Improve Rhetorical Skills While Nurturing the Body and Mind
从修养身心方面注重文采。“文”在这里指文辞、文采。南朝刘勰《文心雕龙》将“文”的功用归纳为三点：政化贵文、事迹贵文、修身贵文。从治理天下到个人修养，无不需要“文”。“修身贵文”的观点，是对孔子思想的直接继承。孔子认为：“言之不文，行之不远。”言辞、文章如果没有文采，就不会流传久远，无法发挥影响。因此，君子一方面要注重修身，提升个人品德，积累各种知识；另一方面要注重思想情感的外在传达，即文辞、文采。思想情感是人格修养的基础，文辞文采则是人格修养的升华。这样的修身才算是完整而有实际功效的。落实到文章写作上，就是既要有充实的内容，又要有优美的形式。
Refining rhetorical skills is inseparable from nurturing the body and mind. In The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, the Southern Dynasties literary critic Liu Xie summed up three main functions of rhetorical skills, pointing out that they are essential to political and educational affairs, to government operation and its efficacy, and to individual's self-cultivation of body and mind. Be it governance of the world or personal cultivation, rhetorical skills matter. This view dates straight back to Confucius, who observed that "poorly prepared discourses neither spread far nor last long," casting little influence on others. Therefore, a man of virtue should not only engage in self-cultivation, keep improving his morality, and accumulate various forms of knowledge, but also attach importance to the effective communication of his thoughts and emotions. In other words, he should take his language use seriously and be eloquent. His thoughts and emotions lay the basis for the cultivation of his character, and excellent rhetorical skills help sublimate his morality. Such self-cultivation is comprehensive and practical. When it comes to writing, one should develop substantial ideas and deliver them gracefully.
引例 Citation：
◎ （孔子）褒美子产，则云：“言以足志，文以足言。”泛论君子，则云：“情欲信，辞欲巧。”此修身贵文之征也。（刘勰《文心雕龙·征圣》）
孔子赞扬子产，说：“语言足以表达其思想，文采足以修饰其语言。”概括地谈到有才德之人，他说：“情感要真实，文辞要巧妙。”这是从修养身心方面注重文采的表现。
Confucius spoke highly of Zichan, saying, "His language proves fit for expressing his ideas, and his rhetorical skills suffice to retouch his language." Concerning general people with talent and virtue, Confucius commented, "Their emotions should be sincere, and their words clever." He was stressing the improvement of one's rhetorical skills in the cultivation of body and mind. (Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons)
推荐：教育部 国家语委
供稿：北京外国语大学 外语教学与研究出版社
责任编辑：钱耐安
