''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese names () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major

vernacular Chinese Written vernacular Chinese, also known as Baihua () or Huawen (), is the forms of written Chinese based on the varieties of Chinese spoken throughout China, in contrast to Classical Chinese, the written standard used during imperial China up ...

works in the

gods and demons 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 ...

(''shenmo'') genre written during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

(1368–1644). Consisting of 100 chapters, it was first published in book form between 1567 and 1619. Another source claims it was published in 1605. The work combines elements of history, folklore, mythology, legends and fantasy.Chew, Katherine Liang (2002). ''Tales of the Teahouse Retold: Investiture of the Gods''. Page XI. . The story is set in the era of the decline of the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty a ...

(1600–1046 BC) and the rise of the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

(1046–256 BC). It intertwines numerous elements of

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of ...

, including deities, immortals and spirits. The authorship is attributed to Xu Zhonglin.

Plot

The novel is a romanticised retelling of the overthrow of

King Zhou King Zhou (; ) was the pejorative posthumous name given to Di Xin of Shang () or King Shou of Shang (), the last king of the Shang dynasty of ancient China. He is also called Zhou Xin (). In Chinese, his name Zhòu ( 紂) also refers to a horse cr ...

, the last ruler of the

, by Ji Fa, who would establish the

in its place. The story integrates oral and written tales of many Chinese mythological figures who are involved in the struggle as well. These figures include human heroes, immortals, and various spirits (usually represented in avatar form, such as

vixen Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

s and

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

s, and occasionally as inanimate objects such as a

pipa The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ran ...

). Bewitched by his concubine Daji, who is actually a vixen spirit disguised as a beautiful woman, King Zhou of Shang oppresses his people and persecutes those who oppose him, including those who dare to speak up to him. Ji Fa (King Wu of Zhou), assisted by his strategist

Jiang Ziya Jiang Ziya ( century BC – century BC), also known by several other names, was a Chinese noble who helped kings Wen and Wu of Zhou overthrow the Shang in ancient China. Following their victory at Muye, he continued to ser ...

, rallies an army to overthrow the tyrant and restore peace and order. Throughout the story, battles are waged between the kingdoms of Shang and Zhou, with both sides calling upon various supernatural beings – deities, immortals, demons, spirits, and humans with magical abilities – to aid them in the war.

Yuanshi Tianzun Yuanshi Tianzun (), the ''Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning'' or the ''Primeval Lord of Heaven'', is one of the highest deities of Taoism. He is one of the Three Pure Ones () and is also known as the ''Jade Pure One'' (). He resides ...

("Primeval Lord of Heaven") bestows upon Jiang Ziya the ''Fengshen Bang'', a list that empowers him to invest the gods of Heaven. The heroes of Zhou and some of their fallen enemies from Shang are eventually endowed with heavenly ranking and essentially elevated as gods, hence the title of the novel.

Some anecdotes

The novel features many stories in which various supernatural beings enter the human realm and change the fates of mortals and the course of history with their magical powers. The following are some of the better-known of its component anecdotes.

Nüwa and King Zhou

King Zhou visits the temple of the ancient Chinese goddess

Nüwa Nüwa, also read Nügua, is the mother goddess of Chinese mythology. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven. As creator of mankind, she molded humans individually by hand with yellow clay. In the Huaina ...

to offer incense and pray. As he was doing so, there came a gust of wind which blew up the cover on Nüwa’s statue. He notices that the statue of the goddess is very attractive. The lewd king spouts blasphemy before the statue, "It'd be good if I could marry Her". He writes poems on the walls to express his lust for the goddess. He has offended Nüwa unknowingly and Nüwa foresees that King Zhou is destined to be the last ruler of the Shang dynasty. She sends the thousand year old vixen spirit, nine-headed pheasant spirit and jade pipa spirit to torture King Zhou, because the goddess was very angry when she saw that King Zhou could enjoy himself for 28 years. The king becomes obsessed with the spirits, who disguise themselves as beautiful women, and starts to neglect state affairs and rule with cruelty. The people suffer under his tyranny and eventually join Ji Fa to rise up and overthrow him.

