Question Wuxia/murim power-scaling

In most korean wuxia I hear about describing most mercenaries as 3rd-rates, disciples as 2nd rates and common experts as 1st-rate and peak masters and above,,, However I wish to distinct it better as what deem them as such.

In short I want explaining/clarifying description. Let's say a guideline

Edit: Sigh poeple do not only understand but try to make you a fool, morons I know what wuxia is but I a; trying to gauge the difference in skills/technique as their proficiency as Qi-aptitude between them.

So to say how would you compare to beginner -amateur-advanced-pro-master. But What Stand as one to another

 

Strictly referring to wuxia, in general, those terms are often used as loose descriptions. Oftentimes, peak masters is a very literal translation to say 1st rate, among the best etc. Those terms are adjectives on par with saying, "incredible," "amazing," "strong..." Bear in mind that wuxia isn't level based.

It's impossible to give a guideline on what deems them as such because different writers/series will define it differently when it comes to wuxia. Some will exclude, while some will include certain criteria. At times, it's used to refer to only technical, while other times may be used to refer to internal style proficiency. Some even go as far as including mentality. For instance, someone who is excellent at combat but can't keep his cool after getting hit might be called 3rd rate. Then, the author might go on to say the one who can give and take damage, yet pretend as if he wasn't fazed, would be 1st rate.

 

I don't quite understand what you are asking? You already more or less explained what they mean.

Third rates are small fry, weaklings, mobs, generally thugs that are there just for numbers. Second rate are experienced fighters but nothing in particular stands out about them, and first rates are the strong fighters, talented, experts, geniuses etc.

If you want a different, more specific, level demarcation then that depends on the story. Usually there will be things like "Mortal realm stage 1/2/3, earth realm stage 1/2/3, sky realm..., Spirit realm, god realm" etc.
(I don't really like these level demarcations, especially the sub-stages)

"Third rate - first rate" is usually a general description and mostly subjective. An elite military guard might call himself first rate, common thugs third rate, and normal soldiers second rate. While some super elite sect might consider sect elders first rate and the elite military guard as third rate. So it is just a quick way for whoever is talking in the story to say "these third rate trash! (Enemies much weaker than them) not even worth my time!" And then some tough guy shows up "here is a first rate expert! How exciting!"
Second rates are like, never mentioned, except to put a gap between third and first, at most when the arrogant douche is slightly surprised by who he thought were third rates "hmm they are actually second rates, time to reveal 10% of my power!"

What @Wu Jizun said is probably more correct

 

And then once you're at this point you're reading a xianxia and not a wuxia.

 

And in xianxia, any clear and understandable power scaling going flying out the window

 

I have never really distinguished them. Would xianxia be a cultivation novel and wuxia martial arts?
Like the difference between Peerless Dad and Daily Life of the Immortal King?

 

See this maybe it is what you need

 

I was just about to link this as well.

A lot of people don't make that distinction because it's usually used incorrectly to describe a novel.

I couldn't find peerless dad but the majority of people here prefer xianxia/xuanhuan stories versus wuxia stories.

 

Traditional xianxia used cultivation quite differently to what's popularly translated for the male audience now. Wuxia often also includes detective-oriented stories -- and one more, but I'm drawing a blank for the word right now.

 

This is very interesting and useful, thanks!

 

It would be rice level, cutlery level, mug level, basin level, bathtub level, pond level, lake level, inner-sea level, sea level, ocean level, sky-sea level, etc.

 

a simple way to distinguish them is to consider:
wuxia = pursuit of martial art and militar/political power, often mixed around the motive behind the character(romance, revenge, tracedy,ecc.)
xianxia = pursuit of immortality mixed with the cliche of trash MC, young master, ecc....

 

Both has trash mc and young masters

 

Peerless Dad is a manwha and not a novel

 

To add to this, the "levels" in wuxia are primarily reputation based. It's extremely rare to witness a particular martial artist's fights, so everybody has to make assumptions about how good anyone is. These assumptions are often wrong, and this difference between what someone can do and what people assume he can do is one of the keystones of how wuxia novels function.

More accurately, most people here have an idea what wuxia stories are, assuming that they're pretty much the same as xianxia, only with a lower power scale. This perception is wrong.

There are two main branches of wuxia: modern wuxia and traditional wuxia. Nobody reads the traditional stuff any more so we can just pay attention to modern wuxia. So is attaining martial arts skills or other kinds of power a major goal of modern wuxia novels? No - it's something that only a few novels are particularly interested in. Instead, they tend to use martial arts as an excuse to tell a story about history, to tell stories of derring-do, to solve a mystery, or all sorts of other subjects. The unifying factor is less martial arts itself, but rather the social system of wulim and how the characters interact with it. The key conceit being that this social system is separate from the real world so it's possible for the characters to do things like take justice into their own hands.

 

I don't ask about xianxia/xuanhuan but more definition of examples like peerless dad or volcanic age

 

Wuxia (武俠 wǔxiá) – literally means “Martial Heroes”. Fictional stories about regular humans who can achieve supernatural fighting ability through Chinese martial arts training and internal energy cultivation. Themes of chivalry, tragedy, revenge & romance are common.

Xianxia (仙侠 xiānxiá) – literally means “Immortal Heroes”. Fictional stories featuring magic, demons, ghosts, immortals, and a great deal of Chinese folklore/mythology. Protagonists (usually) attempt to cultivate to Immortality, seeking eternal life and the pinnacle of strength. Heavily inspired by Daoism.

• Comparison: If Wuxia is “low fantasy”, then Xianxia is “high fantasy”.

Xuanhuan (玄幻 xuánhuàn) – literally means “Mysterious Fantasy”. A broad genre of fictional stories which remixes Chinese folklore/mythology with foreign elements & settings.

• Xuanhuan and Xianxia novels may sometimes seem similar on the surface. Look for the presence of Daoist elements (the Dao, Yin and Yang, Immortals, etc…) in the novel to easily distinguish the two – if they aren’t present, then it’s probably a Xuanhuan novel.

source: https://immortalmountain.wordpress.com/glossary/wuxia-xianxia-xuanhuan-terms/

 

Wushia is not shianshia. Shianshia is pure high fantasy with its own logic and rules of physics. In Shianshia, it is common for things that goes up stays up because of shianshia magic. Wushia is basically just an exaggerated martial arts story. Basically, wushia is what you should expect if people in the real world can walk on blades of grass.

For example, how would you put a wrestler into a tier list? In our world, we would put it in something like lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight. We wouldn't know their exact power levels because they're real people, their strength is not something you can quantify. In shianshia, a person can have the punching power several million tonnes allowing them to punch weaker person into a atoms, but a punching power of 50 kilogram and 56 kilograms of a real life heavyweight wrestler make absolutely no difference in a fight.

 

Yup, isn't it nuts how even though the definitions sound pretty similar, the books themselves are almost nothing alike?

 

Pretty similar? In what way.