As artificial intelligence increasingly mediates human experience, a prominent Chinese author presented a compelling case for literature's enduring relevance at the 10th World Association for Chinese Studies Conference (WACS 10), held August 14 at the University of Hong Kong. Xuemo, an award-winning writer and cultural scholar, delivered a keynote address titled "Using Literature to Connect the World: Wisdom and Transcendence in the AI Era," arguing that the essence of great literature—rooted in love and wisdom—offers a timeless bridge between hearts, transcending the limitations of technology.
Xuemo's address, which was accompanied by a paper featured on the front page of the conference journal, detailed his creative process as entering a state of "holistic consciousness," where shedding ego and sensory limits allows the work to emerge as a natural response to human suffering and aspiration. "Love and wisdom," he asserted, "are the soul of great literature." His words resonated across disciplines, prompting praise from scholars in attendance.
Professor Richard Van Ness Simmons, Director of Chinese Studies at the University of Hong Kong, highlighted Xuemo's masterful use of Liangzhou dialect, a linguistic treasure that carries five thousand years of agrarian heritage. Simmons noted that Xuemo's meticulous collaboration with translator Howard Goldblatt, involving millions of characters of dialogue to capture every dialectal nuance, sets a new standard for cross-cultural fidelity. This attention to detail, Simmons suggested, ensures that the depth of Xuemo's narratives is not lost in translation.
European Academy of Sciences member Professor Martin Woesler drew parallels between Xuemo's narrative voice and Western phenomenological thought, praising the author's bold strategy of giving translators creative freedom—an approach Woesler called a "game-changer" for bringing Chinese literature to global readers. Scholars from Uzbekistan, Europe, and China's top universities also joined the discussion, reflecting the widening international interest in Xuemo's work.
The conference's focus on Xuemo's ideas underscores a broader cultural moment. With more than 80 books and translations in 31 languages, Xuemo has become one of China's most translated and internationally recognized living authors. His landmark works, including the Desert Trilogy, Into the Desert, and the monumental eight-volume epic Suosalang, have earned recent international honors such as the New York City Big Book Award, the International Book Awards, and the International Impact Book Awards (2024–2025).
At a time when algorithms increasingly shape human experience, Xuemo's growing global readership and rising academic recognition suggest a deep, counter-intuitive truth: the more technology advances, the more the world hungers for stories that speak directly to the shared human condition—across all borders, languages, and ages. As Xuemo concluded, "The real barrier to cross-cultural understanding is never technique. It is the depth of our care for life itself."
For readers interested in exploring Xuemo's latest work, Eternal Love is available on Amazon.