Daji and Bo Yikao

King Zhou places Ji Chang, the Western Duke, under house arrest in Youli () for almost seven years. Ji Chang's eldest son

Bo Yikao Bo Yikao was the eldest son of King Wen of Zhou and the elder brother of King Wu who was the founder of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. As a member of the Zhou royal house, his family name was Ji (姬). "Bo" refers to his status as the old ...

comes to

Zhaoge Zhaoge () was the last of a series of cities that served as capital of the Shang dynasty, and later capital of State of Wey (衛國). It is located in current Qi County, Hebi, Henan about 50 km south of Anyang. See also *Yinxu Yinxu (modern ; ...

(present-day

Hebi Hebi ( ; postal: Hopi) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, China. Situated in mountainous terrain at the edge of the Shanxi plateau, Hebi is about south of Anyang, northeast of Xinxiang and north of Kaifeng. As of the 202 ...

, Henan) to plead with King Zhou to release his father. Daji falls in love with Bo Yikao and requests the king to permit Bo Yikao to teach her how to play the

guqin The ''guqin'' (; ) is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favoured by scholars and Scholar-bureaucrats, literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinemen ...

. Daji attempts to seduce Bo Yikao but he rejects and ridicules her. The irate Daji complains to King Zhou that Bo Yikao molested her and insulted the king through his music. The king is furious and he has Bo Yikao executed, minced into pieces and made into meat pies, and served to his father. Ji Chang knows divination and has already foreseen his son's fate. He suppresses his sorrow and consumes the meat cakes. After that incident, King Zhou lowers his guard against Ji Chang and allows the latter to return home. Ji Chang builds up his forces and plans to avenge his son.

Ji Chang and Jiang Ziya

is an apprentice of master of the

Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun Mountains ( zh, s=昆仑山, t=崑崙山, p=Kūnlún Shān, ; ug, كۇئېنلۇن تاغ تىزمىسى / قۇرۇم تاغ تىزمىسى ) constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the bro ...

. He leaves his master at the age of 72. He only uses a straight fishhook without bait, three feet above the water, for angling. His neighbours are puzzled by his odd method of fishing. They ask him out of curiosity. Jiang replies, "What I'm angling is not a single fish, but the king and the great many vassals. Only those who really wish to go on the hook will be fished by me." Jiang Ziya means that he is waiting for a wise ruler who recognises his talent and needs him. Some people tell Ji Chang about Jiang and Ji Chang becomes interested in him. One day, Ji Chang pays a visit to Jiang Ziya. Jiang demands that the duke helps him pull his cart. Ji Chang does so and stops pulling after he has moved 800 steps forwards. Jiang Ziya tells the duke that his future kingdom (the

) will exist for 800 years. Ji Chang wishes to pull the cart for a few more steps but he is too exhausted to move forward. Jiang Ziya becomes the chancellor of Zhou afterwards and assists Ji Chang in building his kingdom.

Bi Gan loses his heart

From the prophecy revealed by the oracle bones, Jiang Ziya predicts that King Zhou's loyal and benevolent courtier, Bi Gan, will die soon. He gives a charm to Bi Gan. One night, during a banquet hosted by King Zhou, several "immortals" appear and the king is delighted to see them. The "immortals" are actually Daji's fellow fox spirits in disguise, and Bi Gan, who is also present at the banquet, senses something amiss. Bi Gan's suspicions are confirmed when the fox spirits reveal their tails unknowingly after getting drunk. Bi Gan gathers a group of soldiers and they track the fox spirits back to their den and kill all of them. Bi Gan uses the foxes' hides to make a cloak and presents it to King Zhou. Daji is horrified and saddened when she sees the cloak, and she secretly plots vengeance on Bi Gan. Not long later, Daji tells King Zhou that she has a heart attack and only a "delicate seven-aperture heart" () can relieve her agony. No one in the palace has that type of heart except Bi Gan, who is revered as a saint. Bi Gan swallows the charm given by Jiang Ziya, grabs his heart, pulls it out of his body, and presents it to King Zhou. Bi Gan does not die immediately nor sheds a single drop of blood. Instead, he walks out of the palace and follows Jiang Ziya's instructions to go straight home without looking back. When he is only a few steps away from home, a female huckster yells from behind, "Hey! Cheap cabbages without stems (hearts)!" (The "heart" rhetorically refers to the stem of the plant). Bi Gan turns around, then asks the huckster in curiosity, "How can there be cabbages without stems?" The woman puts on an evil grin and replies, "You're right, sir. Cabbages cannot live without stems just as men cannot live without hearts." Bi Gan shouts, collapses, and dies. The huckster is actually the jade pipa spirit in disguise.

