Listen to this articlelì zhǔnǎo 立主脑
Focus on What Is Central to a Drama
戏曲创作要围绕主要人物和主要事件展开。由明末清初曲论家李渔（1611—1680）提出。李渔认为，古人写文章，必有一篇之“主脑”。所谓主脑，是作者写作的缘由或文章的立意。一部戏曲，也必定围绕一个人、一件事而生发，这一个人、一件事就是戏曲的主脑，它推动戏剧情节和矛盾冲突的发展。这个“人”和“事”可以理解为戏曲的主角和关键事件。所谓关键事件是全剧所有事件中对矛盾冲突起枢纽作用、能够将全部情节串联起来的中心事件。他举例说，《西厢记》的主脑是张君瑞一人、白马将军解围一事，其余皆由此人和此事件引出。立主脑兼指立人、立事而言，很多人创作传奇，知道确立主角，却不知道确立关键事件，导致全本如同断线的珠子、没有栋梁的房屋。“立主脑”对于戏曲的结构非常重要。
The late Ming and early Qing drama theorist Li Yu (1611-1680) used this term to suggest that a drama should revolve around main characters and events. He said that when an ancient writer wrote an essay, he would always develop a main theme first. This main theme was what he wanted to write about. A drama, too, should unfold around a key character and a key event, namely, the main theme of the drama, which would spur plot development and interaction between characters. The key event was the one which, of all events in the drama, played a central role in developing the plot and which linked together all plots elements. As an example, Li Yu said the main character in Romance of the Western Chamber was Zhang Junrui, whom the White Horse General rescued and around whom all the other characters and events revolved. Main characters and main events were equally important. The authors of many legendary dramas knew how to create a main character but did not know how to set up a main event. As a result, their works looked like broken strings of pearls or houses without pillars. Establishing a main theme was very important to the structure of a drama.
引例 Citations：
◎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。（李渔《闲情偶寄·词曲部》）
（古人写一篇文章，必然有一篇的主脑。主脑不是别的，就是作者写文章的本来意图和主题。创作传奇也是这样。）
When an ancient writer wrote an essay, he would always develop a main theme first. Such a theme is nothing other than what he intended to convey through the essay. The same is true for dramatic legends. (Li Yu: Occasional Notes with Leisure Motions)
◎凡作一篇文，其用意俱要可以一言蔽之。扩之则为千万言，约之则为一言，所谓主脑者是也。（刘熙载《艺概·经义概》）
（凡是写一篇文章，其写作意图都应该可以用一句话概括。扩展开来就是千万句，概括起来就是一句话，所谓主脑就是这个意思。）
When writing an essay, one can sum up its purpose in a single sentence and expand it into thousands of sentences. That is what a “main theme” means – it is roughly a single-sentence summary. (Liu Xizai: Overview of Literary Theories)
