Xianxia (traditional Chinese: 仙俠; simplified Chinese: 仙侠; pinyin: xiānxiá; lit. 'immortal heroes') is a genre of Chinese fantasy heavily inspired by Chinese mythology and influenced by philosophies of Taoism, Chan Buddhism, Chinese martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese folk religion, Chinese alchemy, other traditional elements of Chinese culture,^[1] and the wuxia genre.

The characters forming xianxia are xiān (仙) and xiá (侠). A xian is a being from Chinese mythology, particularly from Taoist legends, that can be one or more of these things: a powerful spirit, a god, a zhenren, and/or someone who has obtained immortality or extraordinary longevity through self-cultivation to become a transcendent being.

Xiá is usually translated as "hero" or "vigilante", but specifically implies a person who is brave, chivalrous, righteous and defiant.^[1] The character was originally used as one of the characters in the word "wuxia" and was transferred to the word "xianxia" to make it apparent that the modern xianxia genre was inspired by the popularity and several other elements, including powers gained from qi manipulation, of wuxia.

The stories usually revolve around the adventure/growth of a magical practitioner or a mortal person who happens to get entangled in supernatural affairs, and include elements such as gods and immortals, spirits, demons, ghosts and mythical creatures. These stories are usually "Chinese fantasy rooted in...Taoism, Buddhism", other Chinese mythological elements and tropes,^[2] and shenmo fiction.

There are many ancient Chinese texts that could be classified as xianxia, such as the Classic of Mountains and Seas from the Warring States period.^[7] Xianxia novels were popularized during the Republic of China period, but it was the 1932 novel Legend of the Swordsmen of the Mountains of Shu that sparked the modern popularity of the genre.^[8]

In the 2010s and 2020s, many wuxia and xianxia novels have discussed topics such as neoliberalism and alternatives to what is seen as a stagnant world order brought about by magic and/or religious organizations.^[3]

Xianxia is often compared to the wuxia (武侠, "martial hero") genre, and the two share many similarities – both being set in a quasi-historical ancient China, featuring larger-than-life human protagonists, and struggles between good and evil. The main difference is that xianxia generally has much more metaphysical themes. The genre has a heavier focus on spiritual growth and mastery of superpowers, pursuit for eternal existence, fates and reincarnations, multiple realms of reality, and interaction with legendary creatures and spirits. Wuxia, by contrast, is grounded in the human world with few supernatural elements and mainly emphasizes martial arts, personal vendetta, treasure hunting, social justice,^[3] radical politics,^[3] and power struggles.

Other variants of similar Chinese high fantasy exist as well, such as shenmo (神魔), which generally refers high fantasy works that focuses more on deities, demons and other supernatural beings rather than humans; xuanhuan (玄幻, "mysterious fantasy") generally refers to high-magic fantasy works that dispense with Taoist elements and have a less realistic setting; and qihuan (奇幻, "strange fantasy" or "exotic fantasy") are Chinese works set in a more explicitly Western-style fantasy setting, although generally keeping a Chinese mythological influence.^[14]

• Chinese philosophy
• Chinese mythology
• Guzhuang — ancient Chinese-style costume, typically used in xianxia and wuxia
• Xian (Taoism)
• Sword and sorcery — a similar genre in Western fantasy literature and derived works