Gansheng Tan M.Eng

Gansheng Tan M.Eng

PhD Candidate in Biomedical Engineering

Reflection on the universal mechanism: parallels between eastern fantasy novels [^1] and neuroscience research

less than 1 minute read

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Gansheng Tan1 1Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA (g.tan@wustl.edu)

^1: By Eastern fantasy novels, I refer specifically to 修真小说 (xiūzhēn xiǎoshuō), literally “novels of cultivating truth.” These works depict characters who pursue physical and metaphysical refinement—training mind, body, and spirit to attain harmony with the Dao (道) and, often, immortality. In English, they are commonly known as cultivation novels. The broader genre includes several subcategories, such as 仙侠 (xiānxiá): “immortal hero” fiction, combining martial arts, Taoist philosophy, and transcendence.

Tao, natural order of the universe.

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