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Since it can get confusing. I've only really read the book, and don't know Chinese, so take everything with a grain of salt.

So!

魔道祖师/Mo Dao Zu Shi is a Chinese fantasy m/m webnovel that came out in 2016. The title is translated as either The Founder of Diabolism or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, and a lot of people in English-speaking fandom just call it MDZS.

It has a bunch of adaptations into comics/animation/audio, which generally use the same name. The very popular live action version is called The Untamed.

I personally like the book best, and thanks to censorship it's the only explicitly queer version available in English. But they're all good, and starting one of the visual media, at least for a while, often helps people get their heads around all the characters and sects. Here's a character guide.

That's the basics! But there's more...

The Book

The two English fan translations I'm familiar with are Exiled Rebels and this other translation of the later chapters. Both are a bit clunky.

My review: A fantastic Chinese m/m fantasy novel about the brilliant but reckless necromancer Wei Wuxian, who just wants to do what's right, and the quietly grumpy Lan Wangji who keeps bailing him out of the corpse related jams that result. Thrilling, hilarious, compassionate, and wonderfully romantic. The sex scenes are a bit...BL, but I got used to them once I realised it's poorly negotiated but mutually enjoyed kink.

While most of the book's plot is about mysterious corpses, tragic family drama etc, there's a significant thread of slow-burn UST between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji that culminates at the end of the book with the two of them getting together and having very explicit, somewhat dub-con, sex. They're both basically good people, but Wei Wuxian's trauma and dark magic lead him to get creepily violent towards his enemies, and Lan Wangji can be jealous and petty.

MDZS is in the intersection of two genres:

Danmei: m/m novels, generally by and for women.
Xianxia: Based on ancient China, but with 'cultivation', which is kind of like magic.

Since Chinese censorship discourages porn and homosexuality, danmei authors have to walk a careful line. More recent editions of MDZS have the porn cut out.

The author's name is Mo Xiang Tong Xiu/墨香铜臭 which apparently translates as "The scent of ink and copper stink". She's usually referred in English-speaking fandom as MXTX. She's also the author of the other danmei xianxia novels Scum Villain's Self Saving System and Heaven Official's Blessing. Not much is known about her beyond being a Chinese woman, probably in her 20s.

It's possible to buy the official (and thus censored) Chinese version online and have money go to MXTX, I've seen tutorials around but don't have one to hand, and paying money on sites I can't understand intimidates me too much.

The Audio Dramas

The website.

There's one in Mandarin and one in Japanese. They're both apparently very good, complete, and very close to the book, without much censorship. Afaict MXTX had creative control and added some extras. Alas I don't speak Mandarin or Japanese, so haven't listened.

The Manhua/Comic

This started in 2017 and is apparently ok, but doesn't seem to be anyone's favourite version. Makes the m/m subtext, and has a few other changes, but otherwise seems fairly close to the book. The links to the official English translation don't work, and I can't figure out if it's complete, but there's fan translations around.

The main Donghua/Animation

Watch with English subtitles here along with some very cute in-character animated ads for Cornetto.

Well made anime-style tv show, fairly close to the book but had to make all the m/m subtextual. I've only watched season 1 but really liked it, and it made keeping track of all the characters in the novel easier once I had mental images. It started in 2018 and is currently up to Season 2 of 3+.

Chibi animation: The Founder of Diabolism Q

The Founder of Diabolism Q, just starting in 2020.

A set of cute, happy shorts specifically designed to help fans of the "Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation" animation/donghua deal with all the angst, lol.

I've only watched one episode, it was very silly but cute.

The Untamed: The live action version

Watch with English subtitles here or on Netflix. It came out in 2019.

I haven't watched this, but afaict it's the most heavily censored and altered version of the main story: the m/m is all subtext, the characters have been made more morally black and white, the necromancy is now mind-control etc(*). Other plot changes have been made, including giving the female characters more lines and presence. There's a full, spoilery list of changes here. It's also a bit low-budget and janky.

The Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji relationship apparently still shines pretty unambiguously, and the Untamed is very popular. A fair number of people prefer it to the book for having nicer characters, being more friends-to-lovers than enemies-to-lovers, not having any dubcon, etc.

The plot and characters are still basically the same, but to some extent English speaking Untamed fandom is it's own separate thing. Still, there's plenty of people who love both and create fanworks which combine the two.

(*)There's INTENSE censorship of moral ambiguity, homosexuality, and the supernatural on TV in China. The Untamed creators seem to have done their best to keep the essence of the book despite these restrictions.

Other Links and info