Newdigitalchapter

A growing global audience is set to elevate Chinese web novels to the ranks of international popular culture

Chinese contemporary literary works are gaining popularity abroad thanks to the emergence of online translation forums like Wuxiaworld.com, which is dedicated to Chinese-to-english translation of martial arts and fantasy novels.

Lai Jingping, a former U.S. diplomat, set up the Wuxia World website in 2014, which now features complete translations of seven works including Horizon, Bright Moon, Sabre by kungfu novelist Gu Long (1938-85) as well as Seven Killers and Stellar Transformations by Zhu Hongzhi, who shot to fame by publishing online novels with the penname “I Eat Tomatoes.”

Wuxia, meaning “martial heroes,” refers to a style of fictional stories about ordinary humans who achieve supernatural fighting abilities through Chinese martial arts training and internal energy cultivation. Themes of chivalry, tragedy, revenge and romance are common.

“The popularity of Chinese online literature abroad is unprecedented and even unbelievable. This will greatly boost the confidence of the sector,” Shao Yanjun, an associate professor at Peking University’s School of Chinese Language and Literature, told People’s Daily.

An analysis of Lai’s website shows its readers are based in over 120 countries - 35-40 percent in North America, 25 percent in Southeast Asia and 20 percent in Western Europe. Over 85 percent of the readers are males aged between 18 and 30.

“Such a proportion is similar to the makeup of domestic readers. Domestic and foreign readers both aim to seek a sense of pleasure from reading works of such genres,” Lai told Global Times.