Editing Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (section)

{{about|the novel|other uses|Demigod (disambiguation)}}
{{Other uses|Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|1963 wuxia novel by Jin Yong}}
{{Infobox book
<!-- |italic title = (see above) -->
| name = Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils
| image = Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils earliest ed book 16.jpg
| caption = Volume 16 of an early edition of ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils''
| author = [[Jin Yong]]
| title_orig = {{noitalics|天龍八部}}
| translator = 
| illustrator = 
| cover_artist = 
| country = Hong Kong
| language = Chinese
| genre = [[Wuxia]]
| publisher = ''[[Ming Pao]]''
| publisher2 = ''[[Nanyang Siang Pau]]''
| pub_date = 3 September 1963
| english_pub_date = 
| media_type = Print
| pages = 
| isbn = 
| oclc = 
| dewey = 
| congress = 
| preceded_by = The [[Sword of the Yue Maiden]]
| followed_by = [[The Legend of the Condor Heroes]]
| wikisource =
}}
{{Chinese|t=天龍八部|s=天龙八部|p=Tiān Lóng Bā Bù|j=Tin1 Lung4 Baat3 Bou6|l=The [[Deva (Buddhism)|Deva]], the [[Nāga]], the [[Eight Legions|Eight Sections]]}}

'''''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils''''' is a [[wuxia]] novel by [[Jin Yong]] (Louis Cha). It was first serialised concurrently from 3 September 1963 to 27 May 1966 in the newspapers ''[[Ming Pao]]'' in Hong Kong<ref>The date conforms to the data published in Chen Zhenhui (陳鎮輝), ''Wuxia Xiaoshuo Xiaoyao Tan'' (武俠小說逍遙談), 2000, Huizhi Publishing Company (匯智出版有限公司), p. 58.</ref> and ''[[Nanyang Siang Pau]]'' in Singapore. It has been adapted into films and television series in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China numerous times since the 1970s. Set in 11th-century China, the plot is made up of separate yet intertwining storylines revolving around three protagonists – Qiao Feng, [[Duan Yu]] and Xuzhu – and other characters from various empires ([[Song dynasty|Song]], [[Liao dynasty|Liao]], [[Dali Kingdom|Dali]], [[Western Xia]] and [[Era of Fragmentation|Tibet]]) and [[List of organisations in wuxia fiction#Works of Jin Yong|martial arts sects]]. The novel examines the [[Causality|cause and effect]] that form and break the inherent bonds underlying each major character's struggles on five uniquely corresponding levels: self, family, society, ethnic group, and country (dominion).

The novel's Chinese title is a reference to the [[Eight Legions|eight races of demi-gods and semi-devils]] described in [[Buddhist cosmology]] as the major characters are based on the eight races. In Buddhism, these demi-gods and semi-devils are markedly different from the human race but are still bound to [[Saṃsāra]] by their own desires. Jin Yong originally modelled each major character after one of the races but, as he continued writing, the complexity of the story made it impossible for such a simplistic mapping.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090322182727/http://www.jyjh.net.cn/jyqj/01/mydoc001.htm Preface of the novel]</ref>  The novel's title has been a challenge for translators for years before it was decided to be ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils''. An alternative English title is ''Eight Books of the Heavenly Dragon''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Handbook of Chinese Popular Culture|editor1=Dingbo, Wu|editor2=Murphy, Patrick D.|chapter=Gallant Fiction|page=248|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=1994|isbn=0313278083}}</ref>