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清 Qing · 文 Prose

闲情偶寄节选

Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling (excerpt)

李渔

Li Yu

感怀reflection 品艺on the arts

古人作文一篇，定有一篇之主脑。
主脑非他，即作者立言之本意也。
传奇亦然。
一本戏中，有无数人名，究竟俱属陪宾，原其初心，止为一人而设。
即此一人之身，自始至终，离合悲欢，中具无限情由、无穷关目，究竟俱属衍文，原其初心，又止为一事而设。
此一人一事，即作传奇之主脑也。

When the ancients wrote an essay, that essay always had a master brain.
The master brain is nothing else: it is the author's own purpose in setting down words.
With drama it is the same.
A single play holds countless names, but in the end they are all supporting guests; trace the first intention and they were set there for one person only.
Within that one person, from beginning to end, in parting and meeting, in sorrow and joy, lie endless motives and endless turns of plot; yet trace the first intention and all of them are branch writing, set there for one event only.
This one person and this one event are the master brain of a play.

Listen

Meaning

When the ancients wrote a piece of prose, it always had a master brain, that is, a controlling idea; the master brain is nothing other than the author's own purpose in writing. Drama is the same. A play contains any number of characters, but in the end they are all supporting figures, and if we look for the original intention they exist for one person alone. Within that one person, from start to finish, in separations and reunions, in sorrow and joy, there are endless motives and endless incidents, but these too are side branches, and if we look for the original intention they exist for one event alone. That single person and that single event are the master brain of the play.

古人写文章，必然有一篇的主脑。主脑不是别的，就是作者作文的本意。戏曲（传奇）也是这样。一部戏里有无数人物，说到底都是陪衬，推究本心，不过是为一个人而设。就在这一人身上，从始到终，离合悲欢，其中有无穷情由、无数关目，说到底也都是旁枝，推究本心，又只是为一件事而设。这一个人、一件事，就是作传奇的主脑。

Appreciation

Though it argues a case, this passage is itself a piece of finished craft. Its method is to press forward step by step: it plants the term 'master brain' and defines it as the writer's purpose, carries the point across to the stage with the words that drama is the same, and then closes two matched pieces of reasoning upon the single formula of one person and one event. The figures of the supporting guest and the branch text turn an abstract question of structure into a homely image of host and guest that anyone can grasp, and the style, mixing balanced and running phrases, is brisk and decisive throughout.

【白话串讲】李渔谈作文：“古人作文一篇，定有一篇之主脑”——每篇文章都有一个主脑。“主脑非他，即作者立言之本意也”——就是作者想说的核心。“一本戏中，有无数人名，究竟俱属陪宾”——戏里那么多人，都是陪衬，只为一人而设。【意象与手法】此段虽为论说，却极具文章之‘术’。其法在层层逼进：先立‘主脑’之名，释为本意；次以‘传奇亦然’过渡到戏曲【情感与主旨】李渔（1611—1680），字笠鸿，号笠翁，浙江兰溪人，明末清初戏曲家、理论家、小说家【名句点睛】本段常入高中语文‘传统文化论著’或戏剧欣赏单元。考点一

Background

Li Yu (1611-1680), styled Lihong and known as Liweng, came from Lanxi in Zhejiang and was a dramatist, theorist and writer of fiction of the late Ming and early Qing. Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling is his great miscellany on living and on art, and its section on drama sets out a full theory of playwriting. This passage comes from the first chapter on structure, 'Establishing the Master Brain', written in the early years of the Kangxi reign. Li Yu, who claimed to have read ten thousand volumes and to have seen through a thousand ages, was reacting against the sprawling plots of the drama of his day when he urged writers to establish the master brain and to cut down the threads, insisting that a play must turn upon one person and one event. It is among the most practical pieces in Chinese classical dramatic theory and has shaped the study of playwriting ever since.

《闲情偶寄》（节选）为清代李渔所作，是论戏曲创作的理论著作。李渔（1611—1680），字谪凡，号笠翁，兰溪人，清代戏曲家。此节选部分：古人作文一篇，定有一篇之主脑。主脑非他，即作者立言之本意也。传奇亦然。一本戏中，有无数人名，究竟俱属陪宾，原其初心，止为一人而设。全节选论戏曲之主脑，是《闲情偶寄》中论创作的名段。

Art

Though this passage is argument, it is written with all the art of good prose. The method is progressive: first the term 'master brain' is set up and glossed as the author's own purpose in writing; then the sentence saying that drama is the same moves the discussion to the stage; then two symmetrical inferences, the countless names that are all supporting guests and the endless motives that are all branch writing, converge upon one person and one event. Li Yu makes excellent use of his comparisons: the supporting guest stands for the minor characters and the branch text for the minor incidents, so that an abstract matter of structure becomes a plain image of host and guest, homely enough for anyone and exact all the same. The language mixes parallel and running phrases, is clipped and brisk, quotes nothing at tedious length and yet keeps its argument in perfect order, which is precisely Li Yu's way of teaching from his own practice and prizing clear usefulness; reading it, one seems to hear him talking and pointing with his hand.