The Foursome of Nine Dragon Island

The Foursome of Nine Dragon Island () are a set of four

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

s . These four individuals are Wang Mo, Yang Sen, Gao Youqian, and Li Xingba; each of them are renowned as superior men. These four superior men would later be personally recruited by Grand Old Master Wen Zhong in an attempt to put an end to the threat of King Wu. File:FengShen.jpg, Illustrations of ''Fengshen Yanyi''. Left: Bi Gan and Wen Zhong; Right:

King Zhou of Shang King Zhou (; ) was the pejorative posthumous name given to Di Xin of Shang () or King Shou of Shang (), the last king of the Shang dynasty of ancient China. He is also called Zhou Xin (). In Chinese, his name Zhòu ( 紂) also refers to a horse c ...

and Daji File:FengShen2.jpg, Illustrations of ''Fengshen Yanyi''. Left: Yang Jian and

Nezha Nezha ( 哪吒) is a protection deity in Chinese folk religion. His official Taoist name is "Marshal of the Central Altar" (). He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" () after he became a deity. Origins According to Meir Shahar, Nez ...

; Right: Su Hu and Huang Feihu

Creations of Daji

This is a list of the variety of projects created by Daji throughout the novel '' Fengshen Yanyi'' by Lu Xixing and Xu Zhonglin.

The Bronze Toaster

The Bronze Toaster, intended as a torture and execution device, was first suggested by Daji. It is a bronze cylindrical device that is over twenty-feet tall and eight-feet wide. It has two wheels on each side so it can be moved around. There are three layers of charcoal over three layers of burning fire inside the device. The victims were stripped naked and tied before being placed into the pit. The pit was used to execute Grand Counselor Mei Bo. Big fans were used to intensify the fire during the execution of Mei Bo. The Bronze Toaster was only mentioned in Chapter 6.

The Snake Pit

The

Snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more ...

Pit, another

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts ...

device, was first introduced in Chapter 17. The 25-feet wide snake pit was dug beneath the Star-Picking Belvedere. Venomous

spiders Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species di ...

and exceedingly venomous snakes were put into the pit. Once this pit was finally constructed, seventy-two unfortunate maidens, with their hair shaved and clothes stripped, were tied and thrown into the pit to feed the snakes. This torturing device was mentioned multiple times after Chapter 17.

The Wine Pool and Meat Forest

The Wine Pool and Meat Forest were introduced in Chapter 17. The Wine Pool was located on the left side of the Snake Pit, while the Meat Forest was on the right, thus forming a small park before the Star-Picking Belvedere. Fifty maidens and fifty eunuchs were chosen and tied together to form 50 pairs. Each individual pair would then get thrown into the pool and would be asked to drink the pool's wine while performing swimming tricks. Once each pair is readily drunk, they would be put into the Meat Forest to enjoy an abundance of cooked duck, roasted pig, etc. By sunset a few pairs would then be beaten to a bloody pulp and secretly fed to Daji to ease her need for human flesh. This method of torture, created by Daji, was first mentioned in Chapter 17, as well as multiple times afterward.

The Deer Gallery

The Deer Gallery is also mentioned in Chapter 17. Daji had chosen this Deer Gallery as an ensured way to put an end to

, who had been entrusted to complete the impossible mission of creating the Deer Gallery itself. This large tower-like structure was forty-nine feet in height (double the size of the Star-Picking Belvedere), fully equipped with columns of jade, floors of marble, roofs and ceilings of legendary jewels, and railings of great pearls and sea corals.

