从绿林枭雄到草莽司令——王虎形象探源

From Robin Hood to Grassroot General —An Investigation into the Source of Wang the Tiger Image

王虎是赛珍珠代表作《大地》三部曲的第二部《儿子们》中的男主角,他是"由初民式的中国农民王龙向圣徒式的中西合璧人物王源过渡中一个二元混合的桥梁式人物"。目前学界至今基本否认或没有发现王虎形象的生活原型。对王虎的寻根研究,有继续讨论的空间和价值。王虎的生活原型是辛亥革命前后的江苏军阀徐宝山(徐老虎),赛珍珠的创作没有杜撰,而是就地(在镇江)取材,先有"人物而后去结构故事",敷演成篇,是现实主义创作。

Wang the Tiger is the protagonist of Sons,the 2nd book in Pearl S.Buck The Good Earth trilogy.He is a binary bridge between the primitive peasant Wang Lung and the saintly character Wang Yuan,a blending of both the East and the West.However,the existence of the prototype of Wang the Tiger is generally denied or to be identified.Therefore,there is much space and value to continue to investigate into the Wang the Tiger image.The prototype of Wang the Tiger was Chu Pao-shan（Xu the Tiger）,a Zhenjiang-born warlord around the 1911 revolution.Buck＇s creation of Wang the Tiger was not purely invented;instead,she was a realistic writer who based her story on a true local character in real life.