As artificial intelligence increasingly shapes human interaction, a leading Chinese author has offered a timeless perspective at a major international conference: literature, grounded in love and wisdom, remains the most authentic bridge between cultures and hearts. 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" at the 10th World Association for Chinese Studies Conference (WACS 10), held August 14 at the University of Hong Kong.
Xuemo's address, which was accompanied by a paper featured on the front page of the conference journal, drew immediate attention from scholars worldwide. He described his creative process as entering a state of "holistic consciousness," shedding ego and sensory limits to let his work emerge as a natural response to human suffering and aspiration. "Love and wisdom," he said, "are the soul of great literature." This emphasis on emotional and philosophical depth provided a counterpoint to the conference's broader discussions on technology's role in society.
The resonance of Xuemo's ideas spanned multiple disciplines. 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 painstaking collaboration with translator Howard Goldblatt, involving millions of characters of dialogue over every dialectal nuance, sets a new standard for cross-cultural fidelity. This attention to linguistic detail underscores the complexity and richness of Xuemo's work, making it a significant subject for academic study.
Professor Martin Woesler, a member of the European Academy of Sciences, drew parallels between Xuemo's narrative voice and Western phenomenological thought. Woesler praised Xuemo's bold strategy of giving translators creative freedom, an approach he called a "game-changer" for bringing Chinese literature to global readers. Scholars from Uzbekistan, Europe, and China's top universities joined the discussion, reflecting the widening international interest in Xuemo's work and its implications for cross-cultural understanding in the digital age.
Xuemo's conclusion resonated deeply with the audience: "The real barrier to cross-cultural understanding is never technique. It is the depth of our care for life itself." This statement encapsulates his belief that literature's power lies in its ability to convey universal human experiences, transcending the limitations of algorithms and data.
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 a string of recent international honors, among them the New York City Big Book Award, the International Book Awards, and the International Impact Book Awards (2024–2025). His growing global readership and rising academic recognition suggest a profound, 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, all languages, and all ages.
For those interested in exploring Xuemo's latest work, his book Eternal Love is available on Amazon, offering readers a glimpse into his spiritual and literary vision.
