How to write the composition of China's traditional culture?

Chinese educator Ye Shengtao said that writing is talking. There are two meanings: first, there must be something to say; Second, it's better to talk. Only the latter is discussed here. How to speak is good? Words that can activate the reader's brain are good words. How to activate the reader's brain? Before answering this question, we need to think about what the reader's brain really likes and needs. That is to say, we should first study the life state behind readers' language interpretation.

I think the reader's life state is mainly reflected in four aspects, which are briefly described as follows:

First, the brain function is autonomous. The information processing theory in psychology tells us that the operation process of human brain and senses is divided into three steps: receiving stimulation, processing and conducting excitement. Therefore, the working state of the brain is positive and autonomous. If the information input to the brain is simple or outdated, it will be difficult for the brain to get the pleasure of independent processing and even get tired. After watching Swan Lake once, the brain gets pleasure, but after watching it 3 times, the brain can only enter a state of negative inhibition. Therefore, a good language always leaves room for the brain to process independently. In A Dream of Red Mansions (48 chapters), Xiangling said that "the rivers and lakes are white at sunset, and the sky is blue when the tide comes" (Wang Weishi), and the words "white" and "green" are like an olive weighing several thousand pounds in the mouth, which shows the processing space left by these two words! "This girl is not beautiful at all" is naturally not as good as "this girl is not at all immersed in fish and wild geese, and she is ashamed of flowers". Because the latter needs the brain to process the "sinking fish and falling geese" to get the message of "not beautiful". This process gives the brain pleasure, because it satisfies the principle of functional autonomy. "Half moon and half moon in Emei Mountain" is more poetic than "Half moon and half moon in Emei Mountain", and it is also the inversion of word order that gives the brain the pleasure of independent processing.

secondly, information stimulates defamiliarization. This is an extension of "brain function autonomy". When unfamiliar information is input into the brain, the "autonomous" processing carried out by the brain is more challenging, and naturally it is easier to get pleasure. Therefore, our words should input fresh information to readers' brains. The first one who uses flowers to describe his daughter is a genius, the second one is a mediocrity, and the third one is just a fool. When you say "mountain" in poetry, there will be "green hills", "blue peaks", "green mountains" and "beautiful caves" ... When you say "sunset", there will be "sunset", "sunset", "sunset", "sunset" and "afterglow".

thirdly, the thinking mode is three-dimensional. China people's thinking is different from that of westerners, who are good at streamlined logical thinking, while China people prefer three-dimensional thinking in images. There is a saying in the Book of Changes: "The book is not full of words, and the words are not full of meaning ... The saints set up images to do their best." "Setting an image to the best of one's mind" is the best summary of the basic "three-dimensional" thinking mode of our vast poetry. Poetry expresses ambition, but ambition is not outspoken, and it is skillfully expressed by "image". Ma Zhiyuan wanted to talk about the hardships of the journey, so he listed the dead vine, the old tree, the faint crow, the small bridge, the flowing water, the people, the ancient road, the west wind and the thin horse to help him. Readers feel these images with the help of the phrase "heartbroken people are at the end of the world", and naturally they feel the same. The text contains the Tao, but the Tao is not straightforward, and it is often said by metaphor or fable. Hundred schools of thought, all so. A Zhuangzi, fables (including metaphors) account for nine times out of ten. From the pre-Qin period, The Book of Songs, Han Fu, Tang and Song Huazhang ... Fortress Besieged ... are all the same. Another example is that the expressive force of "eagle nose" is naturally stronger than that of "hook nose", and "pebbles" are also stronger than "rocks". In "Spring Breeze and Green Jiang Nanan", a word "green" activates the brain with the image of "color", which makes the brain full of bright spring scenery, and it seems to be in front of you. When the word "to" and "full" is changed to "green", the brain can only know that there is spring in the south of the Yangtze River without aftertaste, just like swallowing dates, knowing dates without flavor, because the thinking is not satisfied with "three-dimensional".

fourthly, emotional cognitive choice. Individuals choose objects to form cognition in the material and social environment. In the process of cognition, individuals pay attention to the objects that conform to their desires and emotions first. Therefore, readers are more willing to accept emotional subjective language. The expressive force of "the green mailbox stands alone across the street" is naturally stronger than "the green mailbox stands across the street". In the "clouds break the moon to make a shadow", "get" is better than "shake", because the word "get" is used, flowers no longer spend, shadows no longer disappear, and flowers and shadows are all human.

Of course, these four aspects are not separated. On the contrary, they are chaotic, holistic and comprehensive, and they are mutually inclusive and turn into a state of life.

Our writing needs to "cater" to this life state of readers. How to "cater"? The author should have the same life state as the reader! Isn't writing and reading the communication, collision and communication between two life states? And isn't the work the "field" where these two life states meet? In other words, only when the author activates his own life state and creates a work in this state can this work activate the reader's life state.

To this end, the author puts forward such a general principle of language communication: if you have something to say, say it in another way.

