Tomb raiding adventure stories have carved out a hugely popular niche within Chinese fiction, and the world, at large. Leading the pack of the best series in this exhilarating genre is the massively successful Candle in the Tomb books by author Zhang Muye. With its 'Gold Touching', treasure-hunting tales of explorers facing supernatural dangers across ancient Chinese tombs, the story of these intrepid friends have become a cultural phenomenon that has spawned dozens of movies, games, and imitations.
Candle in the Tomb whisks readers into a riveting world of hidden crypts, ingenious traps, cursed skeletons, and most importantly, the lure of lost treasures from forgotten eras. Zhang masterfully blends history, fantasy and legend into pulse-pounding pageturners.
The Novel That Started It All
Candle in the Tomb (鬼吹灯之精绝古城), the first entry of the series, introduces the protagonist Hu Bayi, a young man from Shanghai who comes from a long lineage of tomb raiders. He teams up with an American archaeologist named Shirley and a businessman named Wang Kaixuan to hunt for treasures in an ancient tomb near the Taklamakan Desert in China's Xinjiang region.
According to a map found in a cave, there is a secret tomb hidden beneath the ruins of an ancient city that was once along the Silk Road. With funding from Wang, the team embarks on the dangerous expedition into the treacherous desert.
After many trials and encountering deadly traps, they find the buried ancient city and locate the secret entrance to the tomb below the city palace. Venturing into the tomb, they face even more ingenious and lethal mechanisms protecting the burial chamber of a prince from thousands of years ago.
Shirley is injured during one trap involving poisoned darts shooting from the walls. Eventually, Hu Bayi successfully reaches the main chamber by deducing ways around the traps, but has to fight the undead spirit of the entombed prince that was resurrected.
Finally overcoming the supernatural enemy, Hu finds the chamber filled with treasures and relics from a lost civilization. The team escapes safely and splits the artifacts, selling many to museums while keeping some for themselves. Hu Bayi’s tomb raiding career is launched after passing this first big challenge, setting up the following stories in a larger plot that would seek the cure for a curse that afflicted Hu Bayi and Shirley.
The novel was praised for its imagination, ingenuity, and vivid blending of fantasy, history and legend. It launched the mass popularity of the Candle in the Tomb series and tomb raiding genre in China. Not only a synthesis of previous narratives, it elevated the genre and brought in new approaches to various elements, such as the heavy use of Daoist magic, and the somewhat timeless nature of the stories.
Expanding an Addictive Universe
This thrilling debut sparked a series of sequels, prequels and spinoffs from Zhang that expand the Candle in the Tomb universe into a sprawling, interconnected world. We follow the continued adventures of Hu Bayi and friends across 8 main novels and 3 short stories.
Zhang's other tomb raiding series like The Adventures of Hu Yidao and The Legends of Anle further flesh out this fictional version of ancient China filled with booby-trapped mausoleums. He merges real history with mystical folklore for an educational experience. Though liberties have been taken, the stories are always grounded in fact, and even the frequent use of the supernatural is provided a real world excuse.
The books have sold millions of copies and spawned TV shows, films, video games and graphic novels. Zhang's exhaustive world-building transports fans back through centuries of Chinese lore.
More Treasure Hunting with Other Series
For readers hooked on the thrills of subterranean exploits, several other top-notch Chinese authors have their own hit tomb raiding series as well.
There's Daomu Biji or Grave Robbers' Chronicles by Xu Lei, starring a ragtag crew hunting relics while dodging horrors. Fei Xiang's Ghost Blows Out the Light also centers on a team unearthing buried secrets. Nanpai Sanshu's The Lost Tomb incorporates sci-fi and Apocalypse elements for extra excitement.
Together, these intersecting stories have made Tomb Raiding a major force in Chinese pop culture through books, cinema, games and more. Zhang Muye's Candle in the Tomb remains the brightest guiding light, however, for its sheer breadth and imaginative allure. Its fusion of history, fantasy and adrenaline-fueled adventure will leave you racing to finish every volume. Just be sure to watch out for those booby traps!