Just Right

By Li Juan

When I was a child, I enjoyed reading a particular poem by Du Fu.

In such profusion the flowers in Aunt Huang’s garden bloom,

With thousands of them, the branches are heavily laden.

Now and then lingering butterflies dance about gracefully,

While here and there chirp (qia qia) orioles in carefree contentment.

I especially like the last two lines. Here, “qia qia” is such an interesting word: vivid, full, true to life, and musical.

The poet employs “qia qia” to mimic the singing of the orioles. When the orioles see the butterflies dancing amongst the flowers, they can’t help singing (qia-ing) on the branches. Reading the poem, I could immediately smell the breath of spring. The sight of birds singing, butterflies dancing, and flowers blooming fills my heart with great joy. The poet’s choice of the character “qia” is just right, as it is so vivid in the poem. Truly good writing is also writing that’s just right.

Our ancients believed that people of the noblest character were distinguished from others only because they had returned to their natural instinct. By the same token, there is nothing miraculous about truly great writing except being just right.

“Just right” has an indescribable subtlety in writing. A good text is a well-measured one, written to just the right degree. For a good piece of writing, a little more would be overdoing it, and little less wouldn’t be enough. Good writing is never exhaustive. Instead, it is leisurely, and a bit of poetic, a bit of white (blank space in Chinese painting), and a bit of aftertaste.Shen Congwen’sBorder Townis a perfectly structured text, and is the most beautiful writing from the prime of his career. The ending of the story was exceptionally good.

In winter, the collapsed white tower was restored. But the young man who used to sing under the moon, and whose singing often revisited Cuicui in her dreams has not returned to Chadong... This man may never come back, or perhaps he will come back “tomorrow.”

小时候读杜甫的诗：“黄四娘家花满蹊，千朵万朵压枝低。留连戏蝶时时舞，自在娇莺恰恰啼。”我最喜欢后两句。“恰恰”是多有意思的词，生动饱满，惟妙惟肖，读来有音律之美。

原来“恰恰”是形容黄莺鸣叫声，看蹁跹蝴蝶在花丛中起舞，枝头黄莺忍不住唱起歌来。春天气息一瞬间扑来，莺歌燕舞，桃之夭夭，内心充满无限喜悦。“恰”在诗中竟然这样传神。

真正的好文字也是恰好。

古人这样说：人品做到极处，无有他异，只是本然。文章做到极处，无有他奇，只是恰好。

“恰好”在文字里有说不出的微妙。恰好就是文字的度，是分寸。它不多不少，不增不减。此时，多一分则肥，少一分则瘦。文字的火候拿捏得恰到好处，是花开陌上迟迟归，几分诗意，几分留白，几分回味。

沈从文先生的《边城》结构完美，是沈先生盛年时最美的文字。结尾出奇的好：“到了冬天，那个圮坍了的白塔，又重新修好了。可是那个在月下唱歌，使翠翠在睡梦里为歌声把灵魂轻轻浮起的年轻人还不曾回到茶峒来……这个人也许永远不回来了，也许‘明天’回来。”

小说到此处，戛然而止，让人心中不免有一丝淡淡的哀伤。可是，正是这种结尾，看似平淡清丽，又恰到好处，余韵悠长，给人极大想象空间，弥漫一种生命的美丽和悲凉。

此处留白，像是一幅水墨丹青。留白处是天空、云朵，是秋水长天，意境优美，给读者以无限遐思。

作家海明威说过：“寻找属于自己的句子。”说得真好。其实，每个作家的一生，都在苦苦寻找属于自己的句子。它能准确地、恰到好处地表达内心独特的感受和生活体验，也能让你学习掌握文字的火候、分寸、留白、节奏。写作是最为寂寞和孤单的事。一生的寻觅是文字的磨炼，更是内心的修炼。

恰好的文字，没有技巧和雕琢。其实，恰好的爱情也是。世间万物皆是如此。无论文字还是爱情，再娴熟的技巧都抵不过脉脉真情。

读沈从文写给张兆和的情书：“我行过许多地方的桥，看过许多次数的云，喝过许多种类的酒，却只爱过一个正当最好年华的人。”遇见正当最好年华的人，就是恰好，仿佛一切都是上天的安排，在对的时间遇见了对的人，真是春水映桃花。这样的遇见是《诗经》里的“既见君子，云胡不喜”。她一直在那里等着，等到萋萋的芳草都长满来路，他终于自己寻来了，她岂能不满心欢喜？

