But more importantly, I wrote this story with a deep nostalgia for the halcyon days of my childhood. Much of it is driven by my own experience and inner struggle with traditional beliefs in Chinese culture and Confucian tenets such as filial piety, honour, sacrificing for the greater good versus having a healthy sense of individualism. So, when someone asks me what inspired my book, my answer would be that Jade Fire Gold is a story born from the confluence of cultural and diaspora experiences. There is an underlying longing for the mythical motherland that is threaded into wuxia and a nostalgia for what ifs. This genre is centuries old, and despite (or perhaps because of) its popularity with the common folk, it has been banned time and again by the government in the history of China up until the 20th century, resulting in a proliferation of wuxia stories written by the Chinese diaspora. Political tensions, rebellion, and revolution are often found in science fiction and fantasy, and it is no different for wuxia stories. The names of authors like Jin Yong and Gu Long appeared in my vocabulary before Tolkien. After all, before I had even entered the Shire and met my first hobbit, I was already familiar with stories like Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, and Demigods and Semi-Devils, and the concept of jianghu*. And of course, when I think of fantasy, the concept of duality or yin and yang isn’t far behind: the fight between light and darkness is one about balance, and the divine cousins of fate and destiny wrestle for dominance.Ī post shared by Hodderscape hindsight, it is unsurprising that all these wuxia and xianxia (immortal heroes) tropes, storylines, and elements are present in Jade Fire Gold. And often, the smothering love between parent and child are displayed in the warring desires of duty and freedom within the protagonists. Family, both blood and found, also plays a role in the fantasy stories I create. And their romantic tension is conveyed in glances and mere grazing of a fingertip (or the popular ‘wrist grab’). The characters in my head include heroes whose core personalities are anchored by the desire to avenge their slain families because filial piety and honour go hand in hand, and spunky heroines who are quick with the dagger and quicker with their words. I think of gilded imperial palaces full of mysterious and secrets, and complex political intrigue amongst kingdoms and factions. Instead, my imagination conjures up scenes of duelling swordsmen atop lush bamboo forests and midnight alliances formed on darkened hip-and-gable rooftops with the waning moon in the background, and of long sleeves fluttering with every gesture.
A post shared by June CL Tan the truth is, when I think of fantasy, what comes immediately to my mind isn’t elves or orcs or even fae.
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