Is Thousand Autumns Finished? Yes: Where to Start Reading

Is Thousand Autumns finished? Yes. In English, Seven Seas wrapped the series in the summer of 2024, so you can buy all of it today. The Chinese original, Meng Xi Shi's 千秋 (Qian Qiu), finished on Jinjiang Literature City (JJWXC) about a decade ago.

There's one twist that most "is it complete" answers miss. Meng Xi Shi has gone back to the novel this year, and the JJWXC chapter list now carries extras with 2026 timestamps. The story is done; the author, apparently, isn't quite.

Is Thousand Autumns Finished in English? Yes, Since 2024

Seven Seas lists the series at five volumes, each a $19.99 paperback with art by Me.Mimo. Volume 1 came out in March 2023, and the last arrived about sixteen months later. The publisher says the English editions "feature the uncensored text," and the ebooks are on the usual digital stores. Read the volumes in order; there's nothing else in the series to slot in.

Screenshot: Seven Seas series page for Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu (Novel), October 20, 2026

Penguin Random House's page for Thousand Autumns Volume 5 calls it the "conclusion to this historical tale." The Special Edition, billed as "one printing only," adds five postcards, a bookmark, two folded mini posters and a sticker sheet; the text is the same.

Is Thousand Autumns Finished in Chinese? Yes, and Still Growing at the Edges

On JJWXC, 千秋 is marked complete at about 640,000 Chinese characters: 128 chapters, then 13 numbered extras and two short bonus posts. The untouched timestamps on the chapter list reach back to 2015, and the closing extras are dated March 2016.

Screenshot: JJWXC novel page for 千秋, October 20, 2026

What's new is near the end of that list. Extras 8 and 9, a pair about a child-sized Shen Qiao, carry timestamps of September 27, 2026, and JJWXC's "newest update" marker sits on extra 9. That fits a June post on r/DanmeiNovels saying Meng Xi Shi had been rereading the book, fixing typos, and was "considering new extras" for around September. The last English volume came out two years before that, so whatever she added this year isn't in your paperbacks. u/Yuki-jou, replying in that thread, doubted it ever will be: "Too bad they didn’t make it into the English physical copies and probably never will."

Where to Start Reading

Start with Volume 1 of the Seven Seas edition. If you read Chinese and want to sample first, JJWXC gives you chapters 1 to 21 free; chapter 22 is where the paywall begins.

Screenshot: JJWXC chapter list for 千秋, October 20, 2026

We read chapters 1 to 3 that way on October 20, 2026. Chapter 1 is a cold open on a riverbank under two cliffs. Yan Wushi, a demonic sect leader fresh out of ten years in seclusion, tests his disciple Yu Shengyan's palm strike and stops it with one finger. Then a body crashes down through the trees: Shen Qiao, head of Xuandu Mountain, who'd been dueling on the peak above. Yan picks up the sword before he looks at the man.

Chapter 2 tells you who Yan is. He keeps Shen alive to watch a righteous sect leader who has lost everything break, then remake him as a demonic disciple; if the fall has left him simple-minded, Yan says, they'll just bury him alive somewhere. Shen wakes after half a month, blind and remembering nothing. In chapter 3, Yu Shengyan lies that Shen is his junior in their sect, spills medicine down his collar while feeding him, and gets thanked for it. Yan takes Shen's pulse, finds a thread of internal energy left, and puts him to work, because his sect doesn't feed the useless.

The author's note in chapter 2 places the story around 575 AD, at the end of the Northern and Southern dynasties. It reads like straight wuxia, and that's the best reason to try it; our wuxia vs xianxia guide explains why that label matters.

The Trap Readers Argue About

The romance is quiet, and it's a dealbreaker for some readers. In a recent thread titled "I can't see the chemistry between the main couple," u/Puzzled-Rutabaga-897 answered, "I find their romance very subtle," while u/lithiumflower2511 said the chemistry "was pretty obvious from early on." Yan himself is the other hurdle. "Yan Wushi is definitely an acquired taste," wrote u/GeauxPanthers99 in a thread from someone who couldn't finish the book. We'd treat that as the real test: if a ruthless lead who treats people as experiments puts you off in the first three chapters, it won't get easier for a while.

Our Take

Thousand Autumns is finished, and at five volumes it's a far shorter commitment than Erha or Ballad of Sword and Wine. Buy the regular editions, skip the hunt for the Special Edition, and don't wait for the new extras to reach English. Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou readers have it harder: see where Erha stands in English, and whether Case File Compendium is finished for the one that still has a book to go.

Related Reading

• Danmei Novels in English: Which Licensed Series to Start
• Best Danmei Novels for Binge Reading: Finished in English
• What Is Danmei? The Meaning of Chinese BL Fiction, Explained
• Is Qiang Jin Jiu Finished? Yes, and What Volume 8 Adds

References

• Seven Seas: Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu (Novel) series page
• Penguin Random House: Thousand Autumns Vol. 5
• Penguin Random House: Thousand Autumns Vol. 5 (Special Edition)
• JJWXC: 千秋 novel page
• r/DanmeiNovels: Thousand Autumns extras are coming!!
• r/DanmeiNovels: I can't see the chemistry between the main couple in Thousand Autumns
• r/DanmeiNovels: I can't finish Thousand Autumns