"Every tremor in scholars’ social standing refracts obliquely through their fiction. These fractures birthed 'The Leviathan and the Insect'."
——Qitongren

"His face betrays honesty, his mind sprawls vast — yet the texts he gestates are fantastically bizarre. A decade hence, we may realize this era’s most uncanny writings all crawled from his pen. This book is no exception."
——Feng Ge (Wuxia novelist)

★ ​​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 cultural essay collection by Qitongren — China’s most literary fantasist — explores "the imprisoned Chinese mythos and literati" through a dual lens. The Leviathan* and the insect serve as potent symbols: one embodying scholars’ yearning for intellectual freedom, the other their shackles of timidity. Tracing the evolution of Chinese speculative fiction, the book reveals how shifts in literary ghosts and fox spirits mirror the soul of China’s intellectual class across dynasties.
Masterfully weaving traditional philosophy and mythic archetypes into speculative frameworks, Qitongren’s prose dances between cosmic grandeur and intimate psychological struggles.

*"Leviathan" translates the original Chinese "鲲" (Kun), originating from the Daoist classic Zhuangzi's "Free and Easy Wandering", in which "Kun" refers to the cosmic fish, which transforms into the roc bird.

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'"