Recently, it was reported that "Ancient Legends Martial Arts Edition" has been discontinued.
Readers who subscribed throughout the year have not received the 11th issue of the magazine in 2022, while the update of the electronic version has been stuck in the October 2022 issue. The magazine seemed to have quietly left, without official announcements and without stirring up a single wave.
This is a very surprising thing, because in the eyes of our generation, the "Ancient Legend and Martial Arts Edition" by well-known authors such as Fengge, Xiaolin, Shi Weihan, Fang Baiyue and Cangyue, and Bu Feiyan is a thunderous name. And compared to the name of this magazine, another saying is more familiar -
Mainland new martial arts.
At that time, the decline of martial arts was unimaginable for two or three generations, because it was more like a cultural carrier than a literary theme. But if you think about it, you will find that all this seems to have been foreshadowed -
In 2006, the magazine "Wulin", which had been in circulation for 25 years, ceased publication; In 2015, "Wuxia Stories" ceased publication; In 2019, Hong Kong's "Wuxia World" magazine, which has a history of 60 years, also had no choice but to stop publishing... It seems to herald the demise of an era.
At this point, the era of martial arts has really passed.
1.
The term "new martial arts on the mainland" is aimed at the "old martial arts" represented by the Three Musketeers and the "new martial arts" with Jin Yong Gulong as the standard-bearer.
In the eighties of last century, the martial arts fever from the other side of the strait has been vigorously staged for a period of time, and the Hong Kong and Taiwan martial arts novels and martial arts movies that have poured into the mainland along the spring breeze of reform and opening up have cultivated a readers' market, and the rental bookstore is even filled with many forgeries signed "Quan Yong", "Golden Boy", "Jilong" and "Jin Yongxin", as well as all kinds of fake books in the name of famous artists.
A forgery signed "Jin Yongxin"
However, under the popularity, there were no martial arts works and creators in the mainland at that time, although there were also Nie Yunlan, Peng Halberd and others who began to create martial arts novels, but it has always been difficult to become a climate, and young people who love martial arts are waiting to be fed.
As the new century approaches, the Internet begins to popularize, and online literature begins to emerge.
In 1998, Qingyun College was established.
Some people have always believed that the establishment of Qingyun is a sign of the beginning of the era of Chinese online literature, and whether this statement is correct or not is temporarily pressed, but one thing is certain, the best online writers in the country at that time were concentrated in the heyday of Qingyun, which came out of the core power of the golden age of mainland martial arts.
Many of them contributed to "Ancient Legends and Martial Arts Edition", which was known as the "Qingyun Bandit Gang" at that time
At that time, looking at the whole country, there were few martial arts magazines, "a publishing house in Jiangsu published only two issues of martial arts publications, and was forced to stop publishing because it was not recognized; A publishing house in Hebei also made similar attempts, but all ended in failure. ”
Under these circumstances, in 2001, "Ancient Legends and Martial Arts Edition" was launched.
Many people say that the inaugural issue of "Ancient Legends and Martial Arts Edition" (hereinafter referred to as "Wuxia Edition") is the beginning of the "blowout" of mainland martial arts works, and the experience of this magazine is also quite martial arts - the young warrior is alone, fighting the sword and becoming famous unexpectedly; When it is glorious, thousands of sails race, hundreds of boats compete for the current, celebrities are around, there are fights, there are disputes; And in the end, when all the dust settled, the hero was late, and there was no one to wander, leaving a place to sigh.
The inaugural issue of "Ancient Legends and Martial Arts Edition" is pleased to mention Liang Yusheng's inscription, and in the most glorious period, authors such as Shi Weihan, Fang Baiyu, Jinzi, and Wang Qingchuan were held, and authors such as Jiang Nan, Fengge, Cangyue, Yang Rebellion, Xiao Monk and other authors who had already achieved certain achievements on the Internet were also recruited, and even Hong Kong and Taiwan writers like Nine Knives sometimes came in manuscripts, and the limelight was unmatched.
