What is white description?

Line drawing

It was originally one of the traditional techniques of Chinese painting, that is, a painting method that uses ink lines to outline objects and change the color of cabbage. There are also some that are slightly rendered with light ink. The line drawing method is mostly used to draw figures. This can be divided into two schools, one comes from the great painter Li Longmian of the Northern Song Dynasty, which is called iron line drawing, and the other comes from the great painter Wu Daozi of the Tang Dynasty, which is called orchid leaf drawing.

This kind of painting technique is used in the description of literary creation and formed into a line drawing technique, that is, using the simplest and most concise pen and ink, without carving or adding foil, to capture the essence of the story. Describe the characteristics of the object and truthfully outline the mood and appearance of the characters, events and scenery.

Lu Xun once said: "There is no secret in line drawing. If there is, it is just the opposite of the trick: have the true meaning, whitewash it, be less pretentious, and don't show off." ("Secrets of Composition") ) Lu Xun is worthy of being a master of line drawing, and his works are also worthy of being masterpieces of line drawing. He said in the article "How I Started Writing a Novel": "I try to avoid the verbosity of writing. As long as I feel that it is enough to convey the meaning to others, I would rather not have any accompaniment. In old Chinese plays, there is no background, and the New Year's Day sales On the flower paper for children, there are only a few main characters (but now the flower paper has more backgrounds). I firmly believe that this method is suitable for my purpose, so I will not describe the romance and the dialogue will not be described. Not to mention a long chapter. "This is his experience in successfully using line drawing techniques in novel creation.

The line drawing technique can not only be used in the description of novels, but also in the creation of prose and poetry. When using this technique to depict characters, the author is required to firmly grasp the specific environment in which the character lives and the salient points of the character's personality, experience, words and deeds, and describe them in concise language to express the character's personality. In his works, the author sometimes uses line drawing to outline portraits, such as Jun Qing's "Riverside at Dawn", which describes the portrait of the young soldier Xiao Chen as follows: "He is very short, and he looks like he is no more than ten years old at most. Eight years old. He has a round face, big eyes, and a slender scar on his chin, which is obviously a memorial left by a bullet." The author describes the physical characteristics of the soldier Xiao Chen with the scars left in the battle. Highlight his bravery. Such gray-and-white portraits are common in Lu Xun's novels, such as the descriptions of Ah Q, Xianglin's Wife, Runtu, etc. Not only that, sometimes there are white descriptions of the character’s life experience, such as Lu Xun’s introduction to Kong Yiji’s life experience in “Kong Yiji”: “Kong Yiji originally also read books, but in the end he did not go to school and could not make a living; so he became more and more famous. The poorer he got, the more he was about to beg for food. Fortunately, he wrote some good words and paid for a bowl of rice. Unfortunately, he also had a bad temper and was too lazy to do anything. "The author caught it. His character traits of "not going to school", "not knowing how to make a living", and "being lazy in drinking and working" reveal the tragic experience caused by the poison of the feudal imperial examination system. Sometimes, line drawing techniques can also be used to describe character dialogue and action details to express the character's personality. For example, in the chapter "Cao Cao Discussing Heroes over Drinking Wine" in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cao Cao was worried that Liu Bei might become a powerful rival to compete with him for the world in the future. He deliberately tested Liu while drinking and asked him who was the hero of the world? Liu Bei was staying with Cao Cao at this time. He was deeply afraid that Cao Cao would see through his ambition to seize the world, so he tried to hide his questions from Cao Cao. Today, the only hero in the world is your envoy Cao Er." He was startled when he heard this and dropped the spoon in his hand to the ground. "It was about to rain and there was a loud thunder. Full of virtue, Nai calmly bowed his head and picked up his muscles and said: 'The power of a shock is as great as this.'" Cleverly taking advantage of the sound of thunder and frightening the general who lost his muscles after hearing the words, he lightly Covering up the past lightly shows Liu Bei's adaptable character.

When using line drawing to outline things, the author is required to use concise strokes to truly outline the characteristics and appearance of the things being described. For example, in Du Xuan's "Jinggangshan Sanji", there is a paragraph describing the "Octagonal Building" in Maoping, Jinggangshan. The author uses simple language, without any description, to describe the simple furnishings in the room concisely, focusing on the "Octagonal Building" in Maoping, Jinggangshan. The origin of the name "Building": "There was not enough light in the room, so an octagonal light bucket was opened in the middle of the room. So everyone called this building the 'Octagonal Building'." The author uses simple strokes to draw thick lines to form a vivid picture. For example, Su Shi of the Song Dynasty wrote "Drunk Letter at Wanghu Tower on June 27th" (Part 1): "Black clouds rolled over the mountains without covering the mountains, and white raindrops jumped into the boat. The ground wind came and blew away suddenly, and the water under Wanghu Tower was like water. sky.

