|publisher=Foreign Language Press|isbn=978-7-119-05750-7}} *{{cite book|last=Yang|first=Erzeng|title=The Story of Han Xiangzi: The Alchemical Adventures of a Daoist Immortal|year=2008|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-80194-0}} *{{cite journal|last=Yu|first=Anthony|year=2008|title=The Formation of Fiction in the "Journey to the West"|journal=Asia Minor|volume=21|issue=1|pages=15–44|publisher=Academia Sinica|jstor=41649940|url=http://www.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~asiamajor/pdf/2008a/04%20Yu%20v21.pdf|archive-date=7 April 2022|access-date=12 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407081628/http://www.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~asiamajor/pdf/2008a/04%20Yu%20v21.pdf|url-status=dead}}

{{Chinese mythology}} {{Fantasy fiction}} {{Horror fiction}}

Category:Shenmo fiction Category:Ming dynasty literature Category:Qing dynasty literature Category:Chinese literature Category:Chinese literary genres Category:Fantasy genres Category:Film genres Category:Television genres Category:Chinese mythology in popular culture