⚠️ Vote for GagaOOLala to be added to list of streaming services ⚠️https://kisskh.at/discussions/suggestions/130255-add-gagaoolala-to-lists-of-services⚠️…
Homophobia runs deep on MDL so even after years of asking they refuse to add GagaOOLala.
This drama is actually Xianxia. For some weird unknown reason MDL does not have/allow a Xianxia category in the…
It is widely accepted that Xianxia is a sub-genre under Wuxia and that Wuxia as a genre came first. You’re right that Journey to the West has immortals, Daoist cultivation, and heavenly realms. But that doesn’t mean Xianxia as a genre existed back then.
Immortal mythology came first. Wuxia became a defined literary genre earlier (Tang roots, fully formed by the 20th century with writers like Jin Yong). Modern Xianxia developed much later, especially in web novels, by combining Daoist myth + Wuxia structure + systematic cultivation tiers and power progression.
Journey to the West is better described as proto-Xianxia — it inspired the genre, but it wasn’t written within a Xianxia genre tradition because that category didn’t exist yet.
So immortal fantasy predates Wuxia, yes. But Xianxia as a defined genre does not.
I know this has a wuxia tag, but does the FL fight as well?
This drama is actually Xianxia. For some weird unknown reason MDL does not have/allow a Xianxia category in the "Genres", so they end up picking Wuxia as the Genre and Xianxia under the "Tag" section.
Now, one could argue that Wuxia came first and Xianxia evolved from wuxia. So you could say Xianxia is really a fantasy expansion of wuxia. But they should really in my opinion be treated as separate genres.
Immortal mythology came first. Wuxia became a defined literary genre earlier (Tang roots, fully formed by the 20th century with writers like Jin Yong). Modern Xianxia developed much later, especially in web novels, by combining Daoist myth + Wuxia structure + systematic cultivation tiers and power progression.
Journey to the West is better described as proto-Xianxia — it inspired the genre, but it wasn’t written within a Xianxia genre tradition because that category didn’t exist yet.
So immortal fantasy predates Wuxia, yes. But Xianxia as a defined genre does not.
Now, one could argue that Wuxia came first and Xianxia evolved from wuxia. So you could say Xianxia is really a fantasy expansion of wuxia. But they should really in my opinion be treated as separate genres.