Throne of Seal — Tang Jia San's novel
At a glance920 chapters · completed
Throne of Seal adapts Shen Yin Wangzuo (神印王座), a novel by Tang Jia San (唐家三少), author of Soul Land, serialized on Qidian from 2011. In a world where humanity survives behind the walls of six great temples against demonic armies, young Long Haochen joins the Knight Temple to save his mother and aim for the order's most prestigious throne.
Origins and publication
After the success of Soul Land and its sequel, Tang Jia San changed register. Throne of Seal borrows heavily from Western fantasy: armoured knights, magical mounts, priests, mages and demons. The enemies are organised into 72 "pillars", a direct nod to the 72 demons of European occult tradition. The author still keeps his recipe: an upright, loyal hero, rank-based progression and a central romance, here with the mysterious Cai'er.
The Chinese print edition came out from Shandong Pictorial starting in November 2011. Tang Jia San later extended the universe with a sequel, Shen Yin Wangzuo II: Hao Yue Dang Kong (神印王座II 皓月当空).
How it differs from the donghua
The donghua, launched in April 2022 on Tencent Video, modernised the look of the characters and armour with polished 3D. It stays faithful to Long Haochen's journey but tightens the formation of his demon-hunting team and cuts some training passages. The novel goes further into how the six temples work, the politics between them and the hero's family past, which weighs heavily in the second half.
Reception and success
Throne of Seal does not have Soul Land's aura, but it has a loyal fanbase that enjoys its mix of medieval fantasy and Chinese conventions. Critics point to a sometimes too-perfect hero and familiar tropes. The donghua, very popular in China, revived interest in the novel.
Trivia
- The novel's 72 demon pillars echo the number of demons in the Ars Goetia, a 17th-century European grimoire.
- The title Shen Yin Wangzuo means "the throne of the divine seal", the highest honour a knight can aspire to.
- Long Haochen joins the Knight Temple first and foremost to find a way to save his mother.
- Tang Jia San also wrote Soul Land and Soul Land II, two other franchises covered on Donghua Fan.
My take
I have a soft spot for this novel, which dares to step outside the classic Chinese setting. The temple world is original and Long Haochen is an endearing hero, even if he sometimes lacks nuance. The style is still Tang Jia San's, simple and effective, with its repetitions. Read it if you enjoyed Soul Land and want something close yet different.
Who is it for?Soul Land fans, and lovers of knights and Western-style fantasy reimagined the Chinese way.
— Spidermas, for Donghua Fan
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The authorTang Jia San 唐家三少The king of online writers