作家名片 | 老藤：文学创作犹如用心、用情酿制老藤葡萄酒
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近年来，中国文化“走出去”的影响力不断扩大，在全球文化多元化发展日益兴盛的背景下，中国文化译研网(CCTSS)联合中国作家协会《小说选刊》杂志社，启动“新世纪中国当代作家、作品海外传播数据库”项目，将100位中国当代优秀作家的简介、代表作品以及展示作家风采的短视频翻译为10种语言，集结成1000张中国作家名片向全球推介。千张“作家名片”将鲜明地向世界宣告：我是中国作家，我在进行中国创作。
此种形式和规模是中国故事走向世界的一大创新，会让世界更加全面、客观、公正地了解中国优秀作家作品，同时也是打通中国文化走向世界的“最后一公里”。
本名滕贞甫，男，1963年12月生于山东省即墨县田横镇田庄村，系中国作家协会全委会委员、辽宁省作家协会主席。毕业于黑河师专和哈尔滨师范大学，曾在著名的风景名胜区五大连池和旅顺口工作多年，经历过县、市、省多个工作职位。故乡田横镇历史上曾出现过著名的“田横五百士”，当地崇德尚义的民风深刻地影响着老藤的人品、作品。八十年代初期开始发表作品，出版有长篇小说《刀兵过》《西施乳》《樱花之旅》《鼓掌》，中短篇小说集《熬鹰》《没有乌鸦的城市》等六部，文化随笔集《儒学笔记》《探古求今说儒学》两部。
老藤作品一大特点是带有浓郁的传统文化底色和地域文化特征，这与他深厚的儒学功底密不可分，他的中短篇小说大多关注社会底层的小官员、小人物，属于底层写作，长篇小说则更多展现时代变迁中人性的挣扎。老藤小说的另一个特点是通过动物来抵达“天人合一”的哲学境界，比如《扎汉宫》写的是沙地中维持生态平衡的白狐，《黑画眉》写了一头含仁怀义的驴子，《远东第一犬》写了一只忠诚的狗，《都市忧郁诗人》写了一只自尊的猫，《庖丁之死》写了一头复仇的牛，《没有乌鸦的城市》则写了乌鸦的善意。
老藤的长篇小说《西施乳》是一部围绕着天下第一美味——一道名菜西施乳展开的小说，通过十二个品尝河豚鱼的饭局来折射世态炎凉与人生百味，成功塑造了一个足智多谋的厨子形象。以烹饪西施乳为专长的厨子尹五羊，视古代辅佐商汤的伊尹、服侍齐桓公的易牙为榜样，造就了市长郑远桥，厨子与市长，相互纠结的关系里，凸显出一位幕后女性朱成碧的美与善。老藤的另一部小说《萨满咒》，虽是中篇却不亚于长篇的含量，小说成功塑造了一个美丽的女巫——蓝姑。蓝姑是中国东北小兴安岭地区萨满传人，集神秘、善良、通灵、性感于一身，很多想改变她的人，最终却被她改变，她就像蓝莓酒、罂粟花一样，让人爱不得、恨不起，随着时间推移，当年与其纠葛的那些人愈发觉悟到蓝姑的价值。
2018年，老藤出版了一部描写中国东北湿地百年画卷的长篇小说《刀兵过》，在绿苇红滩之上，两代乡贤靠信仰、靠教化、靠智慧，演绎出一幕幕饱含家国情怀的悲喜剧，情节曲折跌宕，故事迷离诡异，是一部北方湿地社会民俗文化的百科全书。
Lao Teng
Teng Zhenfu, known by the moniker Lao Teng, was born in December of 1963 in Tianzhuang, a village near Tianheng Town, in Shandong province’s Jimo County. Lao Teng is a committee member of the China Writers Association, and the current chairman of the Liaoning Writers Association. A graduate of Heihe University and Harbin Normal University, he worked for some years in the famous scenic spots of Wudalianchi and Lüshunkou, his professional positions passing variously through county, municipal, and provincial levels. His hometown of Tianheng Town is known for being the birthplace of the famous so-called “Tian Heng and his 500 Retainers,” a centuries-old legend in which a nobleman slit his own throat to spare his followers, who in turn killed themselves upon hearing of his death. The righteousness and nobility that permeate the area’s local ways had a profound impact on Lao Teng’s individual character and literary works. Beginning publishing in the early 1980s, his novels include Daobin Guo, Xishi Ru, Yinghua Zhi Lü, and Guzhang. He has published six short story and novella collections, including Ao Ying and A City Without Crows, as well as two pieces of written sketches on culture, Notes on Confucianism and Confucianism: Answers for Today From Lessons of Old.
One prominent feature of Lao Teng’s works is the rich base-layer of traditional culture and the localized cultural qualities that run throughout them. This is inseparably connected to his deep grounding in Confucianism. Most of his novellas and short stories are focused on the petty officials and minor players who reside on the lower rungs of society’s ladder. These works belong to the so-called “low-level writing” genre of Chinese literature. His novels, on the other hand, tend more to portray the struggles of human nature amid the changing of the times.
Another characteristic of Lao Teng’s work is his use of animals as a means to realize the philosophical state of “human and nature as one.” Zhahangong, for instance, is the story of a white fox that keeps a desert’s ecology in balance; Hei Huamei — or Black Babbler — is about a benevolent and righteous donkey; The First Dog of the East tells the story of a loyal canine; The City’s Sorrowful Poet is about a self-respecting cat;The Death of the Butcher is the story of a vengeful cow; and A City Without Crows is about the kindheartedness of crows.
Lao Teng’s novel Xishi Ru revolves around the eponymous delicacy, made from the ribs of the blowfish and considered one of China’s most delicious dishes. Through twelve banquets at which the blowfish is sampled, we bear witness to the hypocrisies of the world and the multitude of flavors that make up human life. The story paints a picture of a highly resourceful chef, Yi Wuyang, who specializes exclusively in preparing “xishi ru.” Taking as inspiration the ancient figures of Yi Yin (assistant to Shang Tang, founder of the Shang Dynasty) and Yi Ya (attendee to Duke Huan of the State of Qi), Yi Wuyang trains up Zheng Yuanqiao to become mayor. As tensions flair between chef and mayor, a figure behind the scenes appears: the beautiful and kindhearted woman Zhu Chengbi.
Despite being a novella, Lao Teng’s work The Shaman Curse is by no means inferior to his novels in terms of its content. The story portrays the character of the sorceress Lan Gu, a woman from the Lesser Khingan region of northeastern China who is a descendent of the shamans. A character that forges mystery, benevolence, clairvoyance, and sex appeal into one body, Lan Gu is someone that many people wish to change. Yet it is them who are ultimately changed by her. Just like blueberry liquor or poppy flowers, she can’t be loved yet is impossible to hate. With the passing of time, those who found themselves entangled with Lan Gu gradually begin to appreciate her value.
In 2018, Lao Teng published Daobin Guo, a novel that describes — with the historical expanse of a picture scroll — life in one wetland area in northeastern China. Green reeds and red sands their stage, and religion, education, and wisdom their script, two generations of righteous rural folk play out a tragic comedy imbued with feelings for country and family. The plot weaves hither and thither as a perplexing and strange story unfolds, producing a veritable encyclopedia of the folk culture of northern China’s wetland society.
编辑 | 罗雨静
“文化互译，沟通世界”
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