雕蟲篆刻(Two ancient scripts: one resembling the shapes of insects and birds, and the other resembling seal carvings.)

蘇軾是中國的宋王朝的一個著名的政治家與美食家，他還是一名傑出的文學家與書法家。他更是中國歷史上最受人喜愛的詩人之一。

他的人生的最後幾年，他被派任到中國的最南端的一個海南省，海南省的面積涵蓋整座海南島。

西元1100年，他收到一條命令，他有了新的職務，再他到新的工作崗位的途中，他經過了中國南方最重要的一座城市，這座城市就是廣州市。

蘇軾在廣州待了幾天，就在這幾天中，他在這座城市中認識了一個年紀與他相差很多的年輕官員，他與這個官員成為了好朋友，這個好朋友的名字叫做謝民師。

由於蘇軾是當時代最著名的文學家，所以謝民師在兩個人認識後，他把握這個機會拿出自己寫的文章給蘇軾看，並且請教蘇軾對這些文章的意見，他們兩個人也討論了各自對於創作的理念與觀點。

蘇軾離開廣州後，寫了一封信給謝民師，蘇軾在這封信中表達了他對謝民師的感謝，另外這封信中有一段的意思如下。

若一個人能夠精準地捕捉事物的精妙之處，並且能用最恰當的語言表達出來，我認為這個人的寫作水平就已經到達非常高的境界了。

中國的漢王朝時代，當時的主流的寫作風格是作者喜歡用華麗的詞句來描繪出內心的豐富情感，第一個用這種寫作風格寫文章的人，是中國的春秋時代的楚王國的一個名字叫做屈原的偉大詩人。

漢王朝時代有很多著名的文學家都學習屈原，他們喜歡用這種風格寫作，這些文學家也用這種風格寫出了非常多能夠打動人與感動人的文章。

漢王朝有一個名字叫做揚雄的學者，他在年輕的時候也用這種風格來創作文章，但是他年老之後，他突然否定起他年輕時所喜歡的文章風格，他用尖銳的話語批評那些用這種華麗的詞句來描繪出內心的豐富情感的寫作方式，他說。

我們小時候都要學習書寫兩種古代的文字，第一種是像蟲鳥形狀的文字，第二種是像篆刻一樣的文字。

我認為現在流行的這種寫作風格就像是我小時候學習的那兩種文字一樣是浮誇而且平庸的，我們應該要推動一種新的寫作理念與風格，一種更簡單與更簡短的寫作方式。

(揚雄)後來的文章中，他全部改用他所認同的新的寫作風格去寫作。

蘇軾說。

我認為揚雄的看法是膚淺的，不論甚麼寫作風格或者形勢，只要用詞洽當且能夠明確地表達出作者的內心的觀點與感受的，都是好的文章。

這句成語直接翻譯的意思是兩種古代的文字，第一種是像蟲鳥形狀的文字，第二種是像篆刻一樣的文字。

這句成語被引申用來形容一種非常簡單的技巧，一種只有小孩才會使用的技巧。

親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。

你喜歡那種形式或風格的文學作品呢?你用那些標準來評量一部文學作品的好壞呢?

我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。

出處為蘇軾-與謝民師推官書

https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E8%88%87%E8%AC%9D%E6%B0%91%E5%B8%AB%E6%8E%A8%E5%AE%98%E6%9B%B8

圖片出處來自百度百科

Two ancient scripts: one resembling the shapes of insects and birds, and the other resembling seal carvings.(雕蟲篆刻)

Su Shi was a renowned Song Dynasty politician, gourmet and writer from China, as well as an outstanding calligrapher. He is also one of the most beloved poets in Chinese history.

In the final years of his life, he was exiled to Hainan Province, China's southernmost province, which covers the entire island of Hainan.

In 1100 AD, he received an order for a new post. En route, he passed through Guangzhou, one of the most important cities in southern China.

Su Shi spent a few days there, during which he met a young official who was much younger than himself. They became good friends — this official's name was Xie Minshi.

As Su Shi was the most famous writer of the time, Xie Minshi seized the opportunity to show him his own writing and seek his opinion. The two men also discussed their creative philosophies and perspectives. After leaving Guangzhou, Su Shi wrote a letter to Xie Minshi to express his gratitude. One passage from the letter conveys the following meaning:

'If a person can accurately capture the subtleties of things and express them in the most appropriate language, I believe their writing has reached a very high level.'

'During the Han dynasty in China, the mainstream writing style was for authors to use ornate language to depict their rich inner emotions. The first person to use this style was Qu Yuan, a great poet from the Chu Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn period.

During the Han Dynasty, many famous writers followed Qu Yuan's style, producing many moving and inspiring works.

There was a scholar in the Han dynasty named Yang Xiong who also used this style in his youth. However, in his old age, he suddenly rejected his earlier work, sharply criticizing those who used ornate language to depict rich inner emotions. He said..."

When we were young, we all learnt to write in two ancient scripts: one resembling the shapes of insects and birds, and the other resembling seal carvings.

In my opinion, the current popular writing style is very similar to those two scripts I learnt as a child — pretentious and mediocre. We should promote a new writing philosophy and style: a simpler, more concise way of writing.

In his later works, Yang Xiong entirely adopted the new writing style he endorsed.

Su Shi said:

I think Yang Xiong's view is superficial. Regardless of style or form, as long as the words are appropriate and clearly express the author's views and feelings, it is a good article.

The idiom translates directly into two ancient scripts: the first resembles insect and bird shapes, and the second resembles seal carving.

This idiom is used to describe a very simple skill that only a child would use.

Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts did you gain from this story?

What kind of literary works do you prefer? What criteria do you use to judge the quality of a literary work?

I hope this story gives you some new insights.