How popular is "Wuxia Edition"?
At that time, many people only knew "Wuxia Edition", but did not know that "Ancient Legends" was actually a popular magazine matrix, and its "Story Edition", "People Edition", "Fantasy Edition" and "Romance Edition" were also under its umbrella, which could be described as a "popular literature aircraft carrier" of that year. But among them, the highest number of releases is "Wuxia Edition".
The inaugural issue of "Wuxia Edition" exceeded 110,000 copies, and by 2006, when Fengge's "Kunlun" was in full swing, the sales volume could even reach more than 700,000 copies, which was on par with the sales of "Yilin" in the same year.
It was also that year that the wooden swordsman, who was the editor-in-chief of "Wuxia Edition" at the time, saw the dawn of a new trend in martial arts, and then played the slogan of "the prosperous era of the new martial arts in the mainland". It was the highlight year of "Wuxia Version", all the heroes gathered, met friends in text on square inch paper, competed in martial arts and swords, everyone wrote joint articles, wrote series of articles, good ideas emerged one after another, one by one shining arc characters, one embarrassing story after another were created, so that a generation will not forget.
The phoenix song who wrote "Canghai" and "Kunlun" was once considered a character who could surpass Jin Yong.
In recent years, one of the "storytellers" stationed in the BGM of the B station editing area sang "Kunlun" by Feng Ge
Fang Baiyu's "Thousand Doors Series" has opened up a new path that belongs to "Zhixia".
The "Yunxiang Legend" platform adapted from the "Thousand Doors Series" has more than 1 million reservations and is scheduled to be launched in the near future
When "Wuxia Edition" was first published, Xiao Li, who is now known as the Duke of Liden, has just begun to write, who wants to make a "Cup of Snow" a blockbuster, and his debut is a success.
Shi Weihan, one of the "four masters of new martial arts" in the past (the other three are Feng Ge, Wang Qingchuan, and Xiaolin), in the decline of martial arts, there are still people who miss the unfinished "General Ming" series.
Even Prince Ma's deafening "Meteorite Dun" ancestor text "I am in the rivers and lakes" was also published in the "Wuxia Edition".
…………
It is said that in the editorial office of that year, the editor-in-chief of the martial arts edition, Mu Muskeper, even provided accommodation and advance payment for some authors with difficult lives, and a group of people gathered in the editing room from time to time to play cards, and the life was very lively and frenzied.
In addition to the "mainland new martial arts", "Wuxia Edition" also carried the banner of "female new martial arts".
This project has indeed fostered many outstanding female authors, such as the controversial Peking University talent female step non-smoke, Cangyue, who started martial arts but became famous by fantasy, Li Ling, who wrote the "Four Famous Catches of Red Yan", Zhao Chenguang, who won the first prize of the Wen Shiren Million Martial Arts Grand Prix, and so on.
In the traditional context, the word wuxia is associated with masculinity, or a proper noun for men. There are actually outstanding female characters in traditional martial arts works, such as Jin Yong's works, but they are often presented in a posture that lacks a female perspective. "Mainland New Martial Arts" has opened a window for female authors, making a different voice appear in this field that has long been occupied by men.
Female authors tend to have more delicate writing and stronger empathy ability, and they often have different interpretations of topics in traditional contexts, such as "mission" and "sacrifice", and the struggles of female characters in specific circumstances.
With the end of the era of "Ancient Legends", the "female new martial arts" is also stillborn, and many excellent works of that year have now joined the melee track of IP, which seems to be invisible.
2.
To make a digression, around 2006 was really the highlight of popular reading in China, when many popular magazines and non-governmental publishers emerged, old magazines raced with thousands of sails, and various literary and animation competitions across the country were in full swing. Under the "Reading for All" program, the number of newsstands nationwide has also reached an unprecedented high. At that time, martial arts, fantasy and youth fiction magazines made a generation see the dream.
At that time, no one expected that two years later, the situation would take a sharp turn. The so-called big ship of the mainland's new martial arts was scattered before it left port.
