This get me curious for a while now. Like I think there's a policy made by Chinese government that restricts media (webnovels included) with too much sexual content, explicit smut or BL, etc. How do Chinese authors get away with it? Is it only applicable to those that profit from their works?
I’ve been wondering this too. I do know that sometimes BL chapters will get censored depending on the content and the authors will either remove them, adjust some of the words, or hide the chapter behind password locked accounts, etc. I think overall there is less censorship on novels over visual media though
Do you read the original or the translation. It could be that the author uses euphemisms, but the English translation just use the intended words.
Censored words are written in pinyin, use metaphor, post lock chapters on r-18 sites, send them via CN social network, or just skip those scenes.
There are different levels in censorship. But no matter what level it is, if the book isn't popular, no one will give a shit. First level automatic censorship by sites. This can be bypassed by changing words so the site program won't be able to detect it. Second level, if the book is popular, the book will have a dedicated editor/manager. The book will then be checked by the editors/managers for many things including censorship regulations. There are many reasons why authors are able to bypass this level. Some examples are: careless editors, newbie editors, editors who trust authors too much, editors who share the same view with the authors, etc. The last level is where the government is involved. But unlike what people normally think. The government doesn't actively go out and hunt down those who break censorship laws. They only get involved when they received too many complaints from those social justice warriors. And those social justice warriors will report and complain about anything they don't like.
Some do, while others don’t. From the translated books and non translated that I’ve seen so far, most of it are skipped/substituted and few are explicit.
in the past they posted the smut in AO3 but I dont think they can access it now it should be for certain sites that have this system whereby they get locked for writing smut, there are still smut sites out there
omg wait I didn't know AO3 was once accessible in China until now and I looked it up and LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO. His own fans literally dug his grave this is so embarrassing—
One of the method I know is letting the readers know that the smutty part will be posted under their qq group while the clean version is posted in the publisher platform
This is a great question! I've been thinking about this a lot recently, since a chapter of the novel I translated was recently banned. Yes, BL content is considered harmful and inappropriate by the government. For this reason, BL novels on jjwxc have a red 18+ only warning on the right side of the novel's page: 本文包含小众情感等元素,建议18岁以上读者观看。 Explisit sex scenes, or anything below the neck really, is competitive banned on most novel sites like jjwxc, gongzicp, etc. The chapters are either reported by a user or (more likely) caught by the website's system that searches for key terms. If smut is successfully posted on the website, the "dangerous" words are often separated with / or . to avoid detection. Alternative words are used too, chrysanthemum being the most iconic. Either they use the above method or they post the smut content on their social media account, weibo or qq group for example. But, it's really hard to sign up for these as a Westerner. Thanks to @YaDo I was able to get the weibo-exclusive smut content for chapters 35 and 61 after months of searching! (Example) No, it's like this for everyone. Even if all chapters are free, individual chapters or the entire novel can still be banned. (Example)
Actually from what I heard, there's been crackdowns on 'Pretty Boys' and those type of Genres you've mentioned in China. I'm sure there's more going on that we don't know but most likely only experienced Chinese writers in that industry could tell you
Laws in China aren't exactly laws by how we understand them. In a sense they are more or less like mandates. This is especially true when it comes to enforcing them. It's really up to the local government and agency to interpret and act on the "laws". The courts don't work to analyze and determine what's right or wrong. So there are a lot of leeway for anything to happen unless it becomes a national focus and then everyone just shut down everything just to be sure. So most authors can get away with it until someone report them and it becomes an issue then they get shut down. Then they have to move somewhere like a personal blog or something. Platforms tend to try to err on the side of caution and immediately stamp out anything suspicious just to avoid trouble without analyzing the situation.
I think they're starting to be more open though since chinese BL novels are getting formal awards and also getting TV adaptations. most well known is Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed which became popular worldwide both the anime and liveaction, and also Can Ci Pin
I was wondering how "The Evil Empress" manhua was able to get through. That's probably the most naughty manhuas I've ever read/seen. I mean, I was game, and I wish there was more out there, because I do love a lot of arts in manhuas.