In 1938, at the solemn Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Nobel Prize in Literature was officially awarded that year, and it was a Western woman who took the stage to receive the prize, but everyone present knew that she was a "Chinese", and the protagonist of her work was also Chinese.
The chairman of the Nobel Prize in Literature jury announced her comment: "A rich and authentic epic description of the life of chinese peasants, and there are outstanding works in biography." ”
Then the King of Sweden personally presented her medals and certificates, and then took to the stage to deliver an award speech, not saying a word that had never left China, and in the face of Japan's ravages on the land of China, she said firmly: "My admiration for China is better than ever, because I see her unprecedented unity in fighting against enemies that threaten her freedom." With this determination to fight for freedom, which, in a very profound sense, is fundamental in her nature, I know that she is invincible. ”
The winner's name is Pearl Buck, and she doesn't care if she wins the prize at this time, what she hopes is that the whole world can support China's War of Resistance, China needs the world, and the world needs China.
The reason why Pearl Buck is so concerned about China is also related to her past.
First, I have a deep affection for Xu Zhimo
Pearl Buck's father was an American missionary, and in 1892 his father went to China to preach, and the four-month-old Pearl Buck also came to China with his father's work and lived in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, where he lived for forty years.
In 1924, The Chinese academic community ushered in a huge welcome event, and Tagore, Asia's first Nobel Laureate, wanted to visit China, accompanied by cultural celebrities, including Cai Yuanpei, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Xu Zhimo and others.
Among them, Xu Zhimo served as the translator of Tagore's visit to China, Xu Zhimo, as a crescent poet and an excellent writer, was full of witty words and literary brilliance when translating, which won the applause of the audience.
Among them, Pearl Buck, who is a teacher in the Department of Foreign Languages of Jinling University, is under the stage, Pearl Buck has been influenced by Chinese culture since childhood, the first language he has been exposed to is Chinese, and when facing Xu Zhimo's accurate and elegant translation, she is deeply trapped in it, she feels the resonance from the depths of her heart, and even has a worship, she realizes that he has an inexplicable affection for this literary leader on the stage.
But at this time, Pearl Buck has been married to an American agronomist for seven years, the two teach together at Jinling University, Pearl Buck has given birth to a child at the age of 32 and gradually became blessed, Pearl Buck knows that his love should be buried in the depths of his heart.
Probably from ancient times to the present, domestic and foreign, the differences in arts and sciences have always existed. Pearl Buck of the Literature Department and her husband in the Department of Agriculture could not talk together at all, and her inner bitterness could not be dispelled. Finally, she plucked up the courage to find Xu Zhimo, and the two of them talked for a long time, from philosophy to literature, from literature to newspapers, from poetry to song, the two seemed to meet life confidants.
After Xu Zhimo accompanied Tagore on a visit to Japan, for a long time, Pearl Buck could no longer bury his feelings, and wrote to Xu Zhimo, she wrote:
"My heart is hidden behind the language, but the stimulation that comes from your eyes makes me miserable and uneasy."
Before the credibility was sent, she learned that Xu Zhimo was ready to marry Lu Xiaoman, and the news was like falling into an ice river.
After marriage, Xu Zhimo was not happy, as a woman, Pearl Buck soon discovered Xu Zhimo's emotions, she believed that at this time, Xu Zhimo was in need of love, she picked up her courage and wrote to Xu Zhimo:
"I don't want your love for it, I just want you to find strength in it." Crazy as you, calm as me, in fact, everyone is the same, in the painful marriage, more looking forward to the arrival of true love. ”
Xu Zhimo, who he likes has always been a woman with oriental charm, in the face of a Western woman's show of love, he faintly replied:
"I fell in the thorns of life, and only the water of the Kang River can heal my wounds."
Then head to cambridge university.
Pearl Buck really did not dare to expect it, the word of love is the most hurtful, it is not a sharp knife, but it has a sharper than a sharp knife, and it is directly rooted in people's hearts.
Pearl Buck is also preparing to go to the United States, the two of them parted, there is no goodbye day, Xu Zhimo plane crash, life is also at the end of youth. Since then, Pearl Buck has written Xu Zhimo in his heart in a book to let him live forever.
Second, enter the Nobel Prize Hall
Pearl Buck belongs to the kind of people who have a very low starting point, but once they take off, they can soar into the sky.
In terms of talent and knowledge, she could not be compared with Xu Zhimo, and when Xu Zhimo learned that Pearl Buck wanted to supplement his family through writing, he encouraged Pearl Buck to do so:
"Don't write for money, only a genuine love from the heart, like Tagore, be a bird in the summer night rainforest and spit out unparalleled interest." 」
At that time, Xu Zhimo may not have known, no, never knew that the lady he had encouraged would go to the podium of the Nobel Prize in Literature and become the first writer to win both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize, and the third Nobel Prize winner in the United States.
Pearl Buck's masterpiece is "The Earth", which is also the peak of her creation, which became the largest selling book in the United States after publication, followed by Pearl Buck's "Sons" and "Split Family", collectively known as the "Earth Trilogy", a set of books that successfully brought a debt-laden publishing company back to life overnight.
Pearl Buck upholds cultural relativism, in her view, culture is not superior or inferior, so cultural differences are very necessary, but each cultural group should transcend cultural differences on the basis of having cultural differences, which in China is called "harmony and difference".
III. "My Life Belongs Only to China"
Pearl Buck's original name was Pearl Buck, and the reason why she gave herself this name was because she admired The Chinese Sai Jinhua, who spoke German and communicated with commander Wadsi during the invasion of China by the Eight-Power Alliance, persuading Wadesi not to kill innocents in Beijing, and making great efforts to protect the citizens of Beijing. The people of Beijing are very grateful to Sai Jinhua and call him "the second master of the Discussion and Renchen Sai".
Pearl Buck also wants to be someone like Sai Jinhua, who can contribute to the country that gave birth to him, and who can regulate the relationship between China and the United States in the middle.
She was the first to translate the four famous Chinese works "Water Margin" into English, and her translation was titled "Brothers in all four seas", and her sophistication was praised by Xu Zhimo.
Pearl Buck left China in 1934, but her heart never let go, after the founding of New China, she survived in the gap between China and the United States, and her heart was extremely painful, when he said this to the Philippine foreign minister about the United States:
"The US government wants to use American values and standards to measure and demand new China's every move, which creates contradictions, and these values and standards representing the American style all originate from Western culture and historical background, and are far from China's politics, history, and culture."
As a scholar who knows Chinese culture well, and as an American, she knows everything about American ideas and knows the problems.
It was not until 1972 that after US President Richard Nixon's visit to China, China and the United States began to break the ice, and pearl Buck, who was already 80 years old, opened a column on the National Broadcasting Corporation of the United States to "Look at China Again", hoping to normalize Sino-US relations and actively prepare for a visit to China.
She was responded with a rejection letter that ended:
We are unable to grant your request to visit China.
The next year, Pearl Buck passed away, with her thoughts of Zhenjiang in China, of the poet who had haunted her, and she wondered what would they be like now if the man hadn't had an accident. She didn't know either.
In accordance with Pearl Buck's last wishes, she must be buried in a Chinese cheongsam, and the tombstone should be inscribed with a seal letter. Nixon said of her: "A bridge between Civilizations of East and West, a great artist, a sensitive and compassionate man." ”
But in her autobiography, she only wrote:
"All my life to old age, from childhood to girlhood to adulthood, all belong to China!"