Resources Masterlist

[mekare]

Let's start a list of resources for DMBJ! Add your own helpful sources in the comments and I'll add them to the list.

1 The Source Material

DMBJ (Daomu Biji aka The Grave Robbers' Chronicles) is a vast canon spanning a long (unfinished) series of novels, and many, many TV adaptations. Find your way through with these helpful posts.

Novels

Guide to Reading the Novels by laireshi

Note: Includes an overview which book was adapted into what drama/film and links where you can read.

Pros and Cons of reading the novels by eigwayne includes global content warnings for all published works

Masterpost of summaries of the main novels by Michelle N. (blog strictlybromance)

DMBJ Novels wordcounts stats by bladedweapons and foxofninetails

Dramas

I‘m putting the dramas here in chronological order of events, not filming order.

Complete List of all DMBJ adaptations

The Mystic Nine

This is sort of a prequel story to the main storyline set in the Republican Era (1930s).

The Mystic Nine Promo Post by dreamy_dragon, contains an overview, the official trailer and a fanvid.

Cut scenes from The Mystic Nine by dancing_serpent

The Lost Tomb 1 (2015)

The beginning of the story, about covers book 1.

NEW: Spoiler-free overview of the Lost Tomb World by crism79
- contains thoughts on the (back then) upcoming dramas Reunion: The Sound of the Providence, and The Lost Tomb 2
-review of The Lost Tomb

The Lost Tomb 2: Explore With the Note

Unfortunately I haven't found a good intro post for this one yet. This one deals with Wu Xie‘s second adventure in an underwater tomb.

Wu Xie‘s room in episode 1 by bladedweapons


Ultimate Note (2019)

This one adapts the novels 5-7 and has become one of the most popular adaptations. It‘s a great starting point to check out DMBJ in general.

Guide to Watching Ultimate Note by laireshi

Link to a timeline and minute-by-minute episode guide for Ultimate Note by donutsweeper

Tibetan Sea Flower aka Adventure Behind the Bronze Door (2024 release, filmed earlier)

Meta about the intro sequence by Thimblerig

Video about the music in TSF sent by Michiaki, as of now, no English subs

Sha Hai aka Tomb of the Sea aka Sand Sea (2017)

NEW: Thoughts on Sha Hai (with screencaps) by crism79

Why you should watch Sha Hai - a mildly unhinged presentation by spinecorset, very amusing a bit rambly but spoilery!

NEW:: What you should watch: Sha Hai by welcometothejianghu

A bit spoilery (regarding which characters interact, for one particular character if they survive, character interactions.) Very thorough though and focusing on the pros.

Sha Hai character meta by soresus, on Wu Xie, Xie Yuchen and Hei Xiazi

wu xie, xiao hua, and hei xiazi together in sha hai make me want to scream. sha hai says here is wu xie, here is a man tearing himself apart from separation from the one he loves, to the point of poisoning himself again and again just for a glimpse of his face, and he has chosen to bear it all by wielding three generations' worth of trauma like a knife to destroy the ones who inflicted it. then here is xie yuchen, a man who stood by and suffered without thanks while wu xie got the life he could never reach for, and he says, i will help you.[…]

The Lost Tomb Reboot/Reunion: The Sound of the Providence (2019)

The Lost Tomb Reboot Episode Guide by naye

Extremely helpful to find that one scene you need. Spreadsheet format. Timestamps!

Content Notes/warnings for every episode of The Lost Tomb Reboot crowdsourced by naye, link goes to a googledoc

Wu Xie Serving Lewks by Canary3d, a screencap&gif collection of not only Wu Xie‘s but many characters' outfits in Reunion. Excellent art and fic resource.

2 Fandom stuff

You want to know who all those people in the canon are? Looking for potential characters to latch on? Look no further.

Fandom Introduction/Fandom Manifestos

[new 2025] : A Newbie‘s guide to the Lost Tomb Franchise by poorsallystitches

[2024]: Welcome to DMBJ aka Grave Robbers' Chronicles aka how fanfiction turned into the biggest IP in China by ilgaksu

Fandom Manifesto by hils

This is called Liu Sang 101: An Introductory Course, but the second part (start reading from "The DMBJ Universe") has an excellent general overview of Daomu Biji as a whole and introduces all major important characters. By fox_of_nine_tales.

Entry points for watching DMBJ by fox_of_nine_tales.

Guide to Watching Ultimate Note by laireshi

Note: This one argues for why you should start with Ultimate Note (and explains the stuff you need to know if you start there). Also contains a book-show comparison for other DMBJ adaptations.

