The “going global” of Chinese Fantasy Fiction through the Internet:Using I Shall Seal the Heavens on Wuxiaworld.com as an Example

Jiang Manxian, and Lu Qiaodan

Zhejiang University

Abstract: In the 21st century, Chinese online fantasy fiction is gaining popularity overseas.Lai Jingping, a Chinese-American widely known online as RWX, inspired by the popularity of his translation of a Chinese fantasy fiction, Coiling Dragon, established a website called Wuxiaworld.com to disseminate Chinese fantasy culture.Now it has become the largest website in the world to translate these kinds of works.This paper, in order to explore the advantages of Wuxiaworld.com, examines the translation landscape and its trends as presented on this website, and further analyzes the translation of fiction and interactive platforms using I Shall Seal the Heavens, one of the stories on the website, as an example.Our study,through text analysis and data collection, found that Wuxiaworld.com is good at hyperlink-aided translations, and has translation awareness based on the analysis of covers, synopses and glossaries; foreignization is the main translation strategy when it comes to the fantasy terms in I Shall Seal the Heavens, while annotation in text as well as hyperlinks in the forms of text, pictures and music are adopted for cultural compensation; interactive platforms, such as comments, forums and announcements, are conducive to improving translation quality and stimulating readers’ enthusiasm for these translations and Chinese culture.

Keywords: translation of Chinese fantasy fiction, online fiction, Wuxiaworld.com,dissemination, “going global” of Chinese culture

Introduction

Chinese online fantasy fiction is a new genre developed from martial arts novels, featuring the theme of seeking eternal life and powerful strengths.This genre has blossomed since the beginning of the 21st century when the internet was emerging and developing rapidly in China.Online literature, especially Chinese online fantasy literature, has become a significant literal phenomenon after more than ten years of development and its translations seem to be more popular than publications of classics and traditional martial arts novels in the overseas market.Strong evidence is the flourishing development of a series of foreign websites for translating Chinese online fantasy fiction such as Wuxiaworld.com, Gravity Tales.com, Volare FictionT.com, and Fiction UpdatesT.com.Of these websites, Wuxiaworld.com, established on December 22, 2014 by RWX while working in the US Embassy in Toronto, Canada, is the earliest and largest.RWX became popular overseas for his translation of Coiling Dragon on the SPCNET.TV forum in 2014.According to Amazon web analytics services, Wuxiaworld.com is ranked 1,646 globally, with 2,026,000 average daily page visits between December 2019 and February 2020.

Researchers at home and abroad have analyzed the popularity of Chinese online fantasy fiction.For example, Huang (2011) proposed that traditional Chinese Taoist and Confucian thoughts, as well as interactions between writers and readers contributed to the popularity of Qidian.com, a fantasy literature website in China.A paper by Wang (2017) demonstrated the reasons behind the transnational consumption of fantasy fiction (for example the stories on Wuxiaworld.com) among English readers from various perspectives.She mentions that the self-cultivation system within the fantasy fiction combining a game reward system and Taoism creates intense reading pressure,enabling them to enjoy the fiction without background knowledge.Bok (2015) published several papers under the theme of using Chinese fantasy fiction to help vocabulary acquisition for nonnative learners of Mandarin based on empirical studies.Researchers also explored the translations of fantasy fiction.For example, Sabermahani and Ghazizade (2017) analyzed how to deal with culture-specific items in translation of children’s fantasy fiction, but they only focused on Western novels.Our paper, however, analyzes the popularity of Wuxiaworld.com and Chinese fantasy fiction in the English-speaking world through text and data analysis from the perspective of translation.The overall translation landscape on the home page, the translations of fiction, and the interactive platforms are our principal subjects as we attempt to ascertain the advantage of Wuxiaworld.com and how it can shed light on the translations of Chinese fiction and the dissemination of Chinese culture.

Translation Landscape of Wuxiaworld.com

According to Oxford Dictionary, “l(fā)andscape” means “everything you can see when you look across a large area of land, especially in the country,” and “a painting of a view of the countryside; thisstyle of painting.” “Linguistic landscape,” a sociolinguistic concept, is often used when scholars study how languages are visually used in societies.It is the “visibility and salience of languages on public and commercial signs in a given territory or region” (Landry & Bourhis, 1997:23).Thereby, based on the existing concepts of “l(fā)andscape” and “l(fā)inguistic landscape,” we propose “translation landscape”meaning the whole translation picture of Wuxiaworld.com, or how translation is visually used on this website.

Three translation phenomena are found on the home page of Wuxiaworld.com: hyperlinks with additional text and picture information; book cover translations; translations of synopses and glossaries.

