Nowadays, many people think of beards when they mention "Snow Desert", just as many people think of "Snow Desert" when they mention the culture I spread. Very interesting. If one day, you and your actions are enough to represent a culture, then you will become a symbol of it, not just yourself. Just as "Snow Desert" is not just myself.
However, it was named "Snow Desert" a long time ago.
At the age of twenty-five, I sent the novel Long Smoke and Sunset for submission. At that time, my pen name was "Xiliang Laughing Sword". The editor wrote back and said, "The novel is well written. Can I change my pen name? Like a martial arts novel writer. " I thought, what should I change? At that time, Liangzhou had two friends, one writing poetry and the other writing novels. They represented the highest level of novels and poems in Liangzhou at that time. Their names are "Snow" and "Desert", so I thought, let's call it "Snow Desert"! In the future, I must surpass them all. Is it beyond now? I don't know and I don't care. I am well aware of my level and have confidence, but my confidence is not generated by comparison with others. My confidence stems from a complete, free, independent and peaceful heart.
Someone asked me, you often write about wolves. So, what is the difference between the image of the wolf in your works and the modern popular wolf culture? I told him that when I face the desert, there is always a breath blowing my soul. I have written many wolves in my novels, which is one of the images in my novels. Even if there is no wolf image in my works, there must be a wolf rhyme. But in my mind, the wolf is actually a symbol of desire. My work has the charm of a fox, not the smell of a wolf. The popular wolf culture is not quite the same as the image in my novel. It symbolizes a powerful force. If you use this power to motivate yourself, overcome yourself and conquer your mind, that's right; If you use it against the world and against others, it is wrong. Because we don't need to deal with others, we don't need to conquer others, and we don't need to conquer the world. What we need to do is to face the world and everyone around us with a free and loving heart. Everyone should not succumb to the feet of others, nor should they rely on the worship of others to build their self-confidence. If your self-confidence comes from the outside world, once a stronger person appears around you, you will feel fear, anxiety and anxiety. Because, you are afraid that he will replace you, take away your confidence and make you worthless and meaningless. In fact, everyone's meaning is set by themselves; Everyone's self-confidence is also built by themselves. People who have no self-confidence are very humble and cowardly when facing the world. Such people need to prove themselves through conquest. So you should cultivate a strong mind independent of the world, and don't care about the reaction of the world. You should neither please the world, nor cater to it, nor persuade or conquer it. Do what you have to do and say what you have to say. Do it, say it, and you will do your duty. Leave the rest alone. That has nothing to do with your heart.
Let's go back to the name "Snow Desert".
I took this pen name, in addition to what I just said, there are two other ideas.
First, "snow" means revenge and washing, and "desert" has the feeling of silence, that is to say, I want to wash away the desert-like silence of Gansu literary world.
Second, "snow" and "desert" are two natural landscapes in the west. Snow is peaceful, falling silently, as poetic as snow; Desert, big and boundless, is as thick, broad and inclusive as desert. When you see the splendor of the snow-covered desert, you will definitely feel the surging power in nature, the universe and nature. I think, since I have decided to use my life to spread the most magnificent culture in the west, I will call it "Snow Desert"!
From this point, you can certainly see my love for my hometown and hometown culture, but you should also understand that I am also very picky when facing my hometown culture. No matter before or now, I grow a beard to remind myself from time to time not to be assimilated by the closed environment. Even if I live in Dongguan now, in a prosperous, open and multicultural place, I will always remind myself not to be assimilated by "modernization" and "internationalization", but to keep sober and self-disciplined.
All along, any culture has been the nourishment of my soul. We can talk and communicate, but we must respect each other, absorb their advantages and not invade each other. This is my attitude towards culture, and also my attitude towards all phenomena and existence. Therefore, I have a global and human vision and mind. Otherwise, I am an ordinary rural primary school teacher. Rural primary school teachers are of course very good. However, when he is limited by his living environment and can't see a very broad world, his mind can't be broad, and the world in his eyes must be very narrow. Then, at most, he is a contented rural primary school teacher, and he can't be a great writer who illuminates the times and the world.
Of course, there are many conditions that determine whether a writer can go global. Besides his own reasons, opportunities are also very important. Many Gansu writers did not go to the world, or even go out of Gansu, because they had no chance to show themselves to the world.
Whenever we go outside, we will find that Gansu is too weak, both in literature and economy. Besides me, there are many Gansu writers who have also written good works. However, until today, many writers who are not as good as them are far more successful than them in the market or in other aspects. There may be many reasons for this situation, but one of the most important reasons is that they lack a platform to communicate with the outside world. The outside world doesn't understand them, and it is certainly impossible to understand them.
Recently settled in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, I communicate with the outside world almost every month or even every week. Because Dongguan attaches great importance to cultural undertakings, many experts and scholars from all over the country gather here. So this land provides many platforms for writers. But Gansu does not have such consciousness and strength. Some time ago, Lanzhou University held a seminar on my works, which I enjoyed very much. Because Gansu writers can rely on such a platform to show themselves to the outside world as much as possible. I also hope that colleges and universities in Gansu can engage in more such activities in the future, and promote Gansu writers to get rid of geographical restrictions and have a bigger stage. This is really important to them.
The reason why my "Sacrifice to the Desert" can go out of Gansu and go to the whole country is because the outside world knows its existence. A work, a culture, has real influence only if it is understood by the world. Otherwise, no matter how good the work is, no one will benefit from it as long as no one knows it. It's just fun. It doesn't mean much.
So, when Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in Literature this year, I was very happy. However, I am glad not only that he won the prize, but also that China literature and China culture have finally entered the world stage, showing its brilliance to the world. I hope that there will be more excellent works in the future, more works that truly bear the wisdom and spirit of human beings, can be on the world stage and bring beautiful things to the world.