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Chapter 375: The Final Editor's Perspective on "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts"

When Cao Sheng was in Hong Kong discussing having children with Wang Zuxian.

His revised manuscript of his new book, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," was finally sent back to Xinchang headquarters by Evergreen and entered the email address of the headquarters' manuscript receiving editor.

When the head office's manuscript editor saw the manuscript for Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book in the email, he was immediately surprised. In his surprise, he quickly forwarded it to the initial review editor according to the procedure.

Then, he glanced around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he opened the manuscript of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" and, wanting to get a sneak peek, quietly read the manuscript.

The title "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" made him very much looking forward to the contents of the manuscript.

Because the title of this book is too similar in style to the title of Cao Sheng's previous book, "The Legend of the Primordial Era".

So when the title "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" caught his eye, he had a thought: Is this the second part of the two-part romance novel written by Zhongyuan Yidianhui?
He even wondered if, after this "Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," Zhongyuan Yidianhui might write another "Romance," making it a trilogy?
Based on his work experience, when a writer who has become famous writes a new book, if the title is very similar to one of his previous works, the quality of the new book is generally not much worse than the previous one, and there are very few exceptions.

Because most established authors cherish their reputation and wouldn't deliberately associate a bad book with one of their previous good books.

The book "The Legend of the Primordial Era" boasts the best quality, reputation, and sales in the traditional Chinese book market in recent years.

In the eyes of many, this book is already a classic work by Zhongyuan Yidianhui.

Therefore, the fact that Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book also has the word "Romance" on it aroused the editor's anticipation.

However… the term “national martial arts” was something he couldn’t quite understand.

He couldn't understand it when he saw the book title.

He understood something from reading the introduction, but he still didn't understand why kung fu could be called a national art.
When he read the first chapter, he still had doubts about traditional Chinese martial arts.

It wasn't until the second chapter, when Tang Zichen introduced the concept of "Guoshu" to Wang Chao and explained its differences from the traditional martial arts that the public was familiar with, that Wang Chao finally understood what Guoshu was.

When Tang Zichen said, "Traditional Chinese martial arts only kill people, not perform," the editor who received the manuscript suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

I was shocked.

At the same time, he quickly came to agree with this idea, feeling that true martial arts should only kill, not perform.

In contrast, martial arts used in ring matches and those shown in movies and television have all lost sight of the original purpose of martial arts.

Martial arts... were originally created for the purpose of killing.

The idea that martial arts are for improving health simply doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

There are so many things that can improve your health: dancing, skipping rope, kicking shuttlecock, swimming, crawling on the ground, etc. Why create a separate martial art that is so difficult to practice?
Furthermore, Tang Zichen's explanation of some key points about martial arts training, such as the need to combine training with nourishment, is equally important. While diligently practicing martial arts, it is equally important to continuously nourish and supplement one's body through dietary and medicinal methods. Such a concept may seem far-fetched at first glance, but upon closer examination, it makes a lot of sense.

Tang Zichen also provides examples in the book.

Different animals in nature have very different diets.

The lower an organism is in the food chain, the worse its diet.

Conversely, the higher a predator is in the food chain, the better it eats; eating meat at every meal is a common daily routine for predators.

Have you ever seen a wild beast that eats grass?
In the book, Tang Zichen asks Wang Chao this question, and at the same time, she is also asking the editor who is reviewing the manuscript.

Many of the theories in the book challenge readers' preconceived notions.

For example, the saying "the poor are scholars, the rich are warriors."

In the past, many people thought that the way out for the rich in ancient times was to study, while the poor could not afford to study and had to practice martial arts, join the army, kill enemies and make merits in order to get ahead.

This is how many films, television shows, and novels have instilled this message in the public in the past.

In previous literary and artistic works, ancient soldiers were often portrayed as poor people or sons of powerful and wealthy families who generally took the imperial examination route.

However, in this book, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," Tang Zichen tells the protagonist that since ancient times, the expenses of practicing martial arts have far exceeded those of reading. Reading only requires buying a few books, some pens, ink, and paper.

However, if a child starts practicing martial arts from a young age, aside from other factors, their appetite gradually increases, and poor families generally don't have enough food to feed them.

Not to mention feeding meat and tonics to children who practice martial arts to improve their health.

Furthermore, the expenses for learning martial arts, such as buying weapons, buying horses, and raising horses, are all much more expensive than studying.

Therefore, the idea that poor people become warriors is a myth. True warriors usually come from relatively poor families.

The reason why many people believe that the opportunity for the poor to rise above their circumstances in ancient times lay in martial arts is simply because many poor people joined the army. They went to the army mainly to get enough to eat. While they did have the opportunity to learn some rudimentary martial arts while in the army, their nutrition was severely inadequate during their training. Therefore, even if they practiced martial arts, their achievements were very limited. Furthermore, due to the severe lack of nutrition during their training, their bodies became severely depleted. As a result, not only would it be difficult for them to break through to higher levels in the future, but as they grew older, various ailments caused by their depleted bodies would also begin to appear.