Hyperlinks with Additional Information

Hyperlinks with Texts

On the home page of Wuxiaworld.com, there is a “Resources” part which includes 12 sections:a brief introduction to Wuxiaworld.com and its translators, contact information, General FAQ,Basic Dao Primer, Forums, Deathblade’s Learning Chinese FAQ, General Glossary of Terms,Chinese Idiom Glossary, Wuxia-Xianxia Terms of Address, “Cores” in Chinese Cultivation Novels, Terms of Service, and Author Biographies.The “Resources” part seems like an encyclopedia of Wuxiaworld.com which helps readers to quickly understand the website and Chinese online fantasy fiction.

On the home page, hyperlinks are mostly provided in the parts of “General Glossary of Terms”and “Chinese Idiom Glossary.” Over 150 hyperlinks can be found in the “General Glossary of Terms.”The underlined phrases and sentences indicate that hyperlinks are inserted here.

Example 1:

The example above is a partial list of weapons which may be unfamiliar to new readers and is from a table in the “General Glossary of Terms” of Wuxiaworld.com.These weapons, with Chinese characteristics, make frequent appearances in martial arts novels and fantasy fiction, which, however,are hard to understand for overseas readers.Therefore, every weapon in the table provides a hyperlink to Wikipedia or other similar websites providing related information.These written explanations with details help readers gain a deeper understanding of what the weapon is.Usually a picture is attached to give them a more direct impression.

Figure 1. A hyperlink to Wikipedia for “Ruyi”

Hyperlinks with Pictures

Another form of hyperlinks provides picture information only.Sometimes, texts have their limitations and fail to interpret things clearly.Readers are not always patient.Too much additional information turns them off.Hyperlinks with pictures present an effective means for rapid cultural compensation of the translations.

Example 2:

Pavilion (閣 gé) (亭 tíng) - a type of building.The pavilions in these fiction probably look more like this, rather than this.(from “General Glossary of Terms”)

This explanation of “pavilion” is simple.In this example, hyperlinks with pictures replace words.The first“this” refers to pavilions that look like a great hall, where people usually conduct activities or competitions in the Chinese fantasy fictions.The second “this” refers to pavilions that are common in gardens with great aesthetic value.If readers search for “pavilion” on Wikipedia.com, they are likely to find this kind of answer: “a garden pavilion in traditional Chinese architecture.” In the world of Chinese fantasy fiction, a picture is better than one thousand words.

These hyperlinks with text and picture information can be seen everywhere on the home page, not just in the “General Glossary of Terms.” They actually provide prior knowledge with “hyperlink-aided translation” and “picture-aided translation” for readers.A distinctive feature which is quite different from traditional book translations is that Wuxiaworld.com takes full advantage of the internet and provide readers with up-to-date translations.

Figure 2. Hyperlinks of two “this”

Figure 3. The Chinese cover and the English cover of I Shall Seal the Heavens

Book Cover Translation

The home page of Wuxiaworld.com,also provides a list of all their books,including their covers and synopses.The translation of an online book is more than that of its content.Its cover and synopsis should be included.A publication may also have a preface, a postscript,and acknowledgments.Though online books are generally not as strict as paper publications, covers and synopses are still necessary and they can help readers get a fast understanding of the contents of books at the very beginning.Every novel on Wuxiaworld.com has its own cover, and some covers have been translated.

The first picture above is the original Chinese cover of I Shall Seal the Heavens, which contains the image of a cartoon character, the name of the fiction, the author’s name and the sign of its original literature website.The second picture is the cover of its translation.The basic pattern of the cover is preserved while its name and author have been translated into English.Other details are omitted.Also, the English version adds the name of the translator.Thirteen other books have their own translated covers, such as Martial God Asura, Coiling Dragon, 7 killers, A Will Eternal and Sage Monarch, showing the translation awareness of the translators of Wuxiaworld.com.

Synopses and Glossaries

In addition to covers, synopses are also an important focus.A direct way is to translate the original Chinese text word by word.However, most translators on Wuxiaworld.com do something different.They put their own synopses under the translation of the original, which serves as a “paraphrase” of the fiction based on the translators’ understanding.Moreover, a few translators even prepare three versions of the synopses for readers.A possible reason why translators designed different versions may be that the original synopses do not suit the taste of English readers.

Example 3:

The Chinese synopsis of I Shall Seal the Heavens:

我若要有

天不可無

我若要無

天不許有！

這是一個起始于第八山與第九山之間的故事

一個“我命如妖欲封天”的世界！

The English synopsis of I Shall Seal the Heavens:

Details

If I want something, the heavens better have it.If I don’t want something, the heavens better not have it! This is a story which originates between the Eighth and Ninth Mountains,a world in which “My fate is to seal the heavens like a demon!”

