Not by the Direct Method.: The best Chinese fantasy novel of 1909.

Enthusiastically seconded.

Entry from my forthcoming (this year, yay!) Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes:

Cha Erlang. Cha Erlang appeared in Zhina Gelunbo (1909). Cha Erlang, who is also known as Shizixue (Lion’s Blood), is a Zhongguo Tanxianjia, or “Professional Chinese Explorer.” Cha goes on a long journey of “exploration and adventure,” which includes discovering Sea Dragon Island near Denmark and using his martial arts to defeat a dragon in a mid-air duel over Java. Cha then founds a republic in north Africa populated by the various peoples of the area.

I like 19th century wuxia novels as much as any gwailo, but I’d like to see more translations of this sort of thing and less of Tixiao Yiyuan et al. The Chinese writers of the pre-Revolution years were turning out some very interesting science fiction and fantasy, of which the West is almost entirely ignorant, and some translations of these works would help clear up Western notions about China’s sf/fantasy traditions.

[via jessnevins]

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   Enthusiastically seconded.

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