The Gay Genius |Chapter 20阅读笔记

《苏东坡传》

1. 中文感悟

本章讲述了苏东坡时期中国画的特点，就是追求写意，用文中的话说就是画“活”了~一幅画，不仅能看到纸上画出来的事物，还能透过画能看到作者想要表达的意境和心境，达到天人合一的境界。我是挺喜欢中国国画的，看起来有种诗意的美，只可惜自己不会画~

2. 词汇学习

Mi Fei, who later became the most outstanding painter of the Sung Dynasty, once was so enamored with the massive rhyms of the silent rocks that he prostrated himself before mountain cliff and called it his "father-in-law".

enamored    [en'æməd]    adj.

marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness 倾心于…的，迷恋的；热爱的

eg: He was so enamored with the reading that he spent the whole day reading books in the room.

Hampered by Chinese incapacity or distaste for abstract metaphysics, the Sung philosophers did not get very far with this li as laws of nature.

hamper      vt.

If someone or something hampers you, they make it difficult for you to do what you are trying to do. 妨碍

eg: The heavy rain hampered the progress of the work.

When one makes a mistake in the form or contour of an object, however, the mistake is confined to that particular part and does not spoil the whole, whereas if one misses the inner spirit, the whole painting falls flat.

contour          n.

You can refer to the general shape or outline of an object as its contours. 轮廓; 轮廓线 [文学性]

eg: I didn't remember his appearance, but I could paint the contour of his face.

whereas      conj.

You use whereas to introduce a comment that contrasts with what is said in the main clause. 而 (引导与主句内容相对比的评论)

eg: He likes going out with his friends whereas his twin brother likes reading alone at home.

There are plenty of craftsmen who can copy the minute details of objects, but the inner law of things can be comprehended only by the highest human spirits.

minute        /maɪˈnjuːt/    adj.

If you say that something is minute, you mean that it is very small. 非常小的

precise or detailed 精确的; 详细的

eg: His handwriting is so minute that his grandpa can't see it clearly.

He has made a very minute plan.