(12 Sep 2022) Sixteen works have become the first Chinese web novels to be included in the British Library, one of the world’s largest academic libraries. The works now in the library’s Asian & African collections are My Heroic Husband, Up in Heaven, The Era of the Earth, The First Order, Great Power, Heavy Industry, Great Doctor Ling Ran, Good Spring Time, The Wisdom of the Great Song Dynasty, Zhenguan Big Idler, Mystical Treasures, The Road to Revival, Zhou Lin, Magic World, Above the Dome, The Great Lawyer and Zhang Huan. This set covers 20 years of classic web novels, from the medium’s early days to the present, across the genres of sci-fi, historical fiction, realistic fiction, and fantasy.
The British Library selects books based on readers’ requirements and the value of the items — what people want to read and what works are culturally significant. It welcomes items that reflect the history, art and culture of a country or region. The inclusion of the 16 works demonstrates that online literature has become an important contemporary cultural phenomenon.
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