Guest post by A Bright Heart author Kate Chenli
Kate Chenli is a first-generation Chinese immigrant and a proud US citizen. She has an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, but she has always enjoyed designing complex world and characters more than designing complex software. She lives in Ann Arbor, MI. This is her first novel.
A Bright Heart follows a brilliant young woman who gets a second chance at life in this debut YA tale of vengeance, court intrigue, and romance, inspired by classic Chinese tropes.
Chinese-inspired fantasy books have become more common and gained popularity in recent years. I’ve witnessed and cheered for the success of Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, These Violent Delights, and many more. It’s exciting to see all these wonderful books hit the bookstores in the Western world where they have been well received by critics and readers alike. The success of these novels demonstrates that people are eager to read beyond Western culture, and curious to learn more from the rich landscape of Eastern culture. It’s worthy to note that fantasy has always occupied an important space in Chinese literature through its 5000-year history. However, although such stories are abundant and very prevalent in Chinese media, they are far less present in American media.
If you ask any Chinese person about the most famous fantasy book in our history, they will likely answer with Journey to the West. The hero of this widely-loved and enduring tale, Monkey King, has gained some fame in the Western world, as seen in the 2008 movie The Forbidden Kingdom, and more recently, in the Netflix cartoon The Monkey King, along with the Disney+ series, American Born Chinese. However, the world of Chinese fantasy is far richer than this classic piece.
The earliest fantasy book officially recorded in Chinese history is Anecdotes About Spirits and Immortals, published in the 4th century. The author, no longer traceable, chronicled eighteen of the best-known folktales that have been passed down since Chinese was first spoken as a language, including: Pangu separating Heaven and Earth with a giant ax, Goddess Nüwa creating humankind by molding mud in her image, Houyi shooting down nine suns to save humanity from drought, Chang’e becoming the moon goddess, and Nüwa fixing the sky to save humans. This ancient book also described 75 godly and evil beasts, and spanned various topics, such as astronomy, medicine, religion, geography and so on.
Even more influential than the above are The Great Four folktales that have been told and admired for thousands of years: The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, The White Snake, The Girl Mengjiang, and The Butterfly Lovers. These stories reflect the great wisdom and vast imagination of ancient Chinese people, as well as their yearning for the freedom to pursue everlasting love.
Beyond these legends, there is Investiture of the Gods, a romanticized retelling of the overthrow of the Shang Dynasty in the form of an epic tale about the struggles of human heroes, immortals, and various spirits. There is also Liaozhai, translated as “Studio of Leisure”, which recorded 491 accounts of almost everything unusual you can imagine–from gods and fairies to fox spirits and tiger demons, from magic and illusion to wraiths and exorcisms. Author Pu Songling masterfully blurred the borders between the supernatural and everyday reality while exploring the passionate and emotional entanglements of humans and spirits.
Frankly, it’s impossible to list in a short essay all the fantastic stories found in Chinese history, but it’s exciting to witness how much and how fast fantasy literature has kept growing in China. The modern works often combine ancient Chinese mythology with themes inspired by historical events while exploring deeper themes such as human morality. Additionally, it’s incredible and fabulous that Netflix has presented many great shows adapted from such literature, for example, Love Between Fairy and Devil, Ashes of Love, The Princess Weiyoung, and Word of Honor. Kudos to Netflix for bringing those wonderful shows to the Western audience, but such tales are still not seen enough in mainstream media. Hopefully, as Western readers become more familiar with Chinese culture and folklore, we’ll see more Chinese-inspired fantasy in TV shows, movies, and theatrical productions pioneered by Chinese authors.
In my novel, A Bright Heart (out now), I injected a bit of ancient Chinese mythology regarding Goddess Nüwa and wove the contemporary Chinese fantasy theme of “Rebirth and Revenge” into the story. In addition, my book incorporated the complex power dynamics and cutthroat intrigue at the Chinese imperial court, as inspired by actual historical events that happened during Emperor Kangxi’s reign in the Qing dynasty. I hope that by reading and enjoying my work, it will further encourage Western readers to become more interested in fantasy stories steeped in Chinese culture.
