Listen to this articleliùɡuān 六观
Six Criteria
文章鉴赏和批评的六个角度，亦是文章本身所具有的六方面要素，包括“位体”（谋篇布局）、“置辞”（遣词造句）、“通变”（对前人作品风格的继承与创新）、“奇正”（表现手法上的守正与新变）、“事义”（援引事例以证立论）、“宫商”（音律节奏）。“六观”作为批评方法论，是《文心雕龙》整个理论体系的重要一环，它使文章批评自此有章可循，避免了批评的主观性，对后世的诗文评论有着指导与规范的作用，也对现代文学理论建构具有显著影响。
The term refers to the following six criteria on literary appreciation and criticism which are also six key elements in writing: structural layout of writing, choice of words to construct sentences, acceptance and innovation in the style of earlier writers, inheriting and transforming traditional ways of expression, citing examples to support an argument, and musical rhythm. As a school of literary criticism, the six criteria formed a key component in the theoretical system established in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons. The six criteria offered rules that could be followed to avoid subjectivity in literary criticism. They also provided a framework of theoretical guidance for later generations of critics and exerted significant influence on the development of literary theory in modern times.
引例 Citation：
◎是以将阅文情，先标六观：一观位体，二观置辞，三观通变，四观奇正，五观事义，六观宫商。（刘勰《文心雕龙·知音》）
（因此阅读和评论文章，先要标明需要考察的六个方面：一是谋篇布局，二是遣词造句，三是对前人作品风格的继承与创新，四是表现手法上的守正与新变，五是援引事例以证立论，六是音律节奏。）
Therefore, we should study and comment a literary work according to the following six criteria: structural layout of writing, choice of words to construct sentences, acceptance and innovation in the style of earlier writers, inheriting and transforming traditional ways of expression, citing examples to support an argument, and musical rhythm. (Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons).
