It's very often that people who are of non-Chinese origin or that outside of the Chinese countries may confuse Wuxia and Xianxia. I could remember a conversation I had with some Filipino friends who called all of them "Wuxia". I also kept calling every martial arts series Wuxia. What wasn't too surprising is that Xianxia is often confused as Wuxia. It's very easy to confuse the two especially if one's knowledge about Chinese culture is rather casual. For me, I was too involved with too much American superiority mentality and only started to appreciate my Chinese roots when Meteor Garden (2001) aired in the Philippines.
What does Wuxia (武俠) actually mean?
For some Filipinos, their first exposure to Wuxia may have been in The Amazing Twins. In my case (or for others), it was with the Once Upon a Time in China film franchise or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. So what does Wuxia mean? The Chinese words for Wuxia are martial (wu) and xia (heroes). That means it's martial heroes. It's all about the protagonists who gain some unusual ability such as defying gravity for short periods of time. The ability of flight is usually limited. I remembered my late paternal grandmother would borrow Wuxia tapes which I didn't take interest in due to a lack of subtitles and I was too obsessed with the USA back then.
The fantasy elements (such as flight and magic) are there but these martial heroes are mortals. There's not much reference to gods and goddesses such as the Jade Emperor or other gods of the Chinese pantheon. ROCH (2006) didn't feature gods and goddesses interacting with the cast. Instead, the heroes were all mortals and were subjected to death. They may be praying to various gods and goddesses but the focus is not on their respective deities but the heroes. It's usually shrouded in realism mixed with some crazy martial arts that wouldn't fit into real fight science. So don't even try to fly like Hercule tried to do so in Dragon Ball Z or risk hurting yourself.
Just a bit of a note. Don't confuse Wuxia with regular kung fu films. You may be wondering why Mulan (2009) didn't have Vicki Zhao flying and defying gravity? It's because Mulan (2009) is a martial arts film and not Wuxia. The Three Kingdoms series such as The Lost Bladesman which are either martial arts films or Chinese war movies. Any Chinese movie (even set in ancient times) that doesn't utilize the power of impossible-to-do martial arts isn't Wuxia. Disney tried to incorporate Wuxia into their live Mulan remake and just flunked. Meanwhile, I still wish Mulan (2009) was in the Wuxia category as to tell us Mulan was just an ever-evolving folktale.
So, what does Xianxia (仙侠) actually mean?
The word xian means "immortal" though it can alternatively mean saint. Where does the line cross between wuxia and xianxia? Xianxia actually means "Immortal Hero". Where's the line drawn? Xianxia is focused on Chinese mythologies. The stories are more heavily involved in Daoist magic, demons (youkai), ghosts,
You may have heard of the story of the Legend of the Eight Immortals. The Eight Immortals are also called Ba Xian Guo Hai (八仙過海;) which literally means Eight Immortals Across the Sea. The xian in the title refers to them as the eight immortals or eight saints across the sea. From the eight, you may notice only one of them has a title called He Xiangu -- the only female of the group. He Xiangu would literally mean Immortal Aunt He or Immortal Women He. Any story based on the Eight Immortals is a Xianxia since it focuses on their exploits to restore balance in the Universe. The 1998 version was focused on the Eight Immortals battling a mysterious cult that worshiped a fallen Elder God known as Tongtian Jiaozhu or the Heavenly Grandmaster (that's Shinnok in Mortal Kombat) and his treacherous right hand, Pan Golin (Quan Chi). The series came a year after Mortal Kombat 4 was released.
So, where does A Chinese Ghost Story fit in? Unlike The Return of Condor Heroes -- this is more of Xianxia than Wuxia. It's because the whole story was so heavily drenched in the supernatural as hinted by the title. I guess a lot of people unfamiliar (like myself) mistakenly called it Wuxia. Some Filipino fans - they simply called A Chinese Ghost Story as part of the Kung Fu genre. The story of A Chinese Ghost Story is heavily focused on Daoist magic like the Eight Immortals. So calling any adaptation of Journey to the West as Wuxia than Xianxia would be wrong. True, Sun Wukong does crazy martial arts but he's a supernatural being. Any Chinese martial arts movie or series that focuses on the supernatural is basically a Xianxia, not a Wuxia. So, I may have mistakenly called a lot of Xianxia as Wuxia in the process and so did a lot of others.
Though, it can be easily confused for Xianxuan too. Xianxuan means "Mysterious Fantasy" which is probably where the Anime Fushigi Yuugi got its title. The best way to differentiate Xianxuan from Xianxia could be that the former doesn't incorporate the powers of Dao.
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