Daomu Biji variously translated as Grave Robbers’ Chronicles, Grave Robbery Note and The Lost Tomb, 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 Xu Lei who is better known by his pen-name Nan Pai San Shu, it was first serialized online at Qidian China, a Chinese website for publishing, writing and reading novels. 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 and over 20 million copies sold. The author has also written two sequels, Zang Hai Hua and Sha Hai 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. 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 Changshagrave 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 Sanxing, 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? 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 : 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 Sanxing 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", indicating his gullible nature. Zhang Kylin : 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. "Fatty" Wang : Nicknamed "Gold Getting Xiao Wei", he is a northern grave-robber and teams up with both Wu Xie and Zhang Kylin 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 Sino-Vietnamese War prior to becoming a grave-robber. A'ning : A grave-robber and the first major female introduced in the series, her motives are unclear but she 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. After the fifth volume, the author of Daomu Biji had an argument with Dongdong and Yuelu. This, unfortunately ended the manhua series. There is also an American serialized graphic novel. There are currently 8 novels. In 2014, it was announced that the series would be made into eight seasons, with the first season to be scheduled for 2015. It would cover the events of the first book, and was titled The Lost Tomb in English. In 2016, the novel series was adapted into an action adventure movie which also called Daomu Biji. The movie finally won 1 billion 4 million yuan at the box office. The movie ranked the ninth largest box office in mainland China in 2016, and it won the fifth place in Chinese movie box office ranking. In 2019, the second season of the 2015 adaptation began airing with an all-new cast. It covers the events of the second through fourth books. In 2020, the drama Reunion: The Sound of the Providence started airing, with a new cast headed by Zhu Yilong. It adapts the sequel novel Reboot: Thunder at the Distant Sea.