《闲情偶寄》此节选艺术上以议论的条理与比喻的通俗见长。此节选五句，层层写来：首二句论作文之主脑——“古人作文一篇，定有一篇之主脑”写作文定有主脑，“主脑非他，即作者立言之本意也”写主脑即立言本意；中写传奇亦然——“传奇亦然”写传奇也是这样；末写陪宾之设——“一本戏中，有无数人名，究竟俱属陪宾，原其初心，止为一人而设”写戏中陪宾为一人而设。全节选论戏曲主脑，条理清晰、比喻通俗，正是李渔《闲情偶寄》的笔法。

Allusions

The passage uses few obscure references, but the term 'master brain' was coined by Li Yu himself as a figure for the core of a piece of writing, and it afterwards became a standard term in the criticism of poetry and prose. The word rendered as 'play' is the technical name for the long southern drama of the Ming and Qing, not a general word for strange events. The phrase about the author's purpose in setting down words continues the tradition of the Zuo Commentary's saying that words serve to complete intent, and of the old doctrine that writing carries the way, but turns it, for the first time, to the stage. 'Supporting guest' and 'branch writing' were familiar terms in commentary on prose, and Li Yu borrows them to discuss what is principal and what is subordinate in structure, giving old words new sense. The whole reasons in everyday vocabulary, disdains recondite learning, and still arrives at original insight, a model of the Qing theoretical essay that prizes clarity.

《闲情偶寄》此节选用典少而议论自明。“主脑”写文章的中心主旨；“传奇”写明清戏曲之体；“陪宾”写陪衬之人。全节选论戏曲创作之主脑，不用深典而议论条理，正是李渔论戏曲理论的笔法。

Commentary

Li Yu's writings on drama have long been valued by scholars. Aoki Masaru, in his History of Early Modern Chinese Drama, held that his doctrines of establishing the master brain and of escaping the well-worn groove will bear comparison with the three unities of Western drama. Drama schools today still treat Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling as required reading, and modern critics say that he reveals the secrets of playwriting with a professional's eye. His formula of one person and one event has been extended into a general principle for the structure of all narrative literature, proof of how lucid, practical and durable his thinking is.

《闲情偶寄》是李渔的代表作，也是中国古典戏曲理论的经典著作。此节选论戏曲之主脑，向为论者称道。论者多赏其议论的条理——“古人作文一篇，定有一篇之主脑”论作文之主脑，开门见山；“一本戏中，有无数人名，究竟俱属陪宾”论戏中陪宾，更见其理。李渔为清代戏曲家，其《闲情偶寄》论戏曲创作，此节选正是其代表——以主脑之论，正是其戏曲理论的核心。

Prosody

Form Classical prose (an essay in dramatic theory)文言论文（笔记）

Rhyme Prose; no rhyme《闲情偶寄》为清人论戏曲之笔记，此节选以散句议论，问以排比，音节疏朗。

Tone pattern Not applicable文言论文以议论条理、比喻通俗见长。此节选论戏曲之主脑，音节疏朗而条理。全节选以散体贯底，声调与论创作之旨相合，是清代戏曲理论中论创作的一路。

Reading note From the first chapter on structure in Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling; parallel and running phrases mixed, clear and brisk.《闲情偶寄》（节选）为清代李渔所作，是论戏曲创作的理论著作。此节选以“古人作文一篇，定有一篇之主脑”论作文主脑，以“主脑非他，即作者立言之本意也”释其义，以“传奇亦然”“原其初心，止为一人而设”由文论到戏曲。议论条理、比喻通俗，正是李渔《闲情偶寄》论创作的名段。

Line by line

古人作文一篇，定有一篇之主脑。主脑非他，即作者立言之本意也。

When the ancients wrote an essay, it had a mastermind of its own. The mastermind is none other than the author's original intent in writing.

古人写作一篇文章，一定有一篇文章的主脑。主脑不是别的，就是作者立言的本意。

When the ancients wrote a piece, it surely had a mastermind. The mastermind is nothing but the author's original purpose in writing.

