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They are the busy hands behind the frenzy of translated Chinese online literature. They are not only responsible for one of the most significant non-governmental outputs of Chinese culture, but also for the free labor of translation. They are members of 20 active Chinese-to-English translation groups, composed primarily of ethnic Chinese and Chinese learners from all over the world.

But who are they? And what triggered these volunteers to translate Chinese web novels for foreign readers? Thepaper.cn interviewed Lai Jingping, founder of Wuxiaworld, an international Chinese web novel translation forum, to find out.

Born in 1986, Lai immigrated from Chengdu to the U.S. with his parents at the age of 3. Growing up in an English-speaking environment, Lai could barely speak Chinese or recognize Chinese characters when he was a teenager. It wasn't until he became enthralled with the 1996 version of "Return of the Condor Heroes," a TV series adapted from Louis Cha's famous wuxia novel, that he started to study Chinese with real enthusiasm.

“It’s not easy to buy Asian fiction books, especially contemporary Chinese literature, in the United States - at least not until the popularization of the internet and ebook-sharing platforms,” Lai said.

In 2006, the 20-year-old Lai had been learning Chinese for two years at the University of California, Berkeley. Due to his passion for wuxia novels, he made his debut on an wuxia novel-sharing forum by translating Louis Cha's popular book.

A Vietnamese friend of Lai's introduced him to online Chinese literature in 2014 when most traditional wuxia works were being translated by enthusiastic volunteers. Thus began his first step toward setting up Wuxiaworld.

According to Alexa, Wuxiaworld ranks around No. 1,500 among global websites; it comes in around No. 1,000 on the list of America sites. Relying on over 30 completed and still-updating works, the website reaches 240,000 people, receiving daily page views of 3.5 million on a daily basis.

“Our traditional culture, which has made the Chinese so proud, is too difficult for Americans. That’s one of the reasons web novels are so attractive to Westerners - they are easy to understand, but with Chinese cultural elements,” Lai said.

Lai moved back to China last year, seeking a chance to cooperate with Chinese web novel platforms. Whether in China or America, unauthorized translation is still an act of infringement.

“We tried to contact the original authors to get authorized during our early days. But then we found that the copyright was in the hands of platforms,” Lai explained.

Not long ago, Wuxiaworld embarked on a cooperation project with Qidian.com, the first Chinese internet literature website, involving 20 works. This is the second “license” Lai has received since an early contract with 17k.com.