wuxia

noun

wu·​xia ˈwü-ˈshyä 

variants or less commonly Wuxia

: a genre of film, fiction, games, etc., that incorporates elements of fantasy, Chinese history, and martial arts

It's an excellent setup for both social commentary and bone-crunching action sequences, … adroitly juggling the aesthetics of wuxia, kung fu, steampunk and comic books.

—Jason Bailey

Thanks to the success of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, American audiences fell in love with Wuxia, the Chinese movie genre based around historical heroes with magical … abilities.

—Joe George

Wuxia is one of the oldest genres in Chinese cinema, centered on martial heroes—usually sword-wielding men and women—who live outside the rules of mainstream society.

—Goran Topalovic, quoted in The Times-Union (Albany, New York)

—often used before another noun

wuxia films/novels

… a martial-arts style role-playing game set in a wuxia world …

—Liam Doolan

Examples of wuxia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Yeoh has personally curated a three-film program of her work for Busan, comprising Sandiwara, Everything Everywhere All at Once and the 2010 wuxia favorite Reign of Assassins. — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2026

Li also stars in the film, described as a Hong Kong action film with its roots in wuxia and kungfu martial arts, with rising actress Sun Yiran, real-life MMA fighter Yao Honggang and Wu Long. — Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025

As a filmmaker, Lu has always been deeply fascinated by both the world of animation and the wuxia genre. — Jenny S. Li, Variety, 20 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Chinese (Beijing) wǔxiá "chivalrous warrior, chivalry, genre of Chinese historical fiction dealing with martial artists" from wǔ "military, martial" + xiá "chivalrous warrior, chivalry"

First Known Use

1992, in the meaning defined above