May 8, 2024, marks the one-year anniversary of the departure of director, screenwriter, novelist and literary translator Wanma Tseden. CITIC Publishing generously launched a collection of Wanma Tseden's posthumous novels, The Fragrance of Pine Wood, and a collection of translated works, Ruyi Stories: Tibetan Folk Tales Passed Down from Generation to Generation, as a commemoration.
Wanma Tseden. (Photo by Liu Dayan)
"The Fragrance of Pine Wood" collects and sorts out the representative articles of great significance of Wanma Tseden as a novelist at different stages of literary creation, among which the articles are compiled and determined by the young director Jiumi Chenglie, the son of Wanma Tsedan, with the nostalgic articles written by Jiumi Chenglie and Chen Danqing as the preface and epilogue. The "Ruyi Tales Collection" includes Tibetan folklore corpse stories compiled and translated by Wanma Tseden. The book tells 24 short stories in a nested structure of the Ruyi Treasure corpse telling stories to Dejue Sambu, the Prince of Bird Clothes, the Pig's Head Hexagram, the Devil Brothers, and the Soul Migration Technique...... It can be called a miniature Tibetan version of "One Thousand and One Nights". Together with the previously published "Ugin's Teeth" and "The Story Is Only Half Told", it forms the Wanma Tseden anthology.
As the pioneer and leader of the "New Wave of Tibetan Cinema", a bilingual writer and literary translator, Wanma Tseden takes Tibetan stories as the starting point, uses the image language as the medium, and uses smart lens images and concise written language to break the boundary between the real and the unreal, restore the survival plight of Tibetans in the times, explore the contradiction between the lost tradition and the process of modern life, present us with a real spiritual plateau, and bring a new regional and aesthetic scene to Chinese film and literary creation. Through the profound cultural memory and the construction of the universal spiritual world permeated in the works, the common emotions of human beings are connected—in the film, dreams and reality are intertwined; In the novel, the wind blows in the hometown; In translated texts, stories are passed down from generation to generation.
At 7 p.m. on May 6 (Monday), CITIC Publishing Dafang specially invited Xie Fei, the "fourth generation" film director of China, Li Jingze, a writer and critic, Tsering Lobu, a writer and editor-in-chief of Tibetan Literature, a young director and screenwriter, and Yu Yaqin, a media person, to talk about Wanma Tseden in their eyes with the theme of "Dear Wanma Tseden" at SKP-RDV Space in Beijing, and to discuss in depth the important influence of Wanma Tseden on contemporary literature and art from the perspectives of film, literature, translation and creation.
Publisher Cai Xin first emphasized the creative identity of Wanma Tseden in the opening remarks of the event, "Directors are also creating in two forms of language: film and text. Through literary creation, he writes both novels and plays, and does both literary creation and literary translation. She recalled her work and contacts with Wanma Tsedan, and was very honored to invite the son of Wanma Tseden and the young director Jiumi Chenglie to participate in the compilation of the Wanma Tseden anthology. She went on to introduce that each reader present received a commemorative album of "Dear Wanma Tsedan" designed by Du Fengsong, the poster designer of Wanma Tsedan, in which the biography and creation chronology of film and literature are intertwined, inspired by the film "Eternal Day" that Wanma Tseden has always wanted to shoot, and the sunrise and sunset of the filming location of "Snow Leopard" are used to lay out the important moments of Wanma Tsedan's life and creation, and will be exhibited in many literary and artistic spaces across the country in the future. In addition to announcing the opening of this commemorative event, Cai Xin also previewed the overall activity plan of the Wanma Tseden anthology, "We will have five activities in the future, inviting literature, film and television, global translators, young writers, etc., to discuss the film and literary legacy left to us by Mr. Wanma Tseden from all dimensions." ”
Xie Fei.
As Wanma Tsedan's mentor, Xie Fei was deeply saddened by the departure of Wanma Tsedan. He first recalled his first acquaintance with Wanma Tseden, "Later, I saw a script, and I knew that I was very good at writing at a glance, and I had lived in Tibet, so I discovered Wanma Tseden at this time, and came to the Department of Literature for further study as a master's degree of Northwest University for Nationalities." I made an appointment with Wanma Tseden, and I met him for the first time in 2004, and then he showed me the short videotapes he had made in the literature department, and he already had some shooting ability and experience, so I finally agreed to let him go back to his hometown and shoot a 35mm color film, which was entirely in Tibetan. ”
In Xie Fei's eyes, the appearance of Wanma Tseden made up for the shortcomings and defects of the film academy in Tibetan film and television creation and talent training, and his future creation showed an amazing height and talent. "I think what he writes is mortal trivial, but after his processing, mortal trivia shines with the brilliance of human nature." The novels and translations he left behind deserve to be read again and again by every reader of the present and even the future.