After reading the manuscript of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book, the editor sat in his seat, lost in thought, unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

For a moment, I wondered: Does such a martial art really exist on the mainland? Does it exist here in Taiwan? Why are they hiding from each other? Why haven't I ever met anyone who knows martial arts? Maybe I have some talent for it! No one has ever come to test my martial arts talent…

Then I wondered: How could Zhongyuan Yidianhui write such a new book? Does he know martial arts?

Then I thought: This theory of combining training and nourishment should also apply to that kind of thing between men and women, right? Many men develop back problems early on; is it because they train too hard but don't supplement their diet and medication? Does this lead to their bodies becoming depleted early on? If they supplemented their diet and medication, would they become even more powerful with training? Could they achieve seven times a night? Or even seventeen times?
While the editor receiving the manuscript was lost in thought, the copy of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" that he forwarded to the first-review editor had already been forwarded to the second-review editor, who then immediately forwarded it to the final-review editor. They were well aware that they weren't qualified to provide feedback on Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book; only the final-review editor's opinion could determine the royalty terms when the book was signed.

Even the final editor's opinion isn't that important.

Since this is a new book by Zhongyuan Yidianhui, their publishing house cannot possibly refuse to publish it.

The final editor can only offer some suggestions regarding the amount of payment for manuscripts.

The person who truly decides the treatment of this book is the boss, Lan Tianhu.

The final editor was also aware of this.

But he still carefully reviewed this book, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts".

There are two reasons.

Firstly, I wanted to see how good Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book was, and I was very curious about what kind of story he had written.

Secondly, it is my duty.

Regardless of whether his boss ultimately adopts his final opinion, he feels he should offer his professional advice.

By the way, his name is Chen Maolin.

He is a senior editor at Xinchang Publishing House, with over thirty years of experience in the industry.

The number of new books that have been reviewed is countless.

I consider myself to have a wealth of experience.

When he saw the title of the new book, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," he felt that Cao Sheng was trying to ride on the popularity of "The Romance of the Primordial Era." The similarity in title seemed like a clever trick.

He frowned as he read the introduction.

This new book is set in modern society? And it's about traditional kung fu?

In the context of modern society, what meaning does traditional kung fu still hold? No matter how good your kung fu is, if you can be taken down with a single shot, decades of hard work and practice are no match for a bullet that costs only a few cents, would readers enjoy reading such a story?

He recalled Cao Sheng's previous screenplay, "Kung Fu Jungle."

I'm reminded of Feng Yuxiu, the martial arts fanatic who was shot down in this movie.

This movie was also shown in Taiwan, and Chen Maolin also watched it.

When he saw Feng Yuxiu, who was almost invincible in the movie, suddenly shot dead, he felt a pang of sadness while sitting in the movie theater. He felt sad for Feng Yuxiu and for traditional martial arts.

In modern society, what good is it to master martial arts to the point of being invincible?
Ultimately, it is just a body of flesh and blood.

Even a three-year-old child could kill a martial arts master who has trained for decades with a single shot.

The effort and the reward seem utterly worthless.

This book, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," is also a work by Cao Sheng.

Final editor Chen Maolin subconsciously thought this should be a novel in the same style as "Kung Fu Jungle".

He even suspected that the male protagonist in the book would eventually suffer the same fate as Feng Yuxiu, being shot dead.

When reading the first chapter, the name of the male protagonist, Wang Chao, reminded him of the words "transcendence" and "salvation".

It is suspected that Cao Sheng gave the protagonist this name for two reasons.

One meaning is that the protagonist, Wang Chao, will surpass many people in martial arts.

Another meaning is that this protagonist is destined to be exorcised by bullets.

Therefore, even though he was repeatedly amazed by the theories of Chinese martial arts, the practice methods, fighting techniques, stances, and footwork in the book when he read the later plot, he always read these contents with the mindset of watching a tragedy.

He always felt that no matter how exciting the protagonist's life was, he would eventually die by gunshot.

However, the book's seemingly mundane yet surprisingly amazing plot somewhat overturned his initial judgment of it.

Zhongyuan Yidianhui has surprisingly come up with such a completely new martial arts theory in his new book?

This theory seems flawless? So convincingly plausible?
After reading the manuscript, Chen Maolin pondered for a moment, created a new blank document, and wrote down his final review comments.

—"In a niche subject, it has written a stunning plot with a strong subversion of traditional martial arts theory. The character development is remarkable, and the writing is delicate. The main characters who have appeared so far are vivid and lifelike. The plot progresses at a good pace, with each layer of the story unfolding in a captivating and engaging manner. It is highly readable. Overall, I give it five stars and highly recommend it for publication. The royalties are generous."

(End of this chapter)