Criticism

Although the novel is now seen as one of the towering works of Chinese literature, it was not always appreciated as such. In comparing the work to other Chinese novels of the past,

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. ...

remarked in his 1924 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 ...

'' that ''Fengshen Yanyi'' "lacks the realism of ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is ...

'' and the imaginative brilliance of ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popul ...

''."

Translations

* * This is an abridged translation containing only the first 46 chapters out of 100. The book was also translated to Dutch as ''Feng Shen: De Verheffing tot Goden'' by

Nio Joe Lan Nio Joe Lan (; also known by the Indonesianised name Junus Nur Arif; 29 December 1904 – 13 February 1973) was a Chinese-Indonesian writer, journalist, and history teacher. Biography Nio was born on 29 December 1904 in Batavia, Dutch East ...

(

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

, 1940).

Adaptations

The novel has a significant impact on Chinese and

Japanese popular culture Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be ...

. It has been adapted in various forms, including television series,

manhua () are Chinese-language comics produced in China and Taiwan. Whilst Chinese comics and narrated illustrations have existed in China in some shape or form throughout its imperial history, the term first appeared in 1904 in a comic titled ''Cu ...

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

, and video games. Some of the more notable adaptations are listed below: * Unabridged 1970 Pingshu radio program by Yuan Kuocheng, consisting of the entire ''Fēngshén Yǎnyì'' in 200 episodes. * ''The Story of Chinese Gods'', a 1976 hand-drawn animated film. * ''God's Parade'', a 1981 TVB TV series which has a song performed by

Adam Cheng Adam Cheng Siu-chow (born 24 February 1947) is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer. Career Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB ''Wuxia'' drama series based on the works ...

. * ''The Founding of the Zhou Dynasty'', the first story arc of the Hong Kong

series '' Legend of Emperors'' by

Wong Yuk-long Wong Jan-lung (born 27 March 1950), better known by his pseudonym Wong Yuk-long or Tony Wong, is a Hong Kong manhua artist, publisher and actor, who wrote and created ''Little Rascals'' (later re-titled ''Oriental Heroes'') and '' Weapons of the ...

. * ''

Hoshin Engi , also known as ''Soul Hunter'', is a Japanese manga series by Ryu Fujisaki. ''Hoshin Engi'' is inspired by the Chinese literary classic '' Investiture of the Gods'', a '' shenmo'' novel. The story involves the Chinese mythology and hi ...

'', a Japanese manga and anime series based on the novel. * '' Gods of Honour'', a 2001 Hong Kong television series produced by TVB as attributed to ''God's Parade''. * , a 2002 video game by

Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on p ...

loosely based on the book. * ''

The Legend and the Hero ''The Legend and the Hero'' is a 2007 Chinese television series adapted from the 16th-century novel ''Fengshen Yanyi'' (also known as ''Investiture of the Gods'' or ''Creation of the Gods'') written by Xu Zhonglin and Lu Xixing. The first season s ...

'', a 2007 Chinese television series. It was followed by a 2009 sequel, ''

The Legend and the Hero 2 ''The Legend and the Hero 2'' is a Chinese television series adapted from the novel '' Fengshen Yanyi'' (also known as ''Investiture of the Gods'' or ''Creation of the Gods'') written by Xu Zhonglin and Lu Xixing. The series was first broadcast ...

''. * '' Warriors Orochi'', a video game series produced by

. It features three characters from the novel – Daji (called Da Ji in the game),

, and

(called Taigong Wang in the game) – as playable characters. *''

The Investiture of the Gods (2014 TV series) ''The Investiture of the Gods'' is a Chinese shenmo television series directed by Wang Weiting and Yang Jianwu. The television series are based on the classical 16th-century novel '' Fengshen Yanyi'' (also known as ''Investiture of the Gods'' or ...