读朱生豪写给妻子宋清如的情书：“要是我们两人一同在雨声里做梦，那意境是如何不同，或者一同在雨声里失眠，那也是何等有味。”恰好的爱情，原来是一起在春雨滴答声里入梦，那梦一定是淡蓝色的。或者一起在雨声里失眠，少年听雨歌楼上，红烛昏罗帐。一起听雨打芭蕉，吟诗、作画、品茶，伸出手去，总有一双温暖的手和你紧紧相握，不怕长夜漫漫，不怕风雨潇潇，因为有你在我身边，哪怕时光老去。

最美的爱情是恰好之时的一见倾心，如春之原野邂逅你心仪的那个人。那一刻，草长莺飞，烟花开遍，眼波盈盈处，怦然心动，一往情深。这样的夫妻如沈从文和张兆和、朱生豪和宋清如、钱钟书和杨绛。他们像黑夜里茫茫大海上的灯火，相遇的时刻，一瞬间照亮了彼此的人生，也成就一代大家。

（摘自《不过是岁月变成了生活》百花文艺出版社）

At this point, the story comes to an end, leaving the reader a feel of sadness. However, it is just this kind of ending, seemingly plain and unfinished, that isjust right. The ending, filled with the beauty and sadness of life, leaves the reader with a long-lasting aftertaste and plenty of room for imagination.

The seemingly unfinished ending is like a Chinese ink wash painting. What is missing in the ending is the sky, or the clouds, or the waters and skies merging in one color. The beauty of the artistic conception in the ending of the story leaves the reader with infinite reveries.

One of Ernest Hemingway’s best-known tips on writing is “All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” In fact, all writers persue the sentence that solely belongs to themselves throughout their lives. That sentence can accurately and appropriately describe their unique feelings and life experience. During the process of their pursuit, they gradually improve abilities such as using the proper degree of intensity, controlling the rhythm of the text, and leaving necessary “blanks.” Writing is the loneliest task, in that writers spend their whole life perfecting their language and cultivating their hearts.

Writing that isjust rightdoesn’t require any techniques or elaboration, nor does love that is perfectly right. As a matter of fact, nothing in the universe needs human artifice. No techniques are as good as true feelings, be it for writing or for love.

In a love letter to Zhang Zhaohe, Shen Congwen wrote, “I have crossed many bridges, seen numerous clouds, drunk all kinds of spirit, but loved only one woman who was in her best years.” Meeting the right person in their prime of youth isjust right, as if arranged by destiny. Meeting the right person at the right time is like a pure spring and a peach blossom coming across each other. “How can a girl not be happy when she meets her Mr. Right,” as it says in theBook of Songs, a collection of ancient Chinese poetry. This girl had been awaiting the young man until the road was covered with lush grass. Now that he has finally found his way to her, wouldn’t her heart be filled with joy?

“How unusual it would be if we could dream together in the sound of rain,” wrote Zhu Shenghao in a letter to his wife Song Qingru, “and how interesting it would be if we both lost sleep in the rain.” Perfect love, by its very nature, is drifting off together—in the pitterpatter of spring rain drops—to a dreamland. Perfect love can also be going out at night to listen to music together because of restless desires. Perfect love is a relationship where the loved ones read poems, paint pictures, taste tea, or listen to the raindrops pattering on banana leaves together. Every time one puts out a hand, it will always be met and held tightly by the other’s hands. The two loved ones are never scared of long nights, or wind, or rain, because they are always by each other’s side until the end of time.

The most beautiful relationship is falling in love at first sight and at the right time, such as meeting the right person in the spring. At that moment, the grass starts to grow, the birds are taking off, and the flowers are blooming all over the place. Looking into each other’s eyes, the couple can feel each other’s heart beating, and know that this is love for life. Shen Congwen and Zhang Zhaohe, Zhu Shenghao and Song Qingru, and Qian Zhongshu and Yang Jiang were such couples. At the moment they met, they ignited each other’s lives like beacon lights on the ocean at night. They made each otherjust rightfor their times.

(FromTime Shapes Life, Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House. Translation: Yi Honggen)