Ancient China and multicultural Chinese citizens:

“China’s Qing Dynasty, established by the Manchu people who ruled from 1644–1912, is described as having been a vast multicultural empire. But it appears multicultural might also be a euphemism for multiracial. Nothing illustrates this better than the black and white photos taken by visitors from Europe in the mid-to-late 1800s. John Thomson, an Irish photographer, was one of the first to capture images that reveal a surprisingly more diverse makeup of then-contemporary China.”

Link: https://medium.com/@PacoTaylor/ancient-chinese-secret-these-14-phenomenal-photos-reveal-there-were-indeed-black-chinese-6261468b4102

After doing more research, I narrowed down the point in time I wanted to focus on. So while Pagan’s novel is paranormal fantasy, I’ve included real landmarks and ethnic groups in order to put a black woman in China during this period. Wuxia tales overwhelmingly feature characters of Chinese ancestry, however I enjoy the genre so much that I wanted to feature an inter-racial romance. There are supernatural elements in my story, which usually aren’t part of WUXIA but Xianxia (仙侠).

Still, I’m dubbing this “Black Wuxia.”

Pictured: The witch Pagan and her lover, Karnage

What is Wuxia?

Simply put, Wuxia (武侠) is a genre of Chinese writing featuring the lives and adventures of martial artists. The stories are always set in ancient China, typically between the Tang and middle Ching dynasties (approximately AD 618 to AD 1800). The main attraction of the Wuxia novels is the myriad of powerful martial arts, or kung fu, wielded by the story characters.

While movies and television adaptations of famous Wuxia novels tend to show protagonists capable of feats such as scaling tall buildings, shattering walls with one blow, or self-healing, it should be noted that Wuxia stories are not supernatural in premise. Gods, demons and monsters do not feature in them. Tropes such as inter-realm travel and non-human races do not appear too. In the parlance of modern Chinese writing, Wuxia is clearly differentiated from Xianxia (仙侠). The latter being stories with supernatural elements.

Note: Xia (侠) is the Chinese character for chivalry and could be used as a suffix for many terms.