Bi's novel about the lives of Peking Opera actors was long-listed for The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2008.[Photo provided to China Daily]

But Bi says Western writers, such as Dickens, Thomas Hardy and Victor Hugo, have had a defining role in the beliefs and style of his writing and that of his contemporaries.

"I first started reading Western classics in secondary school and read a lot more in university. It was a time when Western literature had just become widely available in China."

In Dickens, Bi sees a writer full of sympathy for the poor, which Bi found highly appealing.

Quoting the Chinese literary critic Li Jingze, who says Dickens is one who writes while carrying God on his back, Bi says Dickens often writes in an omniscient style and is ready to judge what is right and wrong. "This is a task that ought to be done by God, but Dickens did it himself," Bi says.

In Hardy's writing, Bi found descriptions of the countryside and wide stretches of fields and plantations, which are reminiscent of the views of China's countryside in his childhood.

He says he can also relate to the human nature of love, jealousy, betrayal and forgiveness, which is universal across cultures.

"I think love and betrayal are two important elements of human nature, like two rooms in one's heart. To accommodate them both, I need to always respect my heart. I allow myself to be a human being."

More importantly, Bi says, Hugo has indelibly influenced the way he sees the world, which is reflected in all of his works.

"Hugo, whose works extensively feature the rights of the individual, has shaped my view of putting the human in a high place. So all the powers that constrain humans, including nature, society, and politics, I see as enemies."

With this view in mind, Bi's characters are all well-rounded individuals with a mind, personality and determination of their own.