Ten years ago, "Wuxia Edition", which has begun to decline, once appeared in a series of articles by Zhao Chenguang "Hidden Heroes", and in 2021, this series published a physical book called "The History of the Demise of Jianghu", one of which "Shocking Man 1911" portrayed a "last old warrior" Yang Wenyi. He abided by the old rules, recognized some old promises, gave birth to a revolutionary party son, but his ability wavered in the absurd times, and finally he could not end well. Now that I think about it, it's quite a bit of a joke.
Whether the spirit of martial arts is outdated is a matter of early debate.
As early as the 80s of the 20th century, when Jin Yong Gulong's novels became popular, some people thought that martial arts novels were "opium and prostitutes of the times", and some literary critics called them "poisonous weeds" that corrupted the minds of teenagers. Although with the development of the times, martial arts novels have gradually been rehabilitated, the problem of "forbidden by martial arts" in it is like a barb in it, which scratches people from time to time.
If the decline of print media is the dimensionality reduction blow of the Internet to traditional media, then the slight momentum of martial arts novels can be seen even from the level of online literature.
Take today's Internet popularity as an example, if it was written in the era of paper media at the beginning of this century, then the "Book of the Dead" should have achieved good results, but unfortunately, in the days when it was serialized, the fairy theme of the online literary industry has been in full swing.
Perhaps as early as the Huang Yi era, this evolution first appeared, and later, whether it was Xu Haofeng's "Taoist Priest Going Down the Mountain" or "Romance of the Dragon and Snake" that dreamed of the divine machine, there were some mysterious places. The traditional chivalrous spirit seems to have become out of fashion.
But it is undeniable that when we compare horizontally, the IP of Kyushu has been filmed several, and more niche sci-fi has also had soil in recent years, even the "Mirror" series held by the "Ancient Legend Fantasy Version" next door has been successfully filmed and television, and the countless excellent works on the side of the "Wuxia Version", in addition to the "Legend of Yunxiang" that has not yet been broadcast, the drama reform we can see now is only one "Listen to the Snow Tower" - I'm afraid it's not for the theme, but for the author's fame.
On the other hand, former martial arts authors are also constantly seeking transformation, some to write fantasy, some to be screenwriters, some to write romance, and some to write "children's literature" (I'm not talking about Jiangnan). For example, Shi Dingrou, the author who became famous by relying on the "Three Fans" series, after being a full-time screenwriter, the most well-known work turned out to be the romance-themed "Once Upon a Time in Lichuan (Meet Wang Lichuan)".
Mr. Jin Yong believes that the chivalrous spirit should be "the great of chivalry, for the country and the people". This inscription has also been printed on the cover of the "Wuxia Edition" for many years. But this sentence is placed today, maybe different people have different interpretations. For example, the most controversial plot in "Kunlun" is the bridge where the protagonist Liang Xiao assists Yuan to attack Song. Although readers with brains can see that what the author wants to show is the struggle and choice of individuals in the chaotic world, and the protagonist is also a unique individual who will make mistakes and introspect himself, but all this is wrapped in the sinking environment of the martial arts book market at that time, and it is inevitable that some people will be wrong.
Even the discussion of Jin Yong cannot be separated from this narrative - is this chivalrous word contained in narrow nationalism? Or simple patriotism with a historical perspective? Or is it historical nihilism?
As early as the fifties and sixties of the last century, the popularity of Taiwanese martial arts novels stemmed from the fact that under the martial law policy of the authorities, it was a relatively safe subject.
And today, does the decline of martial arts - or its anachronism - mean that it is not flattering enough, or even safe in terms of economic benefits or content subjects?
3.
Familiar readers know that the content and theme of martial arts novels in the past ten years have become more and more out of touch with the present, and have almost become a distant spiritual symbol.
This is normal, after all, martial arts is the product of optimization under specific boundaries and specific rules, and if this boundary shrinks and the rules change, then its gradual demise is understandable.
