“I have been binge-watching the drama these previous few days. Because the creator of the unique work, even I can not cease following the updates, and daily I simply look ahead to the 6 p.m. broadcast,” stated Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun, the creator of the online novel “Da Feng Da Geng Ren” (The Night time Watchman of Dafeng), which impressed the drama Guardians of the Dafeng, in a current interview with native reporters.
Guardians of the Dafeng tells the story of a modern-day workplace employee, Yang Ling, who unexpectedly finds himself within the fantasy-filled world of the Dafeng Dynasty. There, he goes by the identify of Xu Qi An (Dylan Wang), a Copper Gong tasked with fixing instances for the folks of Dafeng. Using the data and expertise from his life within the trendy world, together with scientific data and deductive reasoning, he efficiently cracks a sequence of weird instances, incomes the status of a grasp investigator in Dafeng.
In 2020, “Da Feng Da Geng Ren” by author Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun broke quite a few on-line literature information and sparked a pattern of mixing detective fiction with the xianxia style.
Within the 3.8-million-character-long Chinese language internet novel “Da Feng Da Geng Ren”, Mai Bao portrays the sharp wit and knowledge of Xu Qi An as he solves a sequence of weird instances, showcasing quite a lot of intelligent investigative methods.
Earlier than writing the novel, Mai Bao spent six months finding out historical past like a pupil getting ready for the faculty entrance exams and delved into tips on how to craft compelling detective and thriller tales.
When writing “Da Feng Da Geng Ren”, Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun aimed to create Xu Qi An, the male protagonist, as a personality filled with optimistic power but in addition grounded and having flaws.
“Xu Qi An has many flaws, however he additionally has a passionate facet and a deep sense of justice. He by no means hesitates when confronted with huge ethical dilemmas [of what’s right and wrong]. I wished to painting the transformation of his ideas and the awakening of his convictions,” the author defined.
Mai Bao designed Xu Qi An’s backstory within the novel as a younger police academy graduate who labored as a police officer earlier than resigning to enter enterprise. After unexpectedly getting into the Dafeng dynasty, Xu Qi An rediscovers the eagerness and sense of justice he as soon as had as a police officer.
When Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun wrote the “Yunzhou Case” in “Da Feng Da Geng Ren”, he depicted Xu Qi An standing alone towards the rebels. This marked a turning level the place Xu Qi An started to develop a way of connection to sure folks and organizations on this unfamiliar fantasy-filled world, and was keen to danger his life for them. Finally, Xu Qi An selected to desert the pursuit of standing and wealth, as an alternative prioritizing justice. These parts mirror the core spirit of the character that the author wished to painting.
The creator intentionally gave Xu Qi An many flaws to make him seem extra “human” and relatable, relatively than a stereotypically good protagonist.
“On the floor, Xu Qi An appears expert at navigating social conditions, however deep down, he by no means bows to authority. He has his personal beliefs and a robust sense of justice.”
In recent times, there was a surge in suspense and detective-themed dramas in China. When Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun wrote “Da Feng Da Geng Ren”, he built-in detective parts with xianxia themes, relatively than adhering to the normal fashion of detective fiction.
“Nonetheless, incorporating supernatural parts made writing detective tales much more difficult. It was a painful job as a result of I had to make sure that the investigative and case-solving processes had been logically coherent. That is what units it aside from typical detective fiction,” he defined.
As a result of “Da Feng Da Geng Ren” was serialized on-line, Mai Bao typically needed to full a set quantity of labor in two days which could take others a month to jot down. The psychological and inventive power required was a number of instances larger than what’s often required.
Since writing detective fiction is not the identical as writing light-hearted, feel-good tales, there cannot be any logical loopholes, and every case should subtly join with future ones, laying down clues for later. “It strained my psychological power and was a really painful course of,” he admitted.
He believes that the primary theme of “Da Feng Da Geng Ren” is centered on suspense and unraveling mysteries. The primary 2 million Chinese language characters deal with detective instances, with every case contributing to a bigger scheme. By the point the story reaches the 2-million-character mark, all of the earlier clues and particulars are tied collectively. The following virtually 2 million characters shift towards unraveling the worldview of the e book, involving higher-level methods and broader frameworks.
Xu Qi An’s story encompasses a clear progress arc, which Mai Bao feels can supply inspiration to younger professionals.
“Xu Qi An rises steadily and turns into profitable as a Night time Watchman due to his robust expertise and competence. This exhibits that so long as you’ve got the power, you may succeed anyplace and discover your footing.”
The author additionally talked about that each alternative made and problem confronted by Xu Qi An displays his dedication to justice and his beliefs. He hopes the viewers can really feel this spirit. “Each iconic scene is a technique of the protagonist ‘coaching his coronary heart,’ and the alternatives he makes at essential moments are, the truth is, battles for the beliefs he believes in.”
Moreover, Xu Qi An’s interpersonal expertise drastically contribute to his success within the office. Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun talked about that his new work, “Lingjing Xingzhe”, encompasses a protagonist with some comparable traits to Xu Qi An. Each characters have glorious interpersonal expertise and maintain firmly to their core ideas. “The world of the jianghu [the social backdrop of many Chinese wuxia, xianxia, and gong’an stories] is not nearly preventing and killing. It is about human emotions and connections.”
In Mai Bao’s view, internet novels will need to have a deep ethical worth and can’t merely be pure escapist leisure. “The numerous glorious works I got here throughout in my youth made me understand that an amazing novel isn’t just a feel-good story; it should even have, at its core, robust ethical values.”
The rise of on-line literature is carefully tied to the modifications in modern societal views. Mai Bao transitioned from the monetary trade to grow to be a web-based author. He observed that modern readers’ wants are step by step altering. These days, readers are usually not solely involved with the leisure worth of works but in addition place larger significance on the depth of the story and the reflection of values. This implies creators not solely want wealthy creativeness but in addition eager social statement, in an effort to discover a stability between the complexities of human nature and feelings.
Within the interview, Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun additionally expressed his satisfaction with the difference, particularly the addition of comedic parts to the drama. These parts made all the present light-hearted and gratifying, permitting the viewers to seek out moments of humor even amid the suspense. “I can watch the drama daily, and I even snicker daily. In a way, the difference is a hit.”
Sources: China Youth Every day, Jiefang Every day, Shang Guan Information