Terseness / Make Writing Succinct

洗炼

This term means that wording should be refined to highlight the essential message. Terseness is a mark of neat and thematically explicit writing.

精简词句，提炼要义。洗炼是一种文字干净、主旨鲜明的文学风格。

Nothing will be clean until it is cleansed. Nothing will be pure until it is refined. Only by ridding ourselves of any banality, can we become truly original.

不洗不净，不炼不纯。惟陈言之务去，独戛戛乎生新。（孙联奎《诗品臆说》）

Powerfulness

雄浑

This term, which literally means power and splendor, refers to a natural and powerful artistic style and aesthetic taste.

指雄健有力、浑厚自然的艺术风格与审美气象。

Powerfulness means invincible power and indivisible mass of vital energy.

大力无敌为雄，元气未分为浑。（杨廷芝《 <二十四诗品> 浅解》）

Pure and Unadorned

纯素

This term refers to natural, unadorned beauty.

纯粹而素朴。指纯然素朴、不加人工雕饰的本色之美。

Within spiritual being lies the value of pure simplicity. If you retain your spirit without fail, you became one with it.

纯素之道，惟神是守。守而勿失，与神为一。 （《庄子·刻意》）

Latent Sentiment and Evident Beauty

隐秀

This term means that prose and poetry may contain latent sentiments and thoughts, as well as expressions and sentences that present an apparent sense of beauty.

诗歌与文章既隐含丰富的思想感情，又有秀美的名言佳句。

Latency happens when feelings and thoughts are hidden between the lines of a literary work. Evident beauty occurs when messages of sentiment and feelings are vividly portrayed by the images the author creates.

情在词外曰隐，状溢目前曰秀。 （张戒《岁寒堂诗话》卷上引刘勰语）

Natural Grace

飘逸

Natural Grace refers to free and unconstrained aesthetic style and artistic appeal in poetic works.

指诗歌作品中所表现出的逍遥自适、超凡脱俗、无拘无束的审美情趣和艺术风格。

Du Fu could not write as freely and unconstrained as Li Bai, while the latter did not possess the style of melancholy and profoundness typical of Du Fu’s poems.

子美不能为太白之飘逸，太白不能为子美之沉郁。 （严羽《沧浪诗话·诗评》）

Ethereal Effect

空灵

The notion of ethereal effect values simple layout and economical use of details, seeking to convey character and imagination. Works that make use of ethereal effect convey a wonderful lucidity, and possess openness, freedom, and natural grace. Such works enable viewers to appreciate the aesthetic joy of free imagination.

空灵用笔洗练，重在传达神韵，具有空灵特点的作品澄澈透明、飘逸灵动，能使人体悟到自由超脱的审美愉悦。

When painting, classical artists made use of ethereal effect all the more where a dense collection of objects normally was required. However today’s artists no sooner begin to paint than they fill the space with elaborate details.

古人用笔极塞实处愈见空灵，今人布置一角已见繁缛。（恽格《南田画跋·题画》）

Dry Plainness

枯淡

This refers to a literary style that appears plain and dry, mild and moderate.

指诗文作品所呈现的质朴干枯、平和清淡的艺术风格。

I value the style of dry plainness because it looks withered and dry outside but is rich inside; it appears plain but is in fact beautiful. Poetry by such writers as Tao Yuanming and Liu Zongyuan is like this.

所贵乎枯淡者，谓其外枯而中膏，似淡而实美，渊明、子厚之流是也。（苏轼《评韩柳诗》）

Free Flow of One's Mind

畅神

The term describes a state of mind one achieves when appreciating an artwork, in which process one's inner feelings interact freely and joyfully with nature.

指精神与自然合一时所达到的自由舒畅的一种审美状态。

As sages of remote past already discovered the philosophical wisdom inherent in nature through imagination and contemplation, what more do I need to do now? All I have to do is relishing the joy when my mind interacts freely with the depicted landscape.

圣贤映于绝代，万趣融其神思，余复何为哉？畅神而已。（宗炳《画山水序》）

Unadorned Antiquity

高古

This term describes the quality of loftiness or primitive simplicity, and is used primarily in literary criticism to refer to an ancient nobility, an aspiration or sentiment, or an artistic style of historical gravity.

高远古朴，高雅简古。用于文艺批评，主要指文艺作品中所体现出的意蕴高远古朴、情志高雅，凝重而又深具历史感的艺术风格。

This term is also used to refer to an elevated state of being attained by noble-minded persons.

它有时也指高人雅士独具的一种人格境界。

Prose and poetry by Han Dynasty authors, so long as they have survived to this day, all show a lofty adherence to an unadorned antiquity and a charming rusticity.

汉人诗文，存于今者，无不高古浑朴。（章学诚《文史通义·内篇五·妇学篇书后》）

Prevailing Features

气象

Qixiang (气象), originally a term about the general state of scenery and physical objects in nature, also refers to the prevailing features of a society in a given period of time.

原是自然界中景色物候的总称，也指某个时期社会的总体精神风貌。

Works of many poets during the prime of the Tang Dynasty struck readers with their powerful expression, just like the calligraphy of Yan Zhenqing.

盛唐诸公之诗，如颜鲁公书，既笔力雄壮，又气象浑厚。（严羽《答出继叔临安吴景仙书》）

（来源：中华思想文化术语、中国日报双语新闻微信 编辑：左卓、丹妮）

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