The essence of martial arts novels is actually a kind of folk "joyful spirit" that has the same origin as folk art themes such as opera and scripts. The anger of reality is dissolved in fantasy, the shackles of reality are broken one by one by the heroes in the novel, all crises can be solved, and the simplest morality and justice are served.
But when martial arts novels gradually penetrate into the field of "literature", this folk nature in it is no longer prominent, and it is replaced by upgraded streaming online novels that make it easier for people to obtain dopamine happiness.
There is a saying that the "elitism" of martial arts novels has made it lose its original market.
Although from the works of "mainland new martial arts", although we can rarely see a large number of elite plots, it is undeniable that from the representative works of its representative writers, it is indeed difficult for us to see something that fits the current people's psychological environment, and this is very good at this point led by the cultural businessmen of the reading department headed by the starting point.
The number of works under the martial arts tab on the homepage of the starting point,
Much less than other types
The most prominent thing in the mainland new martial arts works represented by the content of "Wuxia Edition" is the discussion of human nature, and many authors are very good at combining the complexity and changeability of human nature with the story background, so that they are deeper and deeper in literature and philosophy, but this effort precisely dissolves the essence of martial arts novels - the pursuit of comfort and worldliness, and oppresses the reader's aesthetics.
Some people may say that Jin Yong's works also have a strong ideological nature, which cannot be simply attributed to entertainment.
Indeed, when reading Jin Yong's works, one can indeed experience the author's rich portrayal of depth of thought and human nature, but this effort has not diluted the entertainment of most of his works, or that the depth of thought is only a by-product of the entertainment of his works, as evidenced by the fact that several works at the end of the tragedy such as "Fei Lianbai", word of mouth is not as good as "laughing gods".
In addition, Jin Yong, as an author who became famous and started a family, he has a certain right of market screening and pardon, but this privilege is not available to most authors of the "Wuxia Edition".
Fengge's "Kunlun" can pull the sales of "Wuxia Edition" to nearly one million, but so far it has not been able to mention that "someone pays for everything". In the early authors of the "Wuxia Edition", perhaps authors like Jiangnan and Cangyue may have been given a certain degree of creative freedom by the market, but this is because the two have laid down in other fields, and if new authors create according to their standards, the consequences can be imagined.
Therefore, the decline of martial arts may be a disconnect between the spirit of contemporary martial arts and the masses.
In an interview with Jin Yong in 1994, a reporter asked: What is the future development direction of martial arts novels? His answer: "I think that the spirit of chivalry, justice, and courage is still the main presentation, and modern elements such as guns and boxing can also be added." ”
However, the change of the times is not the replacement of cold weapons by modern weapons, but the changes in the difficulties encountered by people and the way of solving problems.
In the virtual world, following the heroes to fight righteousness and uphold justice cannot shake off our emotional baggage, and it is even difficult to deceive ourselves into solving suffering. The problems we encounter cannot be solved by heavenly heroes and powerful force, and the gray parts buried deep in the thick black are even difficult to judge by the dualism of "whether it is righteous or not". Perhaps this is the real reason why martial arts novels have become anachronistic.
But is it martial arts novels that are no longer good? Maybe it's okay too.
I would like to guess that whether the era of the print media has passed or not, whether the chivalrous spirit survives or not, there will always be people who keep writing with a pen.
Back in 2006, when I was still in middle school, I basically bought books with my pocket money every month - "Manyou", "Kyushu Fantasy", "Budding", "Legends of the Present". At that time, Chinese genre literature was setting sail, and the young man holding the book felt that the years to come should be better and better, and who thought that it would be the best year.
"Kunlun", which used to stand on the mountain, is now only left in "Storyteller", and the suspension of "Wuxia Edition" has taken away the last jianghu qi, but it is really -
"Who would have thought that this would never meet again."
Resources:
Shi Aidong: The folk nature of mainland new martial arts and martial arts novels
Journal of Southwest Normal University (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition)
How the mainland's "new martial arts" became the old story 36Krypton