If you’re brand new toI Shall Seal the Heavensand are wondering what it’s about, here’s an introduction by the translator himself!

Click here to visit the ISSTH art gallery!

Synopsis

I Shall Seal the Heavensis the story of a young scholar, Meng Hao, who gets forcibly recruited into a sect of immortal cultivators.In the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak, and the law of the jungle prevails.Meng Hao must adapt to survive.Filled with both comedy and drama,I Shall Seal the Heavensremains one of the most beloved fantasy stories ever translated.What does it mean to “Seal the Heavens?” This is a secret that you will have to uncover along with Meng Hao!

Based on this example we see that “Details” is actually a translation of the Chinese synopsis.However, the Chinese synopsis seems too simple to be understood.Little information is conveyed in this short introduction and readers cannot tell the main character as well as the theme of the book.In the second part, Deathblade, the translator, created a new synopsis where he illustrated the identity of the main character, the rule of “the cultivation world” and an evaluation of this fiction which provides more specific information for English readers to use to judge whether they want to take a more specific look at the contents.It is also noteworthy that two sentences are underlined in the “Details.”The first one is linked to a YouTube video in which the translator provided a “video synopsis”explaining what I Shall Seal the Heavens is.The second one is cartoon images of the main characters which can be regarded as a “picture synopsis” to some extent.

Double synopses can also be seen in Wu Dong Qian Kun, Emperor’s Domination, Heavenly Jewel Change, The Godsfall Chronicles, Spirit Vessel and Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.Archfiend even provides three synopses: the translator’s general synopsis, the translator’s technical synopsis and the author’s synopsis.The general synopsis is a brief introduction, the technical one is more like appreciative remarks about the novel, and the author’s synopsis is a translation of the original Chinese.Moreover,some synopses of novels such as Talisman Emperor, Skyfire Avenue, Martial God Asura, and City of Sin,even provide the information about the authors and Chinese book names.

Under the synopses are sometimes glossaries compiled by the translators.For example, Lord of All Realms and A Will Eternal show glossaries under their own synopses.These glossaries usuallyinclude a list of main characters with brief introductions as well as lists of cultivation levels, weapons,techniques, and medicine which help readers get a clear and overall understanding of the main terms in the fiction.

Covers, synopses, and glossaries all show that many translators of Wuxiaworld.com present some personal subjectivity in their translations.

Translation of Chinese Fantasy Fiction on Wuxiaworld.com: A Case Study of I Shall Seal the Heavens

Introduction to the Fiction and Its Translator

I Shall Seal the Heavens is the third classical fantasy fiction written by Ergen, a popular online fantasy fiction writer in China, with more than 4,000,000 words and over 1,600 chapters.It has achieved great success on the Chinese website.Its translation has also attracted a great number of overseas readers.On the Wuxiaworld.com forum, this fiction has 357 discussions with over 10,800 comments.According to RWX, the founder of Wuxiaworld.com, the translated version of I Shall Seal the Heavens has been completed and is being adapted for sale as an e-book (Li & Yang, 2018).Its translator, Deathblade, born and raised in California, has translated five fictions on Wuxiaworld.com and has been working on a new fiction, Sage Monarch.Deathblade is one of the earliest translators on Wuxiaworld.com and specializes in translating Chinese online fantasy fiction.In the announcement of a new book Sage Monarch, RWX acknowledged his abilities, “Deathblade needs no introduction for regular Wuxiaworld.com readers, and everyone knows the speed and quality you’ll get with him.”Deathblade is indeed a reliable and experienced translator.

Characteristics and Translation Difficulties of Chinese Fantasy Fiction

Before we discuss our analysis, it is necessary to introduce some of the difficulties translators may encounter in this genre.I Shall Seal the Heavens is a Xianxia fiction, a major category of Chinese fantasy fiction.Xianxia literally means “immortal heroes.” It inherits a chivalrous spirit from Wuxia novels but adds characters like immortals and ghosts featuring the theme of seeking eternal life.First, characters tend to strengthen themselves to reach the higher levels of cultivation.Thus, the great number of cultivation levels, elixirs, herbs, spirit stones, weapons, and cultivation schools may be barriers for translators.Second, the idea of self-cultivation originates from Taoism which seeks to achieve immorality by means of traditional practice.Therefore, special terms are related to Taoism, such as Dantian, Tuna, and Jindan.The complicated and confusing Taoist expressions may be another difficulty faced by translators.RWX once said I Shall Seal the Heavens seemed like an updated version of Coiling Dragon as there were so many Taoist elements (Shao, Ji &Ren, 2016).

