thesilkroadtoday
BEIJING/CAIRO — The literary world is preparing for the global expansion of Chinese poet and novelist Cao Shui’s ambitious epic trilogy, The Secret of Heaven (Kunlun), a monumental work that blends mythology, history, civilization and the enduring mysteries of the human imagination.
The three-volume series, now being prepared for international readers, comprises:
- 《昆仑秘史1：时间地轴》 — The Secret of Heaven I: The Axis of Time
- 《昆仑秘史2：传国玉玺和罗马皇冠》 — The Secret of Heaven II: The Chinese Royal Jade Seal and the Roman Imperial Diamond Crown
- 《昆仑秘史3：通天塔》 — The Secret of Heaven III: The Tower of Babel
Translations into Arabic, Bengali and Spanish are currently underway, opening new linguistic and cultural pathways for a work rooted in the Chinese literary imagination but reaching toward the shared origins and destinies of humanity.
The international project follows the global publication of Cao Shui’s Epic of Eurasia, which has already appeared in 12 languages, establishing the author as one of the contemporary Chinese literary voices whose work is increasingly crossing national and linguistic boundaries.
At the heart of The Secret of Heaven is Kunlun, a powerful symbol in Chinese mythology and cultural memory. From this mythical landscape, Cao Shui constructs an expansive literary universe in which civilizations, historical memories, legends and human quests intersect. The trilogy seeks not merely to revisit the past, but to explore the connections that have shaped human civilization across time and geography.
The international translation of the trilogy is therefore more than a publishing project. It represents an effort to bring different literary traditions into dialogue and to make a Chinese vision of civilization accessible to readers in diverse cultural environments.
At the same time, plans for a film and television adaptation of the epic novel are moving forward steadily, adding a new dimension to the work’s international journey. The transition from literature to screen promises to introduce the world of The Secret of Heaven to audiences far beyond the traditional readership of translated literature.
Following the international journey of Epic of Eurasia, the new trilogy marks another important step in Cao Shui’s vision of literature without borders.
From Kunlun to the depths of human civilization, The Secret of Heaven is preparing to enter a new global era — carrying with it myths of the past, questions of the present, and a literary imagination directed toward the future. The era of The Secret of Heaven is coming.