If you don't speak directly, the reader's brain will have the opportunity to process autonomously. Change the way you say it, and the reader's brain will get the information of defamiliarization, three-dimensional and emotionalization. In this way, the reader's life state is activated, thus obtaining the pleasure of reading the language. It is not difficult to understand this general principle of communication from the examples given in the previous article. Under this general principle, the author deduces six techniques:

First, comparison. Lianbi is the strange method of "setting an image to the best of its ability". The author has something to say, but it is not monotonous. Instead, he uses association and imagination to compare similar, similar, related or even opposite things or situations, so that truth and image complement each other, thus making his words interesting, easy to understand and vivid. Specifically, it includes metaphor, contrast, analogy and contrast. If you want to talk about how slender and graceful your daughter's waist is, a fool will speak frankly about the waist geometry, while a genius will compare it to "willow waist" and "water snake waist". Look at the following two sentences:

1. The 2th century is almost over, and at the turn of the century, we look back on the past 1 years ...

The curtain of the 2th century is slowly falling over our heads, standing at the post station at the turn of the 2th century and the 21st century, and we look back on the past 1 years ...

Comparing the two groups of sentences, we will like the second sentence. Because the second sentence is vivid and literary. At the root of it, it is precisely the subtlety of not saying what you want to say directly, but saying it by the method of comparison.

second, animism. There is a philosophical theory-the theory of living things, which holds that all substances have the characteristics of life, first of all, they have the ability to feel and perceive. Whether the theory of "living things" is correct or not is not the purpose of this paper, but an author should have the idea of "living things" when writing, that is, believe that "everything is animistic". Only in this way can the author's soul communicate with everything in his pen, and his heart and things know each other, so that he can reach the state of not knowing whether Zhuang Zhou dreamed of a butterfly or a butterfly dreamed of Zhuang Zhou, and the words will naturally be smart and sensible. Ancient poets were worried about flying geese, but they were hurt when they saw falling flowers. Of course, they were a little fragile, but it was this cognitive way of "the unity of things and me" that created some excellent poems. Please look at the following two sentences:

1. In summer, pods grow all around the door.

2. The pods in summer are crowded around the door.

the second sentence is more vivid. On the surface, it just changes a word, but in reality, it reflects two completely different cognitive ways. The pod of the first sentence died because it had no emotional communication with the author; The pod in the second sentence has a soul, and the author uses it as a "human" to communicate. Therefore, the author uses the word "squeeze" to show the loveliness of the pod, and the pod does not live up to the "kindness in meeting him", which helps the author convey a happy mood. The word "squeeze" can't be done, but with the consciousness of "animism", it can naturally flow out of the pen without thinking. Our articles are dry and astringent, mostly due to the extreme lack of "animism" consciousness.

thirdly, exchange yuan. Method of substitution is often used in mathematics to simplify the problem. In fact, the idea of exchanging elements is not only applied in the field of mathematics. Neurologists do experiments with white mice to study people's nerves, and use plastic instead of wood to make tables in life ... Naturally, our words can also be enhanced by the idea of exchanging elements. Because exchanging elements can input new information to readers' brains and arouse their "autonomous" processing. Look at the following two sentences:

1. My life is still the same.

2. My life is still full of waves.

The two sentences are completely different in taste. The second sentence is philosophical and has a strong sense of image, which gives readers the pleasure of "autonomous" processing. By borrowing popular lyrics, idioms and allusions, poems and songs to exchange yuan, we will have a strong sense of language and even a sense of culture

fourth, inversion. Chinese characters are wonderful words in the world. Sometimes, they just misplace the word order of words. Although there is not much difference in meaning, their taste and meaning are completely changed. "Fragile, your name is woman!" If Shakespeare's famous saying is reversed back to the normal word order, that is, "woman, your name is fragile!" " , then the high score. The reason why Li Bai's poem "Half Moon and Autumn in Emei Mountain" mentioned above is full of poetry is also the role of perversion. In fact, poetry often uses inversion to get novel quips. "Yellow cicada sings at night" is a poem, while "Yellow cicada sings at night" is just a text; "You taught me to knock on my daughter's door/so I came to knock on your night …" is a poem, and "You taught me to knock on a girl's door/so I came to knock on your door at night …" is just a text.

fifth, strengthening. Strengthening is actually to refine and visualize things by adding decorative elements or exchanging appellations. For example, "a dog" is naturally not as good as "a poodle", while "a yellow poodle" is naturally more specific. A bouquet of flowers is not as good as a bouquet of roses, and a skier is not as good as a skiing girl in bud. Another example is, "She is absorbed in reading a book on the bus." This sentence can't provide us with any information except the ready-made words, but if the name of the book is written, we can know something about her personality, and the reading of Fortress Besieged is naturally different from the reading of First Intimate Contact.

One wool and two bamboo sticks can make all kinds of sweaters. A few stones and a few warp and weft can play chess as complicated as the world of life, not to mention that we have thousands of Chinese characters. Mastering some practical techniques, writing will no longer be "fearful". However, if you think that technology can save everything, it is mud without melting. Because the acquisition of the life state behind writing is the root of writing. The method of cultivating roots lies in three kinds of dialogues:

One is to talk to the masters through reading;

First, dialogue with life through participation;

First, let the original ego talk to the superego through the soul.