Abstract:
The eight articles following Reaching the Author’s Mind to Choose Appropriate Words in WEN XIN DIAO LONG fall into the domain of “new criticism”. Liu Xie the author introduced intentional choice to show his realistic specificity and mindset. For example, his criticism of Lu Ji the author of Rhetorical Notes actually showed Liu’s dissatisfaction with current styles of writing. In fact, the significance of “reaching the author’s mind to choose appropriate words” didn’t lie in “refining the artistic conception” or “forging the diction” in a usual sense as was stated by Ji Yun. In terms of exegesis “the author’s mind” can be compared to the mould of forging and “choice” to the measurement of making a dress, both involving certain standards as verbs. Thus the function of intentional choice is to make the framework of a work clear and inclusive by reaching the depths of the author’s mind and the language economical and efficient by choosing words. For reaching the author’s mind, the view of three principles requires an integrity of the three factors, the setting, the plot and the language, in the process of writing. Liu Xie took a relatively open view over “choosing words”, thinking wordiness and economy both have advantages and should be adopted according to different personalities of authors. In a word, the theory of reaching the author’s mind to choose appropriate words helps regularize the content and form of writing.