Translation of Chinese Fantasy Information

Domestication and foreignization are two terms put forward by Venuti to describe two different strategies when it comes to the translation of cultural terms.Domestication refers to translation in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers, while foreignization designates the type of translation in which a target text deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original (Venuti,1995).Through our observations and analysis, the foreignization strategy is mostly used in the translation of immortal cultivation levels, self-cultivation groups, medicine and techniques of I Shall Seal the Heavens, such as “Qi Condensation stage,” “Violet Fate Sect,” “Spirit Condensation Pill,”“Thunderclap Leaves,” and “Flame Serpent Art.” This is partly because these Chinese concepts were created by Ergen, the author, and there are no corresponding or similar terms in the English world.

Immortal cultivation terms

Table 1 Immortal cultivation terms in I Shall Seal the Heavens

Deathblade tends to use literal translation to convey the meaning of terms instead of free translation.For example, “筑基” is translated into “Foundation Establishment” and “結(jié)丹” is “Core Formation.” Similarly, “靈石” is translated into “spirit stone” and “丹?！?into “core sea.” Deathblade also paid attention to the choice of words.For example, he used “realm” to translate “境” and “stage”to refer to “期.” According to Oxford Dictionary, “realm” means “an area of activity, interest, orknowledge” or “a country ruled by a king or queen.” “境” probably refers to the state of a person’s ideological awareness and spiritual cultivation.“Stage” means “a period that something or somebody passes through while developing or making progress” or “a separate part that a process is divided into.” Therefore, “realm” is appropriate to convey the meaning of “境” and serves as a superordinate word for “stage.” Moreover, every level of cultivation hierarchy is presented clearly without overlapping others, which is difficult as each stage has several branches which are not shown on the table.For example, “Qi Condensation stage” is divided into nine levels.“凝氣第七層” is translated into “the seventh level of Qi Condensation,” and “凝氣大圓滿” into “completing the great circle of Qi Condensation.” In addition, it is worth mentioning that the translation of “凝氣,” “筑基,” “結(jié)丹,”“元嬰” is the same as that in the “General Glossary of Terms” on the home page of Wuxiaworld.com.In these examples, Deathblade has consciously stayed in line with the website’s translations.

Sometimes Deathblade paraphrased the cultivation information.For example, at first “乾坤袋”was translated into “Bag of Holding.” However, the translation loses the metaphor of the original Chinese.“乾坤袋” actually refers to a container which is as big as the world.“Bag of Holding” does not convey the figurative sense.Later, Deathblade changed this into “the Bag of the Cosmos” for better understanding.

Self-cultivation groups and place names

Self-cultivation groups in Chinese fantasy fiction are similar to those in martial arts novels.People with the same belief get together and younger disciples often directly apprentice themselves to an elder and may be unrelated to each other by blood.When people try to translate Chinese fantasy fictions, a number of self-cultivation groups are unavoidable.Also, the names of the different kinds of fictional places add to the difficulty of translation.

Table 2 Self-cultivation groups and the names of the places in I Shall Seal the Heavens

南域 The Southern Domain靈蟾寨 Spirit Toad Village封妖一脈 League of Demon Sealers墨土 The Black Lands百珍閣 Hundred Treasures Pavilion往生洞 The Rebirth Cave太厄古廟 The Ancient Temple of Doom上古道湖 The Primordial Dao Lakes

Foreignization can also be seen in the translations of self-cultivation groups.For example, “紫運宗” is translated into “Violet Fate Sect” and “封妖宗” into “Demon Sealing Sect.” However, although most of the terms are literally translated, the choice of words is based on meticulous consideration.In the translator’s YouTube videos, he explained why he chose to use “sect” rather than “clan” to refer to“宗.” From his perspective, a sect is a group of people who are “united around some belief, perhaps a style of martial arts or magic, and maybe there is a specific leader bringing them together” while a clan is similar to a much larger “family.” In sects, people are not related to each other but in clans everyone is related to each other.“In sects you can leave or join, and you can potentially be a member of more than one sect at a time but the clan cannot be changed.” Actually, in Chinese online fantasy fiction, the meaning of “宗” depends on the situation.Sometimes it means a “sect” and sometimes a “clan.” In I Shall Seal the Heavens, it is more like a sect, people getting together for common selfcultivation beliefs.

