I’ve found it really demoralising trying to read Wuxia as I can read modern books like 三体 really easy so it’s tough going to something I struggle with so much, but it will be worth it in the end, and this book seems like an achievable challenge.

I think wuxia is probably too big for there to be guides explaining every possible detail for example what a 镖局 is but I think I’ll hopefully be ok just looking things up as I go.

Thanks again

Thanks for all the replies! Yes I read digitally on my Kindle which has the CEDICT Chinese-English dictionary installed, and have my phone with Pleco with a few odd dictionaries available as well. Making decent progress now..and yes I do just skim over some of the poetry and classical-style sections if it isn’t too central to the plot. Wuxia is fun!

Or do it digitally in Pleco’s document reader or other place where you can easily find definitions quickly without interrupting reading too much.

I think if you can read most contemporary Chinese fiction, you just need to rely on Google/Baidu when you encounter difficult passages that feels “classical.” It is what I do when I read “The Ravages of Time” (a comic about Three Kingdoms). Most of its dialog is average difficulty, but occasionally it will quote ancient text that are not familiar to me at all, so I’m always reading around the subject matter. If I find the Chinese sources still difficult to understand, I would even try searching for English translation/analysis about the passage. After repeated exposure to the same phrases you’ll find a pattern to “Classical” stuff and be able to skim, unless you want to understand absolutely everything about a specific passage/citation. 🙂

However when reading 天龙八部 I find there are passages where I am just hopelessly lost, have not even a clue what’s going on. Especially where certain poetry/spells are being read. Do I need to bite the bullet and learn Classical? Or perhaps even with my current knowledge I need to start with an easier author like 古龙?

Thanks!