Question Does Wuxia Novels have ranks?

I've finally started reading Wuxia novels, but I've realized something: Do Wuxia stories have ranks for internal energy cultivation? I haven't seen anything suggesting it lately, which is contrary to Xianxia novels where the cultivation stages are obvious. (Maybe, I'm just stupid) Please let me know!

 

All these years reading both genres, I actually don't know the difference between them. I need to google it. (meaning I'll go back to reading, and forget all about this.)

 

Some have, some don't

 

There are very few Wuxia novels on here and you most likely haven't read any.
The core of Wuxia novels is morality.
Power levels are never the main focus

 

Xianxia is the one that has rankings I think?
The genre that focuses on Cultivation would always have rankings

 

Wuxia is more philosophical and emotion-driven; it's not Wuxia if they don't all die at the end (most of them at any rate). I've never read one focused on power levels though sometimes the tv dramas based on the books have a training montage or two.

 

If you can't tell the difference between wuxia and xianxia then you've probably never read any proper wuxia to begin with. While xianxia originates from wuxia, they actually feel very different from one another. Generally, wuxia doesn't have any power levels - the genre lives and breathes by the reputation of the characters, and this is a purposefully nebulous concept. There are a few martial arts in wuxia novels that do have numerical levels that a practitioner can progress on, but that's not really the same thing that the OP is talking about.

 

Normally, how strong a martial artist is would be measured by "years of Qi training"

 

Wuxia novels very excited

 

While wuxia novels do not have a formal ranking system of cultivation as those in other genres, the Chinese community enjoy discussing and rating the quality and the properties of internal arts (the ways to cultivate internal energy). The rating is largely based on the the direct description of the art (like "shang cheng" or high level) or judged by the comparison of fight performance between two characters.
Through the years, some consensus on the vague power rank (of different characters, arts, etc.) has been reached in many popular titles, especially those by Jin Yong.

 

Yes, they do. The internal strength is measured by the display of martial power, using years.

Usually 60 years of internal strength (Or 一甲) is the apex power already.
10 years are usually good enough fighters already
20 years are like the experts already
Everything more than 30 years are superb fighters.

When reading chinese novels or wuxia, a cycle is always 60 years. Sometimes you may read terms like 一周天, it just mean 60 years.

 

Which series used this?

ToastedRossi is right. Some authors, such as Lee Taibai, however, do incorporate some categories, but that's still not ranks. You're going to find authors coming up with their own categories.

 

Exactly. There will sometimes be some informal ratings in a given novel, but they're nothing like realms and levels in xianxia novels - those are derived from video games and tabletop roleplaying games so you won't see anything like them in the Chinese literary tradition.

 

There is lol. Wuxia is the grandfather of all the xianxia and xuanhuan. Need some enlightenment or to be number one in order to elevate their so call martial ranking.

三流高手
二流高手
一流高手/ 一等一高手
武林高手
绝世高手/ 盖世高手

 

Except that these aren't actual rankings; they're just rough approximations of how good martial artists are assumed to be. And they often aren't even brought up in dialogue. Instead they're used in the narration to give the reader an idea of what the scope of the challenge is.

 

You've digressed from the question, my guy. I dare say nobody terms their "internal energy cultivation" ranks (as per OP's words) as 三流高手 or the variants you listed. It offers no perspective. Those are descriptions liberally applied to people. Every 心法 in wuxia is different. 层 or 重 would be more likely used if applicable at all.

 

I think you probably the confuse one around here. I just giving a simplify approach to say that wuxia does have ranking systems as it is seep in the culture to give a grade system to everything.

Whether it is cultivation or wuxia, the output is always the same. The ranking system gives an idea how strong a person is. The example I give is the classification of the fighters. Of cos, there are other wuxia that uses just ordinary, master and grandmaster system.

The examples you give, is just an assumption that everyone practices the internal arts. But in wuxia, there are external and internal experts. The end result is always how good you are. The purpose of cultivation ranks is just to show how good a person is.

Most wuxia gives a grading to their martial arts. So a lucky find or a superior martial arts is like a magic artefect in the cultivation novels, that enable a person to fight higher than the usual grade.

To say that wuxia stories doesnt have any grades at all is not true. You are looking for a single example to fit all wuxia martial arts story which is kinda of wrong here.

 

You just imagine it to be cultivation realm and you will do fine.

 

From outside to inside. ( Skin, muscle, tendon, bones, viscera, nerve... Gradually have a perfect body. )
From body to inner. ( Qi, internal force, or something else, make people stronger, faster, free from damage, get rid of gravity, recover quickly, etc. )
From routine to skill. ( From a fixed martial arts routine to a sophisticated technique full of skills. )
Basically, all Wuxia novels are based on this order.

 

Except for the ones that aren't. Which is basically all of the ones I've ever read. I don't know where you get the idea that there are hard and set rules in wuxia when the different martial arts in the same book will commonly work in vastly different ways.