Deathblade also adopts domestication strategy in certain cases.For example, “天河?！?is translated into “Milky Way Sea” instead of “Heaven River Sea.” “Milky Way” borrows an existing concept of astronomy, which refers to the pale strip of light consisting of many stars that people can see stretched across the night sky.It reflects that Deathblade deals with the various terms in a flexible way.

Medicine and Techniques

Medicine and techniques, the skills people acquire in the cultivation of self-defense against danger, are indispensable in one’s cultivation.Usually a person uses medicine or herbs to accelerate their cultivation, cure diseases or attack others.

Table 3 Medicine in I Shall Seal the Heavens

天水丹Heavenly Water Pill煉筑丹 Refined Establishment Pill七雷丹 Seven Thunders Pill完美筑基丹 Perfect Foundation Pill羅地丹 Sieve Earth Pill蜈龍丹 Centipede Dragon Pill神靈草 Divine Spirit Plants天方木 Outlander Tree雷霆葉 Thunderclap Leaves春秋木 Spring and Autumn tree七星玉爐 Seven Star Jade Furnace天地之火 The Fire of Heaven and Earth三色鬼臉之花 A Three-colored Flower that Looks Like a Demonic Face.念息木 The Missing Breath Tree靈化木 The Spiritualization Tree天青液 Blue Heaven Elixir

Table 4 Techniques in I Shall Seal the Heavens

Although Deathblade prefers foreignization strategy in terms of cultivation medicine and techniques, he sometimes translates relatively freely in terms of cultivation techniques.For example,“如意” is translated into “good luck,” which is similar to its original meaning and “東來” is not translated into “from the East” but into “to the West.”

Translation of Chinese Taoist Terms and Other Culture-Loaded Information

Annotation of texts

As to terms related to Taoism or Chinese history, Deathblade adopts amplification by adding annotations and hyperlinks, which conform to the strategy of the translation landscape of Wuxiaworld.com.Unlike footnotes, annotations in I Shall Seal the Heavens are mostly added to the texts as hyperlinks for three main reasons:

1.General information supplements

趙國是一個小國。

The State of Zhao was a very small nation [1.The State of Zhao is named after the historical State of Zhao].

2.Character name explanation

他叫孟浩，是這大青山下云杰縣一個普通書生。

His name was Meng Hao, an average student from Yunjie County, which lay at the foot of the mountain [4.Meng Hao’s name in Chinese is 孟浩 - Meng is a family name.Hao means “great” or “many”].

3.Previous synopsis reviews

“百珍閣？”孟浩雙眼一閃，他想起了趙國天河坊內(nèi)的百珍閣。

Meng Hao’s eyes flashed as he thought back to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion in Eastern Refinement City in the State of Zhao.[2.If you want to refresh your mind about the Hundred Treasures Pavilion as well as Meng Hao"s flirtatious encounter there, you can reread Chapter 53.]

The content in the square brackets is the annotation in the text, and the phrases underlined mean they are hyperlinked.Unlike the preceding terms of self-cultivation levels, groups and medicine,which were invented by the author of the fiction, texts to which Deathblade added annotations are usually related to Chinese history and culture.In the first type, the annotations with hyperlinks help English readers have a better understanding of the background of the story, or the related Chinese history.In the second type, a brief introduction to characters,mentioning their Chinese names, pinyin,and meanings, is also a way of introducing Chinese cultural elements.In the third type,Deathblade, using the internet, provides a hyperlink jumping to the previous page when a character or a plot appears again after tens or even hundreds of chapters.

Hyperlinks in Text

Another kind of amplification is to directly put hyperlinks in the translation without anyadditional annotations in the text.These hyperlinks provide information in the form of text, pictures,and music.Based on Roman Jakobson’s theory, amplification by texts is intralingual translation or rewording, namely “an interpretation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same language,”while amplification by pictures and music is intersemiotic translation or transmutation, namely “an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs or nonverbal sign systems.”

Figure 4. A hyperlink to Zhen Dao School.com attached to “breathing exercises”

Amplification by texts.

同樣的吐納時間，資質(zhì)好者自然吸入靈氣就多。

For someone with considerable latent talent, the more time they spent on breathing exercises, the more spiritual energy they could absorb.