Character overviews

ETA (Jan 2023): DMBJ names and terms of address by mountainrose, compiled by various members of the DMbJ Discord

ETA (Aug 2022): DMBJ Character guides by wild-feather now on AO3 in separate chapters. You‘ll find the character guides from Tumblr below now in one place, plus a new one for minor male characters!

Who is who in The Lost Tomb world (Iron Triangle and the different actors) by wild-feather

Who is who in The Lost Tomb world (everyone important apart from Iron Triangle) by wild-feather

All the ladies in the Lost Tomb world by wild-feather updated version 18/06/2022

Time Raiders: A Ning and her 8 men overview by wild-feather

Pangzi‘s novel background by mekare, quotes on appearance, skills and history as well as his relationships with others

NEW: Ages of Wu Xie actors versus the character in the dramas by fox_of_nine_tails

Fanart

Now, for the Western side of fandom, I believe most fanart can be found on Tumblr or on AO3. dmbjartreblogs (run by unforth) collects a lot of DMBJ fanart, so is a good starting point.

Chinese artists post to Weibo and Lofter (which I do not have an account at) and there are probably many other sites you could check. I‘ll update this section after some further research.

[2024] List of Chinese DMBJ artists with links by lotusflowerbreakingthesurface

Meta

DMBJ Timeline, ver. 003 by margraves, extremely spoilery, not just regarding characters but also the overarching conspiracy plot, so proceed at your own risk! If you have watched a couple of adaptations or read some of the novels, this will help make sense of the chaos.

ETA Feb 23: DMBJ Meta series by thimblerig on various aspects, characters, snakes and continuity between novels and dramas.

Map of Notable Places in DMBJ by mekare

General C-resources

General resources for C-fandoms, including links for archeology, historical information, maps etc. by donutsweeper

Note: 200+ links and still growing!

Fannish participation

The fandom mainly runs on exchanges so far, and by being requested in other multifandom events. Regular DMBJs specific exchanges are (subject to change of course):

Pingxie Exchange: 10yearpromise Exchange / pingxieex for Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling works

Other DMBJ exchanges: dmbjexchange Tumblr for Gen works exchange, HeiHua (Hei Xiazi/Xie Yuchen), small and medium ships exchange

Xiaoge.mp3 challenge by mekare, running until 30th Nov 2023

Year of the Dragon Treat Exchange ran until 10th Feb 2024

The Little Tomb Robber‘s Alphabet project organised by mekare ran in 2024

The DMBJ Calendar project is currently running in 2025!

DMBJ Fandom Events Calendar, also linked in the side bar of the community

ETA (May 2023), the Kinkmeme has been closed, but you can still see all prompts and use them as inspiration! DMBJ Kinkmeme for all the inspiration to create you need, or to dump the plotbunnies for fanworks you wish existed

DMBJ Fanweeks prompts for specific characters and pairings throughout the year ETA: Carrd is offline as of April 2023

Specific questions

Some lovely blogs on Tumblr are answering drama or novel-related questions and I thought I‘d link to those as well.

When did Zhang Qiling get his tattoo?

Answered by taomubiji here: https://www.tumblr.com/taomubiji/698601871198306304/hello-first-i-would-like-to-say-thank-you-for

Comments

[donutsweeper]

Are you only looking for people to comment with things they themselves made or that are by others as well?

I did a detailed timeline and minute-by-minute episode guide spreadsheet for Ultimate Note which is linked to on this tumblr post here.

Also, while my resource post is more focused on resources for historical set fandoms there are several architecture and archeological links that found when doing research for DMBJ related things. (And as I am constantly expanding this post, more probably will be added as I come across more things.)

[laireshi]

I did a detailed timeline and minute-by-minute episode guide spreadsheet for Ultimate Note which is linked to on this tumblr post here.
This is SO USEFUL, thank you so much.

[donutsweeper]

I'm really glad other people also find it so! :)

[mekare]

Are you only looking for people to comment with things they themselves made or that are by others as well?

Both!

Thank you for the timeline!

[donutsweeper]

There is a (nearly complete) similar spreadsheet guide (episodes and character chart in this case) to TLTRL Sound of Providence that Naye put together that is available from this tumblr post.

On WildFeather's tumblr there are some who's who overviews of the various main characters with the different actors who played them: one for the iron triangle and one for many of the supporting characters

[mekare]

Thank you so much, I‘ve added them!