Listen to this articleyǐnxiù 隐秀
Latent Sentiment and Evident Beauty
诗歌与文章既隐含丰富的思想感情，又有秀美的名言佳句。源出《文心雕龙》篇名，在该篇中，“隐”是隐含，指在叙事或写景中隐含超出事、景之外的意义，能引发读者的无限联想；“秀”是秀美，指一篇之中应该有能凸显这一意义的精妙词句。二者密不可分，共同构成优秀文学作品的审美特征。后来也作为诗文写作的一种修辞手法。
This term means that prose and poetry may contain latent sentiments and thoughts, as well as expressions and sentences that present an apparent sense of beauty. “Latent sentiment and evident beauty” first appeared as the title of a chapter in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons. There, “latent sentiment” means what lies beyond events and landscapes in a narrative or a description, triggering imaginations on the part of the reader. On the other hand, “evident beauty” refers to the kind of beauty created by expressions and sentences in a piece of writing, which bring out that latent meaning. The latent and the apparent qualities are inseparable, constituting an aesthetic feature of good literary works. Later, this term developed into a rhetorical device in writing prose and poetry.
引例 Citations:
◎是以文之英蕤，有秀有隐。隐也者，文外之重旨者也；秀也者，篇中之独拔者也。（刘勰《文心雕龙·隐秀》）
（因此优秀的文章要兼具“秀”和“隐”。所谓“隐”，就是指文章在语言之外隐含有多重意蕴；所谓“秀”，则是有既彰显主旨又独到突出的秀美词句。）
Thus, an excellent piece of writing should have both beautiful in language and a message hidden between the lines. The former refers to beautiful sentences and expressions that accentuate the message of the writing while the latter represents the multiple significance that lies beyond the text. (Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons)
◎情在词外曰隐，状溢目前曰秀。（张戒《岁寒堂诗话》卷上引刘勰语）
（思想感情隐含于语言背后叫做“隐”，寄寓思想感情的景象鲜活地展现在读者眼前叫做“秀”。）
Latency happens when feelings and thoughts are hidden between the lines of a literary work. Evident beauty occurs when messages of sentiment and feelings are vividly portrayed by the images the author creates. (Zhang Jie: Notes on Poetry Written in the Pine and Cypress Studio)
