若夫丰约之裁，俯仰之形。因宜适变，曲有微情。或言拙而喻巧，或理朴而辞轻。或袭故而弥新，或沿浊而更清。或览之而必察，或研之而后精。譬犹舞者赴节以投袂，歌者应弦而遣声。是盖轮扁所不得言，故亦非华说之所能精。

　　Finding Form

　　LuChi

　　Knowwhen the work

　　should be full,

　　andwhen it should be

　　compacted.

　　Knowwhen to life your eyes

　　and when to scrutinize.

　　Adaptto occasions as they arise;

　　permit emotions to be subtle.

　　Whenthe language is common,

　　the image must be telling.

　　Whenthe thinking is clumsy,

　　the language must move smoothly.

　　Oldclothes

　　can be refurbished;

　　thestream we muddy

　　soon runs itself clean again.

　　Onlyafter looking and listening

　　closely can one make

　　thesevariations subtleties

　　work their magic.

　　Thesleeves of the dancers

　　move with the melodies;

　　thesingers’ voices rise

　　and fall with the music.

　　P’ienthe Wheelwright

　　tried to explain it,

　　but he couldn’t.

　　Norcan the artificial flowers of the critics

　　explain it.