Xuemo's Call for Love and Wisdom in Literature Resonates at Global Sinology Conference

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has sparked global debates about the future of human creativity and connection. At the 10th World Association for Chinese Studies Conference (WACS 10) held August 14 at the University of Hong Kong, award-winning Chinese writer Xuemo offered a timeless counterpoint: literature, grounded in love and wisdom, remains the truest bridge between human hearts.

Xuemo delivered a keynote address titled "Using Literature to Connect the World: Wisdom and Transcendence in the AI Era," which was featured on the front page of the conference journal. Speaking to a packed hall, he described his creative process as entering a state of "holistic consciousness," shedding ego and sensory limits to let the work emerge as a natural response to human suffering and aspiration. "Love and wisdom," he said, "are the soul of great literature."

His ideas resonated across 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 carrying five thousand years of agrarian heritage. Simmons noted that Xuemo's painstaking collaboration with translator Howard Goldblatt, involving millions of characters of dialogue over dialectal nuances, sets a new standard for cross-cultural fidelity.

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 strategy of giving translators creative freedom, calling it a "game-changer" for bringing Chinese literature to global readers. Scholars from Uzbekistan, Europe, and China's top universities joined the discussion, reflecting widening international interest in Xuemo's work.

"The real barrier to cross-cultural understanding is never technique," Xuemo concluded. "It is the depth of our care for life itself."

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, among them 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.