This kind of amplification with hyperlinks is often used when Taoist words or expressions with Chinese characteristics appear.By clicking on these hyperlinks, it is easy to jump to other pages.In the first type, some Taoist expressions, such as Dantian, immortal, and Feng Shui Campus, are linked to Wikipedia or other websites with text explanations.For example, as is shown in the example, breathing exercises has a hyperlink to the Zhen Dao School.com website,which talks about many concepts of Taoism.Tuna is an important breathing practice of Taoism for cultivation, which is difficult for English readers to understand because there is no corresponding concept in Western countries.A hyperlink may help them learn related knowledge.Another example is Jianmu, an ancient concept which first appeared in an ancient Chinese book called Shan Hai Jing (The Classic of Mountains and Seas).In I Shall Seal the Heavens, Jianmu serves as the mother of trees in spring and autumn, wonderful materials for making weapons.Even Chinese people probably need to review relevant materials for a better understanding of Jianmu,let alone English readers.Deathblade tried to fill the gap of cultural differences through additional information provided by another website which introduces the symbolism of other countries.These hyperlinks may help English readers acquire related knowledge and a better understanding of the concepts.

Amplification by pictures.

王府外，站著一個穿著道袍的老者，這老者神色平緩，修為竟是筑基后期，此刻站在那里，目光看向從一處此地光幕內(nèi)，走出的孟浩。

Outside the palace stood an old man wearing a Taoist robe.His expression was placid, and his Cultivation Base was at the late Foundation Establishment stage.When he sawMeng Hao, he approached, eyes shining.

Figure 5. A hyperlink to “Taoist robe”

As the example for this type of hyperlink, a picture of the Taoist robe gives readers a direct image helping them to quickly understand the object.Pictures take the place of word explanations, presenting a kind of intersemiotic translation or transmutation.The same strategy is applied to “ornamental rock displays” (假山), and “curved eyes like a red phoenix” (丹鳳).For example, “假山” is translated into “ornamental rock displays” with a hyperlink to a picture.“雙眼丹鳳” is translated into “curved eyes like a red phoenix” also with a picture hyperlink.English readers may be confused with the relationship between “curved eyes” and“a red phoenix” without an image and only a text explanation.The phrase actually describes the eyes bending upwards which are considered pretty from a traditional Chinese aesthetic viewpoint.Another example is “令牌,” which is translated into “medallion.” According to Oxford Dictionary, “Medallion”refers to “a piece of jewelry in the shape of a large flat coin worn on a chain around the neck.” “令牌” is actually different from the concept of “medallion” because it is not always round-shaped and it is not an ornament around the neck but a credential usually used for identification or some kind of permission that indicates the holder has a right to do specific things.However, a hyperlink makes up for the shortcoming of translation.Readers can tell the difference between “令牌” and “medallion.”These hyperlinks have two major advantages.First, translators do not need to spend too much time and energy explaining and analyzing these expressions regarding profound Chinese elements.This also reduces the chance that translators will misinterpret these types of expressions, even if these terms are translated in detail.Second, through viewing and reading this auxiliary information,readers tend to take a better look at Chinese culture, and when they encounter similar expressions in other fantasy fiction, they will not be confused.If readers are unwilling to be interrupted by these additional texts, they can simply choose not to click the hyperlinks, while in the paper publications readers have no choice.

Figure 6.Hyperlinks of “curved eyes like a red phoenix” and “medallions”

Amplification by music.

Chapter 1601: You Can Call Me…Su Ming!

(click here for soundtrack)

The third type of hyperlink is for music.By clicking these links,readers can get a pop-up window of a YouTube video where theycan listen to a soundtrack for the chapter they are reading.Deathblade has uploaded 146 YouTube videos and Figure 10 shows that almost all of the videos are related to Wuxia or Xianxia fiction.In the playlist,10 videos are about “Wuxia Music (Romantic and Profound),” and 8 videos are about “Wuxia Music(Dramatic).” 15 videos are from the “I Shall Seal the Heavens Grand Finale Soundtrack.” The soundtrack link in Chapter 1601 is one of these.It is an intersemiotic translation of the chapter, a transition from text to music and from the sense of sight to the sense of hearing.Deathblade is a creative translator who is adept at using various instruments based on online platforms to assist his translation.

Figure 7.A glimpse of the translator’s YouTube videos

Building Translation Interactive Platforms

The translation interactive platforms of Wuxiaworld.com can be divided into three categories:reviews and comments, forums, and announcements.

Reviews and Comments

Reviews.

Readers can make their own remarks about the whole book on the introduction page of the fiction.Other readers can express their own views by “Agree,” “Disagree” and “Comments.” I Shall Seal the Heavens is labeled as “overwhelmingly recommended” with 89 reviews.The top review has 156“Agrees” and 44 “Disagrees.” This platform actually serves as a link between readers and people,who can read the reviews to judge whether to read further.

Comments.