Li Jingze.
Speaking of Wanma Tseden, Li Jingze quoted a poem from Pushkin's "Monument": "No, I will not die in one piece." He believes that the creative power, unique tone, and unique vision of Wanma Tseden will always remain in the hearts of readers and audiences, and "the fundamental power that makes Wanma Tseden a Wanma Tseden may be deeply rooted in his words." Li Jingze compares the relationship between Wanma Tseden and the "Ruyi Tales" to the relationship between Calvino and "Italian Fairy Tales", arguing that what he took from the cave "is a fundamental tone", and it is precisely this tone that allows us to recognize Wanma Tseden at a glance in many texts. The story may be forgotten, but the tone is always remembered.
Li Jingze used Zhuangzi's viewpoint of "looking at all things and looking at them" to summarize Wanma Tseden's creation and choice, he did not care about the differences and boundaries of cultural backgrounds, and treated and viewed such differences with a "desolate, undifferent, and homogeneous vision." This is the natural nature of Vanma Tseden, and it is also the most fundamental way for him to perceive all things in the world as an artist, and the so-called forbearance and restraint in the eyes of critics are nothing more than his natural choice: "For Vanma Tseden, this is his very precious nature, and later he himself continued to temper this nature, and constantly made this nature very full and mature." ”
Kumi Seiren.
When talking about his father's direct influence on his filmmaking path, Kumi Seiree shared with us the daily fragments of his memory, "I remember when he was a master's student at film school, and every night when he came home, he would carry two big red plastic bags with fifty DVDs in them, and he did this every day. At that time, our family's economic conditions were not particularly good, but he was willing to put all his money and energy into movies and literature. I think it's a family atmosphere, that is, there is some pursuit of spiritual things. ”
In Kumi Seiryu's eyes, his father is a real, complete, and determined person, and although his personality is different, his father's influence still flows so truly in his body. He said: "The word "truth" is the deepest influence that my father has had on me, and I think that no matter what kind of story you shoot, any story of any era, or any story related to you, to present a real emotion, a real world, a real life, and how you see the Tibetan people living now, I think this is something we want to inherit." As the soul and standard-bearer of the "Tibetan New Wave", Wanma Tseden not only united and led the creation of his group of Tibetan filmmakers, but also supported and influenced the creative forces of Jiumei and Rebirth. Perhaps, as Kumi Seirori said, in "In Search of Chimi Genden" we "see water flowing throughout Tibet, and riding on this water allows us to feel all the poetic things about this place." "Wanma Tseden is like a stream of water flowing through Tibet, gentle and tolerant, but with infinite power, and has always nourished this land silently.
Yu Yaqin.
Yu Yaqin recalled her daily interactions with Wanma Tseden many times, and the memory of Wanma Tseden did not speak much, always taking on the role of a listener, facing all questions and requirements with a tolerant smile. She bluntly said, "Teacher Wanma Tseden has a very big characteristic, that is, he has been wandering in the bilingual world. "In the dual wandering between film and literature, Tibetan and Chinese, Vanma Tseden has been constantly changing, using words and images to inject new thinking into the present.
Tsering Rob.
Tsering Lobu, one of the original authors of the film "Killed a Sheep", believes that "many of Wanma Tseden's works are presented in two Tibetan and Chinese languages. In the process of presentation, he not only inherits traditional literature, but also innovates after being closely connected with the present...... There is one thing in Wanma Tseden's works that is commendable, that is, it closely follows the changes of the entire era, reflects the living conditions of the Tibetan people, and with the changes of the times, their hearts change, and their thoughts change, which may be the greatest contribution that Wanma Tseden has made to the current Tibetan literature. ”
It is reported that CITIC Publishing Dafang will also hold a commemorative theme exhibition on "Dear Wanma Tseden" in more than 10 cultural spaces across the country, including "Dear Wanma Tseden - Wanma Tseden's Creation and Life Exhibition", "The Other Half of the Story, Poems and Songs of Life - Wanma Tseden Movie Poster Exhibition" and "Tibetan Folk Tales Passed Down from Generation to Generation - "Ruyi Story Collection" Illustration Exhibition". As a result, the commemorative theme exhibition, the sharing of guest salons in different fields, and the literary works of Wanma Tseden fully present the literary and artistic heritage left to us by Wanma Tseden.