Donghua Fan

Heaven Official's Blessing

Novel

Heaven Official's Blessing — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novel

At a glance244 chapters · completed

Heaven Official's Blessing — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novel

Heaven Official's Blessing adapts Tian Guan Ci Fu (天官赐福), the third novel by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (墨香铜臭), serialized on Jinjiang Literature City from 16 June 2017 to 25 February 2018. Across 244 chapters and eight bonus chapters, it tells the story of Xie Lian, a crown prince turned god, fallen twice, who ascends to heaven for the third time without a single worshipper, and of Hua Cheng, the fearsome ghost king who seems to have been waiting for him for eight hundred years.

Origins and publication

After Scum Villain's Self-Saving System and Mo Dao Zu Shi, MXTX changed scale. Tian Guan Ci Fu is a story about faith, downfall and devotion, alternating supernatural investigations in the present with long flashbacks to the fall of the kingdom of Xianle. Xie Lian is an unusual hero: a ruined god who collects scrap to get by and keeps an unshakeable gentleness despite everything he has lost.

The novel first came out in Taiwan from Pingxin in 6 volumes starting in February 2021, then in mainland China in 2023 in a revised three-volume edition. Seven Seas has published the English translation in 8 volumes since December 2021, and editions also exist in Thai, Vietnamese and many other languages.

Volume covers

All 6 volumes of the print edition.

  • Heaven Official's Blessing — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novel — cover of volume 1Vol. 1
  • Heaven Official's Blessing — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novel — cover of volume 2Vol. 2
  • Heaven Official's Blessing — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novel — cover of volume 3Vol. 3
  • Heaven Official's Blessing — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novel — cover of volume 4Vol. 4
  • Heaven Official's Blessing — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novel — cover of volume 5Vol. 5
  • Heaven Official's Blessing — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novel — cover of volume 6Vol. 6

How it differs from the donghua

Haoliners' donghua, launched on 31 October 2020 on Bilibili, is one of the most beautiful adaptations of the decade. It faithfully follows the early arcs but has so far only covered part of the novel. As with Mo Dao Zu Shi, the relationship between Xie Lian and Hua Cheng remains suggested, whereas the novel fully embraces it. The book also offers far more humour in Heaven, among the gods of the Heavenly Court, and much longer flashbacks to Xie Lian's youth.

Reception and success

Tian Guan Ci Fu is often considered MXTX's most ambitious novel. Its English translation sold very well, and the franchise has become one of the most popular in danmei culture worldwide. Its official mainland Chinese release in 2023 was welcomed by fans after years of uncertainty.

Trivia

  • The title comes from a traditional blessing, "may the heavenly official grant fortune", often written on doors at New Year.
  • Hua Cheng is nicknamed "Crimson Rain Sought Flower" (血雨探花) after one of his legends.
  • A live-action drama, Eternal Faith, starring Zhai Xiaowen and Zhang Linghe, was filmed in 2021-2022 but has never aired.
  • Xie Lian has ascended three times, which makes him the laughing stock of the Heavenly Court at the start of the novel.

My take

This is the MXTX novel that moved me most. Xie Lian is a hero of rare kindness, Hua Cheng is fascinating, and the way the author gradually reveals their shared history is masterful. The opening is a little slow and the heavenly world has a lot of characters. But the long flashbacks to Xianle are among the finest pages in danmei.

Who is it for?Romance and fantasy readers who love stories of devotion, and donghua fans who want to know what happens next.

— Spidermas, for Donghua Fan

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Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (MXTX)The authorMo Xiang Tong Xiu (MXTX) 墨香铜臭The discreet queen of danmei
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