What are Wuxia and Xianxia? | Chinese Culture in C-Drama 

SHARING because AWESOME.😍🤩 P.S: Could I possibly beg for a pinned comment with some titles/recommendations for both genres? 😁 P.P.S: Here, I'm begging! 😊🙏

As I understand... the slow motion is just showing how it looks, because we can't catch it in the fast motion 😁

These two terms were very confusing ...You clarified it very nicely ...Thanks a lot brother 🙏🏻❤️

Xianxia is definitely my fav genre.

Thank you ! I grew up with those 2 genres and I love them equally :) I agree with you abt the martial arts scenes in classic dramas. But I enjoy the modern wuxia/xianxia too. I look forward to your other videos

I remember watching those movies when I was a child, I am still waiting for a good Wuxia and Xinxia game.

Lovely.. totally understandable..I always get confused and get mixed up..but now I can set it separately Thanks 👍

I'm the one person that loves historical chinese drama, but doesn't like wuxia or xianxia. It's basically impossible to find anything to watch. It's great. 😪

oh, your channel is so interesting. thank you for the explanation!

Thank you so much for this helpful video! I just noticed that I have been mixing up the two genres all long!

Good one, Ty. 👍🏻

Thank you for this very informative video. i’m looking forward to your next one!

❤ thank you for explaining

thank you for this

Thankyou, very helpful 🙂

Thank you once again ☺ my doubt is completely cleared about both the genres☺

thank you for sharing their differences!

Can you make a video recommending Wuxia and Xianxia dramas that you think are really good?

Thank you! Would love to see the video on dancing / martial arts 😁

Ooooo now I understand. Thanks for the information

And can u make videos on Chinese dramas that are bl? I really love ur information and explanation! Keep it up !

Thank you! I agree with the fight scenes. We all went crazy for Zhang Ziyi and I keep rewatching Crouching Tiger because the choreography back then was on point. Also rewatched Return of the Condor Heroes because Liu Yifei also has fluid movements as Xiao Long Nu

Finally, someone that shares the same thought as me on wuxia dramas. Actors in classic Wuxia are real martial arts practitioners. Take for instance, Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen. All of these guys have a very solid background in martial arts; and so when you watch their movies you feel like you're watching actual fights. Unlike what we have nowadays, cameras do most of the stunts and fights while the actors barely move.

Wow!! Thank you so, much for this , .. finally I'm confirm now, before, every fighting with kungfu, was Wuxian, hahaha,, thanku again.

Thanks for your perspectives, there isnt a los of información out there si I really apreciate tour serious point of view n.n

Nice.....👍.... I always get confused......Now I know.... what is xinxia and wuxia.... drama.... and I love classic and fantacy drama.... thank you for informational video 🙏🙏🙏

I like the fight scenes especially sword fights if know any good ones refer me please I cant wait for the video on chinese dance and please make it good

To me, Xianxia is equivalent to western high fantasy , while wuxia is equivalent to western low fantasy

One of the best c. drama after untamed ❤️from india

Please make a video about the Chinese drama killer and healer. Is this drama bl??

Is untamed is xianxia??Historical cdrama is really great no matter wuxia or xianxia I love it

have you seen the modern donghua anime? There's literally hundreds but only a dozen are worth watching. The quality and the "realism" of them are also very alarming. As an older fellow who grew up watch Alexander Lo Rei, Norman Tsu, Fei Meng. I find the modern display of MC very alarming. From semi-recluse and anti-social personality to downright sadistic and psychopathic, would you agree? Would u agree we went from top tier Alpha, Gamma and top Beta "main characters" to omega and Sigma type MC? For example my boy, Han Li, Qin Chen, Luo Feng are ideal MC. Meanwhile there's other questionable MC in donghua like Bai Xiaochun or femboy Long Haochen etc...Even the MC of Soul Land, Tang San sometimes have questionable traits. Anyways two of the worst offenders of bad donghua/wuxia genre is "Shrouding the Heavens" and "The First Order". What do you think? maybe make a video about this. Also how could chinese people expect people to like donghua if they don't explain the niches, the "assumed" knowledge of mainland chinese culture, if the majority of the western audience have no clue about "cauldrons" or "magic pets". I mean they don't even explain paranormal entities or how "gu" works etc... Also guilty of "with-holding knowledge" or "conviently learning secret arts" off screen trope. The west need to adapt to the "anime" or even the settling in like how Japan made anime "cool" and modern. As an Asian American who grew up watching kung fu flicks in the 90s, I feel there's alot missed in translations. I feel they could have done a better job. Also finally have you noticed donghua trying to be "traditional" yet not doing any of the "traditional" customs and "cermony" welcoming/citations/holler-at-ya-boy dialogue? It's like they are totally ignoring traditional chinese culture by omitting this intricate ancient chinese customs.

Isn't 仙 better translate as "sprite"? It means immortal only within the context of daoism and even then it's debatable if that is the literal meaning of the word.

*A largely superficial simplification.* It’s easier to classify from Chinese cinema genre: Chinese martial arts genres: There's 'Kung Fu' - the Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan stuff. follow by 'Wuxia' which is in between Fantasy and Kung Fu - the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon stuff. follow by 'XianXia' or 'ShenMo' the fully fantasy and mythology stuff (gods, immortals, demons and all kinds of entities), more commonly known in the West as Cultivation genre. *The 3 genre is the gradual progression of increasingly powerful and outlandish ability (it's the only true difference).* At times, a major series can have all 3 elements in it, Kung Fu Hustle for example, has the first 2, Kung Fu and Wuxia. The Settings of the 3 genres are also progressively complicated. Kung Fu is 'street level', Wuxia is much larger, more akin to Star War, from governments, nations, rebels to organized crimes, factions and sects. Cultivation is Cosmic. There is no specific terms that are uniquely one genre or another because they all build on the same cultural understanding. Oddly enough, there is a specific HK comic “Dragon-Tiger Gate” that straddle all 3 genre at varying time (a brainless guilty pleasure that is just about people punching each other). The original classic version starts it’s story in Hong Kong, with just street gang fighting each other, nothing fancy. Then it slowly developed into full wuxia and when beyond Hong Kong. At the latter part of the comic they introduce an antagonist who is at least 150+ years old, and the most powerful martial artist in his lifetime. His goals is basically to achieve immortality via cultivation, and the comic enter a bit of semi-Xianxia. There are plenty of series that make no secret that the arts and techniques in Wuxia are deluded versions or fragment of more powerful Xianxia or hyper-sciences arts and techniques.

I know its unrelated but I gotta ask what happened to THE LIVING DEAD(UNTAMED)is it happening thank you

I disagree that classic drama are better than modern drama. I prefer modern dramas because of the superior CGI. I do not watch Chinese drama for the plot depth, story or character development. I watch it for the fight scenes or magic display. The modern drama i feel present this in far superior graphic detail. So i think they are superior to the classic drama in this respect.

Eternal love of dream is which category????

吐槽的好！不过现在仙侠剧已经不是仙侠了，是仙侠偶像剧！

Mostly both don't seems very real. Chinese drama always overly fly. No real man can do that. 😂

Rewatching yur older content. Rqstg private contact if psbl. NN help w translation. THX! EL

Thank you once again ☺ my doubt is completely cleared about both the genres☺