"The author is good at grasping the characteristics of the torrential rain in summer, and uses simple language to describe people and objects in white, one sentence at a time, vividly reproducing the wonders of the West Lake's sudden changes in summer weather.

Describe people and objects from white. , the painting shows several main characteristics of this technique:

(1) It does not write the background, but only highlights the subject. Excellent Chinese classical novels and classical operas have this characteristic: Instead of focusing on writing the background, focus on describing the characters. Through portrait descriptions that capture the characters' characteristics or brief dialogues with the characters, the character's personality is highlighted. For example, the portrait of Zhao Zilong in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is: "Hu Ma Cao Po Zuo." A young general appeared from the side, his flying horse raised his gun, and he went straight for Wen Chou. Gongsun Zan went up the hillside and looked at the young man: he was eight feet tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a broad face and a heavy face. He was majestic. He fought with Wen Chou fifty or sixty times, and the winner was still undecided. "With only "eight feet long..." twelve words, the demeanor of Zhao Zilong, a "majestic" handsome and brave young general, was highlighted.

(2) It does not seek to be meticulous. , only seeking to convey the spirit of the character. Since the outline is free from the trouble of other decorative descriptions, the author can focus on describing the characteristics of the characters. Often, with a few words and a few actions, the spiritual world of the characters can be revealed in a finishing touch, and the message will be received. Using less to overcome more, using "form" to convey "spirit", and the artistic effect of both form and spirit, Zhu Ziqing's prose is very good at using line drawing to outline characters, such as his depiction of the geishas on the boat in "The Qinhuai River in the Shadow of Oars and Lights". Imagery sketch: "At that time, a waiter came across the boat, holding an open book of songs, thrust it into my hand, and said, 'Click a few times!' '...I'm so embarrassed! I also pretended to be generous and glanced at the geishas, ??but it didn't work after all! I reluctantly folded the song, but I couldn't read a few words clearly, so I quickly handed it back to the guy and said sheepishly, "No, we... don't want it." ’ Then he gave it to Uncle Ping. Uncle Ping turned around, waved his hand and said, ‘No! ’ The man still refused to leave. Uncle Ping turned around again and shook his head no, "No", so the man came back to me. I was too embarrassed to refuse him again. Then he left with disdain. "The author highlights his occupation and personality characteristics by describing a few actions, expressions and language of this clerk who is trying to solicit business. Although there is not much ink, it is quite expressive.

( 3) It is not gorgeous, but simple. The reason why excellent literary and artistic works are touching is that the author expresses true feelings; the more sincere the feelings, the more capable they are of shocking the readers' hearts. Li Qingzhao in the Song Dynasty was a poet famous for his line drawings. . In her lyrics, she expresses her feelings directly, her emotions are sincere and delicate, her diction is simple and smooth, without any artificiality, and has the beauty of nature. At the beginning of her masterpiece "Slow Voice", we use fourteen repeated words: "Looking." "Looking for, deserted, miserable", this kind of overlapping words is the most artificial place, but the author used it just right. The sad and sad atmosphere set by the fourteen words is incompatible with the situation where the country is broken, the family is dead and the husband is dead. It is very consistent with the lonely and melancholy mood in the tragic experience of death, so it has been praised by lyricists of all ages. The sound of flying geese in the wind adds to her homesickness, and also reveals her feeling of cherishing the flowers that will soon fade away. Finally, she writes about her. Sitting alone and feeling extremely depressed, the author uses straight line drawings to describe the mood of this difficult moment: "The sycamores are drizzling, and the dusk is drizzling." , such as seeing the heart.

To use the line drawing technique well, you need to pay attention to three points:

(1) The relationship with narrative must be properly handled. Narration is another side-by-side with description. A way of expression. In addition to general narrative, there is also specific narrative. Although the writing style is rough, it is similar to the simple and concise description of things. Concise and vivid, it is called line drawing. Therefore, it can be said that line drawing is used to describe.

(2) Line drawing does not need to be elaborate and layered. , there is no need for curves or foils, but the characteristics and mood of the described object should be highlighted.

(3) The language used should be frugal, summarized and expressive. Do not use rich adjectives and complicated modifiers. It is necessary to use accurate and concise language to describe in a simple and simple way, so as to be both frugal and expressive. Particular attention should be paid to the use of "slick" among the people to reconcile the "eight-legged" tone, because the "slick" is fundamentally shallow. "The "eight-legged" writing that means nothing is incompatible with white drawing.