"Qitongren is perhaps Chinese fantasy’s lightest writer — I speak of the texture of the text. Reading him, you feel your spirit sprouting wings, shaking off gravity to soar beyond the nine heavens."
——Ma Boyong (Author of The Longest Day in Chang’an, China’s celebrated novelist)

"'Rising through ninefold skies on celestial winds' — this sentence captures Qitongren’s essence. His prose is ethereal, almost translucent, articulating the ineffable through delicate phrasing."
——Reader Review

"These stories, uniquely blending wuxia verve with phantasmagoria, plunge readers into wondrous dreamscapes."
——Reader Review

★ ​​China’s renowned fantasy author​​, ​​leading figure in speculative fiction​​, and ​​pioneer of long-form wuxia fantasy​​
★ ​​Dubbed the "China's 'Kafka'"​​ – His works appear in The Big Book of Modern Fantasy (World Fantasy Award-winning anthology), alongside ​​Gabriel García Márquez​​ and ​​Haruki Murakami​​
★ ​​Praised by authors Ma Boyong & Jiang Nan​​, and recognized by Hugo/WFA/BFA-winning editors Ann & Jeff VanderMeer​​ as "a defining voice in Chinese fantasy"
★ ​​Blending wuxia and fantasy​​, bridging ​​Chinese mythology and modern storytelling​

​​Featured Works (10 volumes):​​
Spring in Dongke Monastery (Selected for The Big Book of Modern Fantasy)
Songs of the Four Seasons (Qitongren’s only self-curated fantasy anthology)
Novo Land: Dragon Assassin (A key Jiuzhou universe novel)
Aranya in Clouds (Short story, original novel behind the "Aranya in Clouds" comic by Zhang Xiaoyu, winner of the "Golden Elephant Award" at France's Chambéry International Comics Festival)
The Frog’s Ballad (Short story, original novel behind the ​​Chambéry Comics Festival "Golden Elephant Award"​​-winning adaptation)
The Dreamweaver King (Douban 9.2, multi-time "Fantasy Novel of the Year")
Annals of the Flowing Maple (A wuxia-fantasy masterpiece with Tang-Song dynasty style)
Serenity: The Highest Joy of Life (A biographical fantasy decoding Eastern spirituality)
The Leviathan and the Insect (Explores Chinese mythology and intellectual history)
Biographies of Eight Sages (An epic of mortal transcendence)

This critically acclaimed collection by Qitongren — China’s preeminent fantasy author — gathers 20 masterful tales of spirits and marvels, including "House of Joy and Fortune", "Dream Slave Zhuzhu", "Chronicle of Crane River", and the titular "Spring in Dongke Monastery" (multiple Douban 9.0-rated gems). Weaving together uncanny realms, folkloric entities, and traditional mythos with the ease of a celestial sage recounting millennia-old legends, each story breathes new life into classical tropes — from ancient festivals to supernatural retribution.
Spanning themes of familial bonds, love, vengeance, and karmic justice, all but two tales ("The Baseless Child" and "Pigeons") unfold in ancient China. Selected alongside works by Gabriel García Márquez, Angela Carter, George R.R. Martin, Stephen King, and Haruki Murakami in "The Big Book of Modern Fantasy" (a global top-100 fantasy list spanning 22 nations), this anthology is essential for fantasy connoisseurs.

Qitongren (b. 1972), pen name inspired by Kafka’s "The Bucket Rider", is a celebrated Chinese short-story writer and fantasist, regarded as one of contemporary China’s most literary fantasy creators.
He began writing while studying Chinese literature at Guangxi Normal University and gained prominence after publishing online in 2000. Former editor of "Fly Fantasy World" and executive editor of "Novo land Fantasy", he founded the e-magazine "Nine Songs" and edited "The Anthology of Chinese Fantasy".
Renowned for his visionary imagination and philosophical depth, he is a two-time "Douban Outstanding Author" and a defining figure in Chinese fantasy. His story "Spring in Dongke Monastery" was anthologized alongside works by Gabriel García Márquez, Angela Carter, George R.R. Martin, Stephen King, and Haruki Murakami in "The Big Book of Modern Fantasy" (World Fantasy Award-winning anthology).
His stark prose has earned him the moniker "China's 'Kafka'"

1.Ah Zhi
2.The Baseless Child
3.Spring in Dongke Monastery
4.Pigeons
5.Chronicle of Crane River
6.The Monkey Venerable
7.Jian’s Silhouette
8.Goldfish
9.Pear Blossom Courtyard
10.Record of Kuairan Pavilion
11.Dragon
12.Ode to Qixi Festival
13.Tales of Qingxi’s Strangers
14.Kumbum Monastery
15.Dew on Shallots
16.The Head-Seeking Beast
17.Swallow Slave
18.Zhang Jinlian
19.House of Joy and Fortune
20.Dream Slave Zhuzhu