Listen to this articlegǔ, ròu 骨、肉
Bones and Flesh; Literary Framework and Nuanced Expressions
中国古代书画理论或文学批评中用来指称用笔或风格上的遒劲刚健与圆润妍美的一对术语。秦汉时代流行相面术，“骨”指人体骨骼，“肉”指皮肉。汉魏六朝时期，它们被用作文艺批评术语。在书画领域，“骨”指笔力直硬劲拔，“肉”指用墨或着色浓重圆润。在文学创作方面，“骨”侧重指风格上的遒劲刚健，“肉”侧重指辞采上的圆融妍美。这一对术语喻指文艺作品的体格骨力（思想内容、风格特点）与表现之美的关系，也蕴含着文艺作品思想情调与形式妍美的匹配。
These are terms that were traditionally used in painting and calligraphy theory and literary criticism to refer specifically to a vigorous and forceful manner or style of execution in combination with softer, more feminine touches. In physiognomy, which was popular during the Qin and Han period, gu (骨) referred to the human frame and rou (肉), the skin and flesh. By the Latter Han, Wei and the Six Dynasties, the term came to be employed in literary criticism as well. In the field of painting and calligraphy, “bones” were virile and energetic strokes whereas “flesh” was the heavy use of ink or color to create an effect of elegant plumpness. In literary writing, “bones” meant a sturdy overall structure, and “flesh,” any appropriate rhetorical or formal means employed to fill it out. Bones and flesh, when mentioned together, refer metaphorically to the relation between the framework (i.e., the moral message and structural features) and the nuanced aspects of expression of a literary work. They also imply a union between the essential idea and sentiment of a literary work and its formal beauty.
引例 Citation：
◎骨丰肉润，入妙通灵。（王僧虔《笔意赞》）
（下笔要遒劲而运笔要圆润，方能抵达精妙境界而与神灵相通。）
Only if one combines robust and powerful strokes with subtler means of expression will he be able to reach a state of supreme sophistication and to communicate with spiritual beings. (Wang Sengqian: In Praise of the Dynamic Beauty of Calligraphy)
◎必以情志为神明，事义为骨髓，辞采为肌肤，宫商为声气。（刘勰《文心雕龙·附会》）
（必须以思想感情作为文章的灵魂，以事实道理作为文章的骨髓，以文采辞藻作为文章的肌肤，以谐和音律增强文章的内在气势。）
In writing an essay, content and feeling must be treated as its soul, facts and reasoning as its marrow, and rhetoric and wording as its flesh and skin. Harmony in rhyme must be relied upon to enhance its innate strength. (Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons)
