From Tang Dynasty Fiction to Contemporary Sci-Fi Fantasy

The Chinese-American sci-fi fantasy writer Ken Liu draws a lot from Chinese tradition. In his short story collection, "The Hidden Girl and Other Stories," between sci-fi stories about the singularity and space exploration, he rewrites a short story from the late-Tang Dynasty called "Nie Yinniang," literally "The Hidden Lady Nie."

For all of its kung fu fighting, though, "Nie Yinniang" is often not the work of Tang fiction considered the founding document of the wuxia or martial arts genre. That honor belongs to "The Man with the Dragon Beard," which has no fight scenes...

So what do we ultimately owe these Tang era authors?

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