Three of the most translated and successful Chinese books in the West:

1. Confucius from the Heart (published by Zhonghua Book Company in Chinese and having been translated into 28 languages)

Confucius from the Heart is based on Beijing Normal University professor Yu Dan's lectures on a popular CCTV show in 2006. Her fresh but controversial interpretation of The Analects, a major Confucian philosophy text, has transformed her into a cultural icon. It renders the ancient wisdom that Confucius has to offer to a new generation and shows how it is highly relevant in the modern world. More than 300,000 copies of the book have been sold overseas.

2. Under the Hawthorn Tree (published by Phoenix Publishing and Media Group in Chinese and copyright exported to 17 countries and regions)

Based on a real-life story, the 2007 novel Under the Hawthorn Tree by online writer Ai Mi is about the unfulfilled romance between "reeducated youth" Jingqiu and the son of a high-ranking military officer Laosan, toward the end of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). It was adapted into a film in 2010 by director Zhang Yimou.

3. Wolf Totem (published by Changjiang Literature and Arts Publishing House in Chinese and translated into more than 30 languages)

Wolf Totem is a semi-autobiographical novel by Jiang Rong. Chen Zhen, a Beijing student who is sent to be reeducated in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in 1967, lives in a remote nomadic settlement and discovers an idyllic life based on an eternal struggle for survival between wolves and men. But when the Han Chinese arrive in the hope of bringing modernity and productivity to the grassland, the balance is disrupted. It is to be adapted into a film by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/28/2012 page19)