Reading Response – Week 3

Xing Lu and Lu Xie have given useful insights on Chinese Rhetoric. Both the writers focused on translation, hermeneutics and also elaborating on a Western approach to Chinese rhetoric.

Hermeneutics is the translation of historical texts. Xing Lu states that Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) approached Hermeneutics as a methodology concerned with epistemology, conceptualizing and recovering historical consciousness, and understanding of the authors inner world and sociohistorical life (Xing Lu-22).

I do believe that hermeneutics provides us with a new world of experience as coming to know and understand others culture provides us with a wealth of knowledge and appreciation for other cultures.

In addition , Liu Xie’s excerpt on Literary mind and the carving of the Dragons was impressive. The concept of casting and cutting was attention seeking. According to Liu Xie , the important task of a writer, then, is to cast and to cut, that is, on the one hand to give form to his ideas and on the other to polish his rhetoric. Lu Xie’s thoughts coincide with Quintilian’s view of emotional appeal. Quintilian believes that emotion plays a vital role in the life of rhetoricians. When looking at Chinese rhetoric, “jung” or casting means to give form or fundamentals, and “ts’ai” , or cutting means to shear away or delete superfluous words. The notion of “jung” and “ts’ai” are same as the process of Reviewing and Editing when it comes to Western Rhetoric.

For example, in composition classes, when writing a modeled essay much emphasis is given on clarity and how well the facts are presented logically and coherently. Thus, editing is an integral part of Western rhetoric.

To convey our viewpoints effectively, reviewing and editing are vital elements. This is very much related to the Chinese notions of casting and cutting. Liu Xie states that “Without casting and cutting, it would never be possible to be rich in opinions and emotions without being or employ beautiful language without committing excuses.”

This is very applicable to our writing classes where lengthy essays are not always the best essays. This is not to undermine writers who write at length, as some of the lengthy writing pieces have gained top positions as best seller novels.

However, a piece of writing which is focused and has been groomed through the process of drafting, revising and editing proves to be impressive and informative. For example, when grading essays, it is seen that some students writing piece may not be lengthy, but these students are able to put their message across because through the process of drafting, revising and editing, they are able to write with clarity and conciseness.

Finally, these readings were enriching as it helped us enhance our understanding of Chinese rhetoric as well as realize how some the aspects were similar to Western rhetoric.