This book examines how and under which cultural forces myths from the Four Great Novels — Sanguo Yanyi (三國演義), Shuihuzhuan (水滸傳), Xiyouji (西遊記), and Hongloumeng (紅樓夢) — have been reinterpreted in television adaptations. First, it defines myths as symbolic narratives and presents the stories of the novels as the cornerstone of national identity formation. Then, it places the adaptations within the organically grown narrative rhizomes of the novels. The works of the first wave (1986–1998) feature socialist modifications to leaders and heroes, remove most fantastic elements, and begin to secularize religious semantics as maturity that poses no threat to materialism. The leadership myth of the second wave (2010–2012) is characterized by post-socialist dissonance and distrust; fantastical elements are amplified to neutralize them, and religious concepts are co-opted to support the CCP. However, Hongloumeng (2010) develops a subversion of verbal authority through the visual