Every chapter of every fantasy fiction has the comments section where readers and the translator can express their ideas freely.Readers usually express their gratitude towards the translator (for example, 37 out of 60 comments (61.7%), and 43 out of 71 (60.6%) in Chapter 100 and 200 respectively), which plays a vital role in the formation of healthy relationships between readers and translators, thereby indirectly affecting the translation of the fiction.For example, a reader said “Thank you very much for all your hard work so far,” “Out of all the Xianxia fiction none of them had a first book nearly as exciting as this and it is my favorite fiction I am reading.” The translator replied, “I’m honored! Thank you very much, and glad to hear you’re enjoying the book!” This “thanks” culture creates a benign environment in the comments section and can possibly encourage the translator to translate more novels.

Another common role of the comments section is to provide a platform for discussing plots.Some readers even provided YouTube videos to illustrate their ideas.The comments section combining other network platforms brings readers’ creativity into full play, which is difficult to do in traditional book translations.

The most important effect the comments section brings is that readers are paying more attention to the translation.Readers can put forward their questions or doubts about the translation and can better understand the text through the translator’s answers.For example, a reader, “Nocoloco”, asked the translator to make a glossary for understanding various cultivation terms and countless characters.Deathblade provided a link to the glossary and solved his problem.Also, the questions raised by readerscan inspire the translator to make improvements.For example, a reader called “French Guy” once inspired the translator to add pinyin to the list in the glossary.Readers can also discuss translation with each other.A reader called “Justsomeguy77” once raised a question “why the author said ‘find a concubine for Meng Hao’ when he had no wife yet,” and another reader “Maples21” answered the question.

The comments section also allows readers to point out obvious mistakes, such as grammatical errors or typing errors, which helps improve the translation.For example, a reader called “YuAoMmli”noticed many mentions of “Founder” in Chapter 38 which the translator had changed into “Patriarch.”Deathblade explained that “the proofreaders actually caught it” but his final edit was done right before he went to bed, and he was “kind of out of it.” The reader “Justsomeguy77” also helped the translator find the misuse of “Sublime Scripture.” Most of the time, readers use parentheses to highlight mistakes just like “and they soon had (no need for had) arrived in the outer courtyard of the mansion.”Happily, all of the mistakes mentioned above have been corrected by the translator.

RWX’s traces can be found in readers’ “finding fault” activities.For example, a reader “anonpuffs”pointed out that “此地封印，爾等速速離去” is translated improperly into “This area is sealed.Let us depart.” “爾” means “you” and this sentence means that the sender of the message is ordering the receivers to leave quickly.An improved expression was also provided by “anonpuffs”: “This area is sealed, quickly scram!” RWX showed his agreement with the interpretation from “anonpuffs” in the comments section.RWX, the founder of Wuxiaworld.com, fits his deeds to what he said in an interview at Shanghai International Studies University, that he will personally do random checks for translation quality control as the average output of Wuxiaworld.com is 40 or 50 chapters per day with over 150,000 words.Finally, the translator changed the expression into “This area is sealed.Leave this place.” Obviously, the comments section under each chapter provides readers and managers with an opportunity to supervise and improve the translation quality.

Forums.

Forums of Wuxiaworld.com are divided into four parts: Fiction Discussions, General, Community Creations, and Spoiler Forums.In the General part, there is a section called “Translation/Language Discussion” where readers can post Chinese translation questions, comments, discussions, or thoughts.In the part of Community Creations, readers can attempt to translate Chinese fantasy fictions.If things go well, the translation might be “promoted” as an official Wuxiaworld.com project.In the part of Spoiler Forums, the forum of ISSTH Spoilers (I Shall Seal the Heavens) has 357 discussions and 10,800 comments.Compared with the comments section under each chapter, forums provide a more interactive platform where readers may not be limited to a particular chapter.

First, readers can discuss the whole plot lines of the stories.In the ISSTH Spoilers, Deathblade created a “Deathblade’s mini spoiler thread” discussion where readers can get information from a handful of chapters after new chapters are published.For example, a reader called “SomeGuy” asked:

I have 2 questions:

1.Does Meng Hao stay in the Frigid Snow Clan for a full year?

2.From the title for the 357 spoiler, it seems that the old furnace lord may be here.So is Zhou Dekun in Frigid Snow City?

He got this answer from Deathblade:

1.No he doesn’t, the war interferes with that.

2.You are correct, Zhou Dekun will appear in the next chapter.The “reunion” between him and Meng Hao is awesome.

Second, readers can also initiate translation discussions freely and fans of all fiction on Wuxiaworld.com are welcome.They are free to raise related discussions such as:

Do you enjoy the added CAPS LOCK and choice of words of Deathblade - a healthy discussion please?

