Web Novel网络小说
wǎngluò xiǎoshuō
Serialized online fiction, often thousands of chapters long; the source material for most major donghua.
Chinese web novels are published chapter-by-chapter on platforms like Qidian (for male-oriented genres) and JJWXC (for romance and danmei), where authors are paid by reader subscriptions and update daily for years. The economics favor length and cliffhangers, which shaped the genre conventions donghua inherited: staged power systems, tournament arcs, and the face-slapping loop.
The adaptation pipeline is now industrial. A hit novel becomes a manhua, then a donghua, then games and live-action, with the animation often the step that turns a domestic hit into an international one. Authors like Tian Can Tu Dou (Battle Through the Heavens), Er Gen (Renegade Immortal), and Wang Yu (A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality) anchor entire platform lineups.