'', a 2014 Chinese live action series produced by Shandong Television and starring

Sammul Chan Sammul Chan Kin-fung (born 4 May 1978) is from Hong Kong. He is an actor, singer, and presenter. Career Chan debuted in 1999 as a DJ for Metro Broadcast Corporation Limited under his birth name, although most of the time he was simply referred ...

and

Viann Zhang Zhang Xinyu (, born 28 March 1987), also known as Viann Zhang, is a Chinese actress, singer and model. Biography Early life Zhang was born and raised in Kunshan, Jiangsu. She graduated from Wuxi institute of Commerce. Acting career Zhang began ...

. * '' League of Gods'', a 2016 3D Chinese movie produced by

China Star Entertainment Group China Star Entertainment Limited () is a Hong Kong film production company and film distributor. It was established in 1992 by film producer Charles Heung, and is a distributor and film producer of films made mostly in Cantonese. Company China St ...

, starring Jacky Heung as the main character Lei Zhenzi,

Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and retired Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singaporean citizen. After three years ...

Tony Leung Ka-fai Tony Leung Ka-fai (; born 1 February 1958) is a Hong Kong actor who is a four-time winner of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. As he is often confused with actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tony Leung Ka-fai is known as "Big Tony," while Tony Le ...

, Louis Koo as

Mahamayuri Mahamayuri ( sa, महामायूरी ("great peacock"), ''Kǒngquè Míngwáng'', vi, Khổng Tước Minh Vương, ja, 孔雀明王, ''Kujaku Myōō'', ko, 공작명왕 ''Gongjak Myeongwang''), or Mahāmāyūrī Vidyārājñī is a b ...

Huang Xiaoming Huang Xiaoming or Mark Huang (, born 13 November 1977) is a Chinese actor, singer, and model. He graduated from the Performance Institute of the Beijing Film Academy in 2000. Huang first rose to prominence in 2001 for playing Emperor Wu of Han in ...

Erlang Shen Erlang Shen () or Erlang, also known as the Lord of Sichuan (), is a Chinese god with a third truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead. Erlang Shen may be a deified version of several semi-mythical folk heroes who helped regulate China ...

Angelababy Angela Yeung Wing (; born 28 February 1989), better known by her stage name Angelababy, is a Hong Kong model, actress and singer. In 2013, she was chosen by '' Southern Metropolis Daily'' as one of the New Four Dan Actresses. In 2016, she won ...

as the mermaid,

Fan Bingbing Fan Bingbing (, born 16 September 1981) is a Chinese actress. From 2013 to 2017, she was included as the highest-paid celebrity in the ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list after ranking in the top 10 every year since 2006. She appeared on ''Time ...

as Daji, and Wen Zhang as

. * ''Chronicles of the God's Order'', an ongoing Hong Kong manhua. * '' Ne Zha'', a 2019 Chinese 3D animation film. * ''

Investiture of the Gods (2019 TV series) ''Investiture of the Gods'' () is a 2019 Chinese shenmo television series loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese gods and demons fiction '' Investiture of the Gods'' by Xu Zhonglin and Lu Xixing. The series is directed by Korean director Shin ...

'', a 2019 Chinese live action series produced by Mango Studio and starring Wang Likun, Luo Jin, Zhang Bo, Yu Hewei,

Deng Lun Deng Lun () also known as Allen Deng, is a Chinese film and television actor, born on October 21, 1992, in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. He graduated from the Performance Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy. He made his acting debut in t ...

, and

Collin Chou Collin Chou (born 11 August 1967), sometimes credited as Ngai Sing, is a Taiwanese actor and martial artist. Personal life Chou attended Pierce Community College in Los Angeles, United States. In addition to his native Mandarin, he also spea ...

. * ''

,'' a 2020 Chinese 3D animation film. * '' New Gods: Nezha Reborn'', a 2021 Chinese 3D animation film.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

; General * .

External links

Creation of the Gods: A Somewhat Less Than Critical Commentary
{{Fengshen Yanyi Shenmo novels Taoist texts 16th-century Chinese novels Novels set in the Shang dynasty Chinese novels adapted into films Chinese novels adapted into television series Ming dynasty novels Novels set in the Zhou dynasty Chinese classic novels Epic novels Chinese fantasy novels Chinese mythology Novels set in the 11th century BC Novels set in Henan