Just finished learning a book about scientific writing (writing science, by? Joshua. SCHIMEL), a little curious about whether the writing rules introduced in the book have something in common with China's traditional writing skills, I thought of Han Yu's ancient prose.

Han Yu is the first of the eight great masters. Although there are not many articles handed down from ancient times (compared with Su Shi's 4 170, Han Yu has only 328 articles, which is really rare), it is generally considered by later generations to be the highest overall achievement among the eight masters. So what is good about his article? I believe that most people, like me, can't say anything ugly. But I'm really curious.

If I remember correctly, four of Zeng Guofan's favorite articles are "Dynamic (Sima Qian) (Super) Han (Yu) Zeng (Gong)". Mao Zedong also said in his later years that he could write good ancient prose, thanks to his careful study of the Complete Works of Han Yu when he was young. Yi Zhongtian also said, "How can I write a good article? If there is no good way, just read more ancient Chinese. " Based on the experience of these people, I am also interested in learning Han Yu's articles for recreation.

Today, let's look at an essay:

Scholars are maverick, the fittest are benevolent, regardless of right and wrong: all heroes, believers know themselves. Those who don't do it without being confused are widowed; As for a country and a state, those who do it without being confused only cover one person in the world; As for those who are not on earth and practice without confusion, they have only been ears for thousands of years. If you are a savage, you will be poor in heaven and earth, and you will never care (four levels parallel, step by step, magnificent). Zhao Hu, the sun and the moon are unclear; Alas, Mount Tai is not high enough; What a pity! Heaven and earth are not enough for you! (analogy, wonderful! Make the argument clear from the beginning and strengthen it with parallelism. Finally, the argument is sublimated and visualized by analogy, which is impressive. I have to say that analogy is really a good tool.

After Yin's death, Zhou Zhixing and Wei Zixian also left with ritual vessels. King Wu and Duke Ye Sheng attacked them from the sages and princes of the world: those who had never heard of anything wrong. Peter Boyd, Shu Qi, alone. Since Yin was destroyed and the world returned to Zhou, his second son was ashamed to eat his millet and starved to death (contrast and turning point made the characters stand out). So, is it necessary for my husband to ask? Believe and have self-knowledge (echoing the opening argument).

The so-called scholars in this world are praised by ordinary people and think they are more than enough; If a mortal falls in love with it, he thinks he is not qualified. He is not a saint, of course. Being a saint is the standard throughout the ages. Therefore, Yu said: "If Boyi is maverick, he will be a poor man through the ages." . Although, Wei's second son, rebels and thieves are always with him in later generations (this sentence can be regarded as the finishing touch of this article, which should be the original intention of the author to write this article).

It can be seen that the structure of this article is carefully designed by the author: the argument is put forward directly at the beginning, the discussion is carried out in the middle with various rhetorical devices, and the real intention is finally told. The last sentence, for the "rebel thief", is really heartfelt. This article should be enjoyable to recite because many antithetical sentences are used. I like this little article.

Note: The source of the article is the Dictionary of Ancient Chinese Appreciation, Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House.