Abstract
Jade Dynasty (Zhuxian) emerged as one of the pioneering and most celebrated online novels of the early 2000s in China. First serialized online in mainland China around 2002 and later published as a book series in Taiwan between 2003 and 2007, JD has been expansively adapted across various media forms, including video games (from 2007 to the present), TV dramas (2016), films (2019), and animation series (starting from 2022). Scholars acknowledge it as a pioneer in the transmedia adaptation of Chinese online novels, highlighting its significant IP (intellectual property) impact. In the realm of transmedia storytelling, scholars have pointed out different production modes, including media convergence, media mix, and “affective modules” regulated by digital platforms. Referring to the emphasis on media connections made in the studies of media mix and the issue of intermediality indicated in IP, this paper investigates the digital media ecology manifested in the transmedia system of the Jade Dynasty. By examining the online fantasy novel in the early 2000s, the video game in the mid-2000s, and the animation series in the 2020s, this study argues that each stage represents significant turning points in the contemporary Chinese digital media industry.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Thematic Issue: Games and Gaming in Chinese and Sinophone Cinema; Guest Editors: Li Guo, Douglas Eyman and Hongmei Sun
- Introduction: Games, Gaming, and Interactive Aesthetics in Contemporary Chinese and Sinophone Cinema
- Soundscape and Sense of Presence in the VR Experience of Madame Pirate: Becoming a Legend
- Consuming the White Terror: Transmedia Adaptation and Franchise-Building of Detention
- Tracing the Shape of Despair: Video Game Aesthetics and Actor-Network Theory in An Elephant Sitting Still
- How Does Jade Dynasty Become a Big IP? Mapping Digital Media Ecology in Contemporary China
- Towards a Techno-Hauntological Aesthetic: Immiscible Time and the Spiritual Imagination in Bodyless (Shishenji, 2019) by Huang Hsin-Chien
- Other Research Articles
- Ambivalent Utopias: Corporate Biopower and the Gendered Limits of Agency in Reset
- An Inquiry into Gender and Queer Issues in Chinese-Language Sci-Fi Film: A Case Study of The Soul
- Century-Old Hong Kong Films and the Chinese Cultural Tradition
- The Evaluation System of Global Cinematic Strength and the Advancement of Chinese Films
- Interview
- The World is the “Hometown” of the Camera: Interview with Jia Zhangke
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Thematic Issue: Games and Gaming in Chinese and Sinophone Cinema; Guest Editors: Li Guo, Douglas Eyman and Hongmei Sun
- Introduction: Games, Gaming, and Interactive Aesthetics in Contemporary Chinese and Sinophone Cinema
- Soundscape and Sense of Presence in the VR Experience of Madame Pirate: Becoming a Legend
- Consuming the White Terror: Transmedia Adaptation and Franchise-Building of Detention
- Tracing the Shape of Despair: Video Game Aesthetics and Actor-Network Theory in An Elephant Sitting Still
- How Does Jade Dynasty Become a Big IP? Mapping Digital Media Ecology in Contemporary China
- Towards a Techno-Hauntological Aesthetic: Immiscible Time and the Spiritual Imagination in Bodyless (Shishenji, 2019) by Huang Hsin-Chien
- Other Research Articles
- Ambivalent Utopias: Corporate Biopower and the Gendered Limits of Agency in Reset
- An Inquiry into Gender and Queer Issues in Chinese-Language Sci-Fi Film: A Case Study of The Soul
- Century-Old Hong Kong Films and the Chinese Cultural Tradition
- The Evaluation System of Global Cinematic Strength and the Advancement of Chinese Films
- Interview
- The World is the “Hometown” of the Camera: Interview with Jia Zhangke