Qianmen

Qianmen is a long wuxia novel by the web novelist Gao Yang (pen name Fengliu Caizi), published by Shanghai Joint Publishing in October 2012. The book rests on a premise colored by folk legend: the world is full of trades, and beyond the three teachings and nine streams there exists a set of craftsman guilds that belong to no recognized profession. The most legendary and largest of these eight trades are called the Eight Outer Trades of the Jianghu—Qianmen, Daomen (thieves), Suomingmen (assassins), Lanhuamen, Shendiaomen, Gumen (sorcery), Hongshoujuan, and Jiguanmen (mechanisms). The narrative follows Gao Yang, a chief figure of Qianmen, unfolding the grudges between the Eight Outer Trades and the descendants of Shen Wansan, and the covert strife among nine factions over the Yongle Encyclopedia. A recurring idea in the novel is that "Qianmen" was originally "Qianmen" (the Gate of Piety), whose three arts were meant to save the suffering and redeem the world but were later corrupted into tools of deceit; the "Three Arts of the Gate of Piety" turned into confidence schemes, echoing the theme that "one scheme settles a hundred changes; unknowable is the human heart." Within Qianmen, the eight generals—Zheng, Ti, Fan, Tuo, Feng, Huo, Chu, and Yao—each have their roles; schemes nest within schemes and there is always someone above, and as the struggle escalates, every faction eventually discovers it is trapped in a vast con game. The work combines jianghu marvels, historical secrets, and battles of wits, advancing in units of "schemes" with dense reversals. Some reviewers have called it an important achievement of "unorthodox fiction" after Ghost Blows Out the Light; it holds a 7.5 rating on Douban Books and is one of the more widely circulated works on the theme of the Eight Trades of the Jianghu.