首二句论作文之主脑，是全节选立论的起点。“古人作文一篇，定有一篇之主脑”写作文定有主脑——“古人作文一篇”写古人写作一篇文章，“定有一篇之主脑”写一定有一篇文章的主脑——古人作文，定有主脑；“主脑非他，即作者立言之本意也”写主脑即立言本意——“主脑非他”写主脑不是别的，“即作者立言之本意也”写就是作者立言的本意——主脑非他，即立言本意。二句论作文之主脑：古人作文一篇，定有一篇之主脑；主脑非他，即作者立言之本意。以“定有一篇之主脑”立论，以“即作者立言之本意也”释其义，正是李渔论作文先立主脑的笔法——文必有主脑，主脑即立言本意。

The opening two lines discuss the mastermind of writing, the starting point of the excerpt's thesis. When the ancients wrote an essay, it had a mastermind of its own writes that an essay must have its mastermind. The mastermind is none other than the author's original intent in writing writes that the mastermind is the original intent of the writing. Two lines on the mastermind of prose: the ancients wrote, and surely there was a mastermind; the mastermind is none other than the original intent. Arguing surely there is a mastermind, explaining it as the author's original intent, precisely Li Yu's brush of first establishing the mastermind in prose — the writing must have its mastermind, and the mastermind is the original intent.

传奇亦然。一本戏中，有无数人名，究竟俱属陪宾，原其初心，止为一人而设。

The same is true of the verse drama. In one play there are countless named characters, yet in the end they are all supporting guests; tracing the author's first intent, the play is constructed for a single person alone.

传奇也是这样。一本戏中，有无数的人名，究竟都属于陪衬，推原作者的初心，只为一人而设。

The same holds for the poetic drama: in one play there are innumerable names, yet in the end they are all supporting roles; tracing the original intention, the play was created for one person only.

末三句论传奇亦然，是全节选以主脑论戏曲的深化。“传奇亦然”写传奇也是这样——“传奇亦然”写传奇（戏曲）也是这样；“一本戏中，有无数人名，究竟俱属陪宾，原其初心，止为一人而设”写戏中陪宾——“一本戏中，有无数人名”写一本戏中有无数人名，“究竟俱属陪宾”写究竟都属于陪衬，“原其初心，止为一人而设”写推原其初心、只为一人而设——戏中无数人名，俱属陪宾，止为一人。三句论传奇亦然：传奇亦然，一本戏中有无数人名，究竟俱属陪宾，原其初心止为一人而设。以“传奇亦然”由文论到戏曲，以“一本戏中，有无数人名，究竟俱属陪宾，原其初心，止为一人而设”论戏中陪宾为一人而设，正是李渔以主脑论戏曲的深化——传奇如文，止为一人设，即其主脑。

The closing three lines discuss that the verse drama is the same, the deepening of the excerpt's mastermind-theory applied to drama. The same is true of the verse drama writes that the poetic drama (the opera) is likewise. In one play there are countless named characters, yet in the end they are all supporting guests; tracing the author's first intent, the play is constructed for a single person alone writes the supporting guests of the play: the countless names of one play, all in the end supporting, the first intent traced and the play constructed for one person. Three lines on the drama being the same: the drama as the essay; in one play countless names, all supporting; tracing the first intent, constructed for one person. Moving from prose to drama through the drama being the same, arguing that the play's supporting guests exist for the one person, precisely the deepening of Li Yu's mastermind-theory of drama — the drama, like the essay, constructed for one person, which is its mastermind.

Study

Word focus

主脑 Li Yu's own coinage for the controlling idea of a work, the point on which everything else must turn; the homely image of a brain makes an abstract principle of structure immediately graspable, and the term passed into general critical use. “一篇之主脑”之“主脑”，写文章的中心主旨，是全节选立论的核心词。“主脑”写头脑、中心——古人作文一篇，定有一篇之主脑。这一词以“主脑”写文章中心：不是枝节之论，而主脑；不是无主之文，而立言之本。以“定有一篇之主脑”立论，正是李渔论作文以主脑为纲的笔法。

立言 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “作者立言之本意”之“立言”，写著书立说，是全节选释主脑之义的关键词。“立言”写立言（著书传世）——主脑即作者立言的本意。这一词写作者之意：不是泛泛之文，而立言；不是无本之语，而立言本意。以“即作者立言之本意也”释主脑，正是李渔论主脑为作者本意的笔法。

传奇 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “传奇亦然”之“传奇”，写明人传奇戏曲，是全节选由文论到戏曲的枢纽词。“传奇”写戏曲之体（明清称南戏传奇）——传奇也是这样。这一词以“传奇”写戏曲：不是杂剧之体，而传奇；不是散文之文，而戏曲之篇。以“传奇亦然”由文论到戏曲，正是李渔以主脑通论诗文与戏曲的笔法。

陪宾 Taking host and guest as the figure, it fixes which characters are principal and which subordinate; the comparison is plain and yet cuts to the point. “究竟俱属陪宾”之“陪宾”，写陪衬之人，是全节选论戏中人物的关键词。“陪宾”写陪衬宾客——戏中有无数人名，究竟都属于陪衬。这一词写戏中人物：不是主角之人，而陪宾；不是可有之名，而为一人设之衬。以“究竟俱属陪宾，原其初心，止为一人而设”论戏中人物，正是李渔以主脑论戏曲人物安排的笔法——万宾衬一主，即其主脑。