One Smile, One Captivated Heart

I'd originally planned to start writing this novel later, since I don't have much time or energy to spare at the moment. But inspiration just kept pouring out of me, and I was afraid it would vanish as quickly as it came. So I had to start writing and capture the feeling while I could.

This is my first serious attempt at writing a full-length novel, and it's a wuxia novel. In my essay “On Leaves and Wuxia,” from my collection Leaves, I mentioned that I wanted to innovate within the wuxia genre and do my part for a form of fiction I love. In fact, innovation simply means connecting with current social phenomena and trends of thought, and using fiction to explore social issues. In terms of writing techniques, over the past few years both public opinion and readers have become increasingly open-minded. All kinds of realist and modernist approaches have sprung up and flourished. Whether it's Yu Hua's distinctive approach of dissecting human nature through bloodshed and violence, or Murong Xuecun's progression from realism in Chengdu, Please Forget Me Tonight to a shift toward modernism in Eden Cherries, both have received high praise. Even Han Han's chibi-style wuxia novel Chang'an in Chaos and Lin Changzhi's Chibi Chinese Textbooks have demonstrated a certain vitality, despite the mixed reactions to such works from all corners of society. So I think this is the right time to try to renew the wuxia novel.