Wuxia as a genre can be difficult to define, at least without resorting to a lengthy essay on the subject. Then again, why should a lengthy essay deter us if it is something we are interested in? I hope to write such an essay as an introduction to be included in the anthology, but for now a simplified version will suffice.

Wuxia is a genre of literature and film which focuses on martial heroes who live their lives by their own code of conduct, similar to the European knight or the Japanese samurai. However, unlike the knight and the samurai, the Chinese knight-errant, as the term youxia is usually translated as, typically does not serve a master or a government. Instead, he serves himself, with a code of values he has defined for himself. He will attempt to right wrongs when he encounters them, and will give his life to do so if necessary. Wuxia works often focus on the martial exploits of such figures, though like any genre, the scope can be much more broad and varied.

If you’re thinking of submitting a story for inclusion in this anthology, then you likely already know what wuxia is, or at least have an idea. Below are a few links which go into the subject in much more detail and much better than I can. If you are a reader who is wondering what this is all about, well basically wuxia is Chinese martial arts fiction. That’s an over-simplified way to put it, though, so I encourage you to check out the links below for more information.

The first link is a lengthy article, but it’s probably the best introduction to wuxia that currently exists in the English language. Even if you already know what wuxia is, you should give that article a read. The second link is an article written by Simon McNeil for Kungfu Magazine. That article is also lengthy, but well worth your time. Finally, the Wikipedia entries are surprisingly detailed themselves and contain a lot of useful information, so make sure to read those as well.

http://www.heroic-cinema.com/eric/xia.html

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=873

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianghu