Gods and demons fiction () is a subgenre of fantasy fiction that revolves around the deities, immortals, 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 "fiction of gods and demons". Works of shenmo fiction include the novels '' Journey to the West'' and '' Investiture of the Gods''.

History

''Shenmo'' first appeared in the Ming Dynasty as a genre of vernacular fiction, a style of writing based on

spoken Chinese Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of main ...

rather than Classical Chinese. The roots of the genre are found in traditional folktales and legends. Plot elements like the use of magic and alchemy were derived from Chinese mythology and religion, including Taoism and Buddhism, popular among Ming intellectuals. ''

The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt ''The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt'' (; ) also translated as ''Quelling the Demons' Revolt'' and ''The Sorcerer's Revolt'' is a Chinese novel attributed to the 14th-century novelist Luo Guanzhong, although the earliest extant version was com ...

'' (, 14th century CE) is an early gods and demons novel attributed to

Luo Guanzhong Luo Ben (c. 1330–1400, or c.1280–1360), better known by his courtesy name Guanzhong (Mandarin pronunciation: ), was a Chinese writer who lived during the Ming dynasty. He was also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (). Luo was attri ...

. In the story, Wang Ze begins a rebellion against the government with the aid of magic. The ''

Four Journeys The ''Four Journeys'' () is a collection of four shenmo novels that were published during the Ming dynasty Wanli era, and they consist of ''Journey to the North'', ''Journey to the South'', ''Journey to the East'', and ''Journey to the West''. ...

'' (, 16th century CE) is another early ''shenmo'' work composed of four novels and published during the dynasty as a compilation of folk stories. ''

The Story of Han Xiangzi ''The Story of Han Xiangzi'' () is a 17th-century Chinese novel written by (). It is written in vernacular Chinese. The protagonist is Han Xiangzi, one of the Eight Immortals. The novel was written with a clear Daoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism ...

'' (, 17th century CE), a Daoist novel from the same period, also shares this supernatural theme but contains heavier religious overtones. The most well known examples of ''shenmo'' fiction are '' Journey to the West'' (, 16th century CE) and '' Investiture of the Gods'' (, 16th century CE). ''Journey to the West'' in particular is considered by Chinese literary critics as the ''chef-d'œuvre'' of ''shenmo'' novels. The novel's authorship is attributed to Wu Cheng'en and was first published in 1592 by Shitedang, a Ming publishing house. The popularity of ''Journey to the West'' inspired a series of ''shenmo'' copycats that borrowed plot elements from the book.

Comic ''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. 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. This trait is embodied in the ''Journey to the West'' and other ''shenmo'' parodies of the late Qing dynasty. In ''A Ridiculous Journey to the West'' (''Wuli qunao zhi xiyouji'') by

Wu Jianwen Wu may refer to: States and regions on modern China's territory *Wu (state) (; och, *, italic=yes, links=no), a kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period 771–476 BCE ** Suzhou or Wu (), its eponymous capital ** Wu County (), a former county ...

, the protagonist Bare-Armed Gibbon, a more venal version of

Sun Wukong The Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong ( zh, t=孫悟空, s=孙悟空, first=t) in Mandarin Chinese, is a legendary mythical figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West'' ( zh, ...

, 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. 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. 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 Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...

. ''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. 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. Lu Xun theorized that the ''shenmo'' genre shaped the satirical works later written in the Qing Dynasty. The genre also influenced the science fantasy novels of the late Qing.

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. 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. 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 Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...

. 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. ''Shenmo'' and other fantasy genres experienced a revival in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and, later, in Mainland China after the Cultural Revolution ended. 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.

Etymology

The term ''shenmo xiaoshuo'' was coined by the writer and literary historian Lu Xun in his book ''

A Brief History of Chinese Fiction ''A Brief History of Chinese Fiction'' () is a book written by Lu Xun as a survey of traditional Chinese fiction. It was first published in Chinese in 1930, translated into Japanese, Korean, German, and then into English in 1959 by Gladys Yang and ...

'' (1930), which has three chapters on the genre. The literary historian Mei Chun translates Lu Xun's term as "supernatural/fantastic". The term was adopted as a convention by the generations of Chinese literary critics that followed him. In their 1959 translation of Lu Xun's book, Gladys Yang and Yang Xianyi translate ''shenmo '' as "Gods and Devils". Lin Chin, a historian of Chinese literature, categorized the fantasy novels of the Ming dynasty as ''shenguai xiaoshuo'', "novels of gods and strange phenomenon".

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