Daomu
"Daomu Biji" (Chinese: 盜墓筆記) variously translated as Grave Robbers’ Chronicles (title of the English translation of the book) or Grave Robbery Note (title seen on manhua edition), is a novel series about the grave-robbing adventures of Wu Xie, a young man hailing from a family that had been tomb-raiders for centuries. Written by Kennedy Xu (Chinese: 徐磊), it was first serialized online at Qidian China. Written over a span of five years and published as nine separate novels, it is one of the most popular novel series in China from 2007 with several million fans. The author has also written two sequels, Zang Hai Hua (Chinese: 藏海花) and Sha Hai (Chinese: 沙海) which continued the leading character's story, neither of which were finished at the time of the author's announcement to retire from writing on March 22, 2013.[1]
Along with Ghost Blows Out the Light, Daomu has contributed greatly to creating a craze and subsequent market in the Greater China area for novels focusing on grave-robbing that also deal with the supernatural.
Plot
50 years ago, a group of Changsha grave robbers dug out manuscripts of the location of treasures from Warring states, but an encounter with an undead rendered almost the whole group dead. In the present, the young grandchild of the sole survivor, Wu Xie, discovers a secret within his grandfather's notes. Together with his third uncle, Wu Sansheng, and a few other experienced tomb robbers, to search for the treasure. But what no one expected to find the intriguing mysteries that accompanied their tomb robbing adventure - just who was the owner of that tomb? Will they be able to find the real coffin? And just where will these puzzle lead the group? [2]
Embarking on eight-volume's worth of adventures, as Wu Xie slowly unravels millennium-old mysteries, he sees the deterioration of his naive world as he discovers the people around him are not what they seem and that he could trust no one in this tomb robbing world of deceit and lies.
Main Characters
Wu Xie (Chinese: 吳邪): The point-of-view character and primary protagonist. He is from the Hangzhou Wu family, one of the Changsha Old Nine, a group of families who have been grave-robbing for centuries. At the beginning of the first book he joins his uncle Wu Sansheng to experience grave-robbing for the first time, setting off the series of events to come in later books. His name is a homophone with "innocent" (無邪, also pronounced "Wu Xie"), indicating his gullible nature.
Kylin Zhang (Chinese: 張起靈): A man with a mysterious past whose story leads the last few volumes of the chronicles. He is often hired as an assistant to many grave-robbing endeavors and is highly competent at it; very little is known about him, even his real name.
Fat Wang(Chinese: 胖子): Nicknamed "Gold Getting Xiao Wei", he is a northern grave-robber (as opposed to Wu Xie, from the south) and teams up with both Wu and Zhang throughout the books; together they are referred to as the "Iron Triangle."
Wu Sanxing: Wu Xie's third uncle. An experienced grave-robber with a few well-kept secrets.
Pan Zi: Sansheng's right-hand man, who had served in the Vietnam War prior to becoming a grave-robber.
Ah Ning: A grave-robber and the first major female introduced in the series, her motives are unclear but seems to be working against the protagonists.
Yun Cai: A Yao girl who helps Fat Wang and Wu Xie during their adventures in Yunnan.
Publication
In 2011, a serialized manhua, drawn by Dongdong and Yuelu, was published. There are currently 5 volumes. There is also an American serialized graphic novel.[3] There are currently 8 novels.
In 2014, it was announced that the series will be made into eight movies, with the first movie to scheduled for 2016. It will cover the events of the first book, and is titled "The Lost Tomb" in English.[4]