Possibly a stupid question ...

[trepkos]

In the Guardian books in english, they keep mentioning the term "cultivate" - it's not a good time or place for cultivation etc.

Can someone please explain what they mean?

Thanks!

Comments

[autodach]

The Wikipedia article on Xianxia has a subsection on cultivation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xianxia#Cultivation.

This is the definition they give:
"In these stories protagonists are usually "cultivators" or "practitioners" (修心者; xiūxīnzhě; 修士; xiūshì; or 修仙者; xiūxiānzhě) who seek to become immortal beings called xian. Along the way, they attain eternal life, supernatural powers, and incredible levels of strength. The fictional theme of cultivation or immortal arts practice in xianxia is heavily based on the real-life meditation practice of qigong."

Further up, the same article also states:
"gods, immortals, yaoguai, and demons all engage in meditative practices and the consumption of rare substances or creatures to improve their skills or to augment their power."

Does this help? It can be a bit vague - not every author uses these concepts the same way.

[trepkos]

Many thanks!

[trobadora]

What autodach said about xianxia - basically, it's what fantasy fiction made out of daoist beliefs around self-cultivation and internal alchemy.