Jinjiang (晋江文学城) is a major Chinese web novel publisher covering a variety of genres, with most traffic generated from romance, fantasy, and danmei (Boy’s Love novels). Over the years, Jinjiang has been through increasingly harsh crackdowns against pornographic and indecent content. As of 2024, any below-the-neck explicit content is forbidden on the platform. Jinjiang also became the first Chinese website to require real-name verification with a user’s hukou (the resident identity card every Chinese citizen has) rather than their phone number.
As restrictions grew, Jinjiang users began migrating to overseas websites, such as POPO and Haitang (海棠书城) from Taiwan. Neither of these websites has explicit content restrictions; the majority of the content is erotic romance and danmei targeting a female audience.
Literature on Jinjiang and Haitang is frequently criticized for its unapologetically provocative and raunchy original content. Despite this, RedNote and Weibo users claimed that over 60 Jinjiang web novels were sold to production companies to be adapted into streaming shows in 2024 alone.
These novels are popular because they often break the traditional romance model with stereotyped characters and generic plotlines. This novelty translates to the drama industry, where the audience is constantly looking for diverse and stimulating stories.
The eroticism that captivates Jinjiang and Haitang readers is typically removed from streaming drama adaptations, however. The National Radio and Television Administration prohibits “sexual and obscene content, showing vulgarity, rape, prostitution, sexual behavior, fetishes, homosexuality, masturbation, and content showing sexual organs.” All of these are frequently found in Jinjiang and Haitang novels.
2018’s adaptation of Bloody Romance was celebrated for its excellent plotline and visuals. However, discourse erupted regarding whether a tacky erotic novel banned from Jinjiang deserves to be dramatized at all. Despite such debate, erotic literature titles are still constantly being adapted to live action dramas, with The Prisoner of Beauty and Sunsets Secrets Regrets set to be released in 2025.
The rise of erotic literature adaptations has led to other controversial online discussions centering on feminism and women-targeted literature. Some netizens have voiced their displeasure that dramatized web novels are often directed by men, with male audiences in mind, even though the majority of these web novels are written by women and marketed exclusively towards women. (Jinjiang’s user base is over 90% women.)
Furthermore, over 50 female erotic writers have been detained since June 2024, for the crime of “producing and spreading pornographic materials,” some receiving sentences of up to ten years. Netizens are understandably outraged, saying, “Haitang writers should not have a longer sentence than rapists.” There is money to be made from erotic literature, but there is also no definitive line that separates what is approved but criticized and what is outright criminalized.
Cover image via Youku