Can someone explain the differences between nei gong (內(nèi)功)，nei jin (內(nèi)勁)，and nei li (內(nèi)力)?

How to translate hun fei po san (魂飛魄散)?

Through discussion forums, people are paying more attention to the translations and some of them put forward that they even would like to learn Chinese so that they can read original Chinese works.

Third, readers can discuss Chinese culture and conduct activities on the forums.When I Shall Seal the Heavens had 600 chapters translated, readers initiated an activity called “Put your Tao to the text.” They called each other Taoist and greeted each other with, “May the Tao be with you.” “Chinese internal and external martial art and Qi” is also a hot topic.Readers even use videos to express their understandings.The translation of I Shall Seal the Heavens, to a certain extent, has popularized Chinese Taoist thoughts, or at least stimulated the enthusiasm of foreign readers for Taoist culture.After reading fantasy fiction on Wuxiaworld.com, even if readers only vaguely remember these Chinese elements,they may be further impressed when reading them again in other serious literary works.The output of popular culture not only enhances the value of Chinese literature, but also increases the preference for Chinese culture in the hearts of overseas people.

Announcements.

Another special platform on the home page of Wuxiaworld.com is where the founder and translators can publish announcements.Readerscan make comments under every announcement.RWX generally releases important news about Wuxiaworld.com such as new translators, new books, and the anniversaries of Wuxiaworld.com.

Figure 8.An announcement with hyperlinks to YouTube videos

Figure 9.Competition prizes provided by translators

Most of the announcements published by translators are about updates to their translations.If the translator is ill or has other important things to do, he or she may announce that the next few chapters will be delayed.Similarly, due to anniversaries of important events or the sponsorship from readers,the translator may show that he or she will update more chapters.This platform allows the translators to answer questions about issues that confuse readers the most or about which they are curious.For example, Deathblade likes to put hyperlinks on announcements which can jump to his own YouTube videos discussing fiction he is translating, and questions readers are concerned with.As of now he has made more than 146 videos with 64 of them in the “Chinese Fantasy Novels FAQ” list.He once made such an announcement to explain the differences between Taoist magics, divine abilities, and magical techniques (see Figure 8).He also made a video explaining breakthroughs and bottlenecks in Chinese fantasy novels.Readers can also make suggestions in the comments sections on YouTube or in the announcements section of Wuxiaworld.com.

The third thing translators can do in the announcements section of the platform is to initiate a competition or activity.Deathblade once held a competition for creating cartoons for the main characters of I Shall Seal the Heavens with a $1,500 cash prize.Other translators are also keen on conducting competitions.Sometimes they even prepared gifts for winners.For example, legion_MoE , the translator of Monarch of Evernight prepared Chinese fans, pens, and seals for the winners of the giveaway event.Alcohol Sword Immortal, the translator of Lord of All Realms, also prepared Chinese prizes for the fans of an artwork event.Competitions add to the interactions between translators and readers, often increasing readers’ interests in the fiction of Wuxiaworld.com and Chinese online fantasy culture.

If the comments section presents a “reader-translator” model, and the forums a “reader-reader”model, the announcements show a “translator-reader” model where translators play a dominant role as publishers.Announcements add to the subjectivity of translators and strengthen the position of translators in readers’ hearts.Moreover, like other platforms, announcements not only enhance the connections among readers and translators, but also promote readers’ understanding of Chinese fantasy fiction as well as Chinese culture.

Conclusion

Based on our observations of the home page of Wuxiaworld.com, we found that this website is good at using hyperlinks with texts and pictures to explain specific terms and that covers, synopses and glossaries of different novels reflect the subjectivity of the translators of Wuxiaworld.com.In the fiction I Shall Seal the Heavens, the translator takes foreignization as the main translation strategy,and the choice of words is taken into careful consideration when it comes to Chinese fantasy terms.In addition, he is adept at using annotations in text as well as hyperlinks in the forms of texts,pictures, and music for cultural compensation when translating existing Chinese cultural concepts.Good interactive platforms such as the remarks and comments section, forums and announcements enhance the relationships among readers and translators.These platforms not only help English readers to better understand the translations of Chinese fantasy works, but also give readers a better understanding of Chinese culture.The platforms also improve the work of the translators and the quality of the website.Wuxiaworld.com makes full use of the internet in the forms to improve its translations, spread Chinese culture and enhance user entertainment, learning, and loyalty, based on our analysis of the website’s overall landscape, the translation of I Shall Seal the Heavens, and the three interaction platforms.These features and the popularity of Wuxiaworld.com benefit translations of Chinese fantasy fiction and the dissemination of Chinese culture to the world.