Practical Eloquence Training Revised Edition

Author: / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-02-01
Features: Whenever I return to the Yangtze Lake that gives me strength and tenderness, whenever I step into the wooden tiled house that shelters me from wind and rain, I always first gaze at the green mound in front of my door, which is high and covered with various nameless small plants. Inside the mound, my grandmother, who grew up on human bitterness and sweetness, lies in eternal rest. At that moment, it seems as if she is stepping on tiny feet, moving her slender and short body, her hands constantly patting the soot or grass clippings stuck on her black cloth clothes. Her two eyes, which have absorbed all the joys, sorrows, and emotions of the world, flash with excitement. She walks up to me, takes the bag from my hands, and says, "Your hair is braided now, and you still keep it uncut! You look like an old man." In fact, my hair is not long, but every time I go home, my grandmother sees me and always says this first. She hopes I will always be a child in her heart. Now, I often think: It would be so good if I were always a child, then I wouldn’t lose my grandmother’s protection and warmth, and my grandmother wouldn’t leave me. If my grandmother could really come to the door of the willow fence courtyard to greet me again, that would be the greatest joy and happiness for me! Holding my bag in one hand and pulling me with the other, my grandmother walked across the well-maintained field and into the orderly wooden tiled house. My whole body felt so relaxed, a sense of ease and lightness I had never felt anywhere else, not even in West Lake or Mount Emei. In spring, she would offer me golden loquats; in summer, she would break open sweet lotus pods for me; during the Mid-Autumn Festival, fragrant sticky rice cakes would be brought to my mouth; and in winter, fat wild geese would be placed before me. All of these were my favorites, all of these were what my grandmother had worked hard for and specially prepared for me. Every time I returned to her side, I would enjoy a feast. She would sit close to me, watch me chew and swallow, her joy and satisfaction beyond words. She would say to me, "You are busy with the country’s affairs all year round, have you forgotten the things I entrusted you with?" I nodded while eating, knowing what she meant. "When I die, don’t spend money on me. When my eyes close, I go to the underworld, and I won’t know if things here are lively or not. Just bury me in the orange grove in front of the door. When you brothers come back from outside, I can open the gate to greet you." She said it lightly, but I felt heartbroken. I told her, "You are strong and healthy, you can live a long life!" She shook her head and laughed, saying, "I don’t rely on anything else, as long as there are grasses growing on the tomb, the more the better! The old saying is that if the tomb of ancestors doesn’t grow grass, the descendants won’t prosper." Despite not believing in fate, I didn’t object. My grandmother’s wishes would not go unfulfilled because she had always done good deeds. When she was a child-bride, her own family was as hard as bitterness, yet she would save from her own bowl, even if she grew dizzy and blurry from hunger, to help others. During the time of the Japanese invasion, a patriotic wounded soldier who had escaped from Changde knocked on her door at midnight for help. She risked her life to hide him in the rice, with the Japanese soldiers’ bayonets right at her heart. She clenched her teeth tightly, pretended to be deaf and dumb, and deceived the enemy, saving a life. She had never argued or raised her voice with her neighbors, and everyone, young and old, praised her for being kind-hearted. During the years of the communal dining hall, every meal, she would bring back a bowl of rice from the dining hall, cook it in a pot, add some yellow daylilies and earth-mother vegetables, and fill her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren’s bellies. She didn’t touch a grain of white rice, only eating wild vegetables. She would pretend to say, "I’ve eaten my portion. The ox horn, the water buffalo horn, each looks after itself." My mother saw through her trick, but she just smiled and didn’t change. Such a good grandmother, how could her tomb not grow grass after her death?!
On the early morning of April 22, 1988, my grandmother completed her 80-year life journey and truly left us, leaving behind the willow fence courtyard where she had lived for decades, peacefully heading to another world. Her funeral was conducted exactly as she had instructed. However, it was still lively—people from several villages came one by one to pay their final respects to this "Grandma Jinchuan." After burying my grandmother, my grief had not yet subsided when I went to take the exam for the Writer’s Class at Wuhan University. Sitting in the examination hall, I never doubted that I would pass. The image of my grandmother, with her sturdy shoulders and frame, carrying the hardships and sorrows of life, always appeared before me. She had managed a poor family, turning it into a thriving one. As a man, with her blood in my veins, what difficulty could I not conquer? Though uneducated, she had nurtured her cultured grandchildren and grandchildren. I passed the exam for the Writer’s Class at Wuhan University. I returned to my hometown and reported the good news at my grandmother’s tomb. Three months had passed, and it was already the scorching summer, with everything revived and growing. Her tomb was covered with many nameless grasses like iron-horse root and orchid grass, forming a lush green hemisphere that seemed full of vitality. My family planted two pine trees in front of her tomb, casting a green shadow over the grandmother who had worked hard her entire life. Now, the pines have grown taller, and the grass has become even more lush. At my grandmother’s tomb, the pines are green, and the grass is green.
(Excerpted from The Mandarin Chinese Language Training Course, Huawen Press, 1995 edition.)
(IV) Training in Speech Rate
Take the following speech as an example to practice speech rate techniques. Adjust the speed of speech according to the content, ensuring a balance between quick and slow, appropriate pacing, and clarity in both fast and slow delivery.
On March 18, 1978, the National Science Congress was held in the Great Hall of the People. At that time, despite being advanced in age and suffering from illness, Mr. Guo attended the congress with the fervent passion and clear reasoning of a poet and scientist. On the closing ceremony on the 31st, he delivered this written speech.
Some compare time to money, merely to emphasize its preciousness. But have you ever thought: although money is precious, it can be saved, while there is no bank in the world to store time; money spent can be earned again through labor, but time, like the East River flowing to the sea, rushes forward and never returns; the waste of money can be calculated in tens, hundreds, or thousands of yuan, but time is invisible and intangible, impossible to value! Everything in the world exists under the magic of time! The rise and fall of eras, the birth and death of people, the awakening of life, the passion of youth—all are shaped under the watchful eye of time! Time urges the great changes of the times, time sets sail for the future; time is the golden coast of youth, time is the ship of human life!
Time says to young men, "Don’t cherish the golden robe, cherish your youth." Young men reply, "Who doesn’t love the golden age? May my youthful river rush forward to the sea." Time says to young women, "Pick the flowers when they are blooming, don’t wait for them to wither." Young women reply, "I will gather all the colorful flowers, may my youthful blossoms bloom every month and every year."
Yes, we, the young generation! We are full of vigor and at the peak of our youth. We have no sorrow like Song Yu’s "autumn grief," no sorrow like Jia Yi’s "unlucky fate," no sigh like Wang Bo’s "unrecognized talent," and we don’t hear Daiyu’s "flowers falling and blossoms fading." What we have is youth, ideals, struggle, and hard work! We are creating, thinking, reforming, and pioneering! Yet, by our sides, some are striving, while others are wasting; some are pioneering, while others are stagnating. Some are tackling challenges with vigor, full of spirit; others are squandering their youth, drifting with the tide. Some say, "Can life offer more than a few struggles? Now is the time to struggle, not to wait!" Others say, "Live for today, drink for today, care not for tomorrow’s right or wrong!" Some live a fulfilling life, full of achievements; others gray early, living a life of inaction. As Zang Kejia said, "Some die and yet live; some live and yet are dead!" Because they have profaned time, owed time a debt, and suffered the merciless punishment of time!
Friends, tomorrow is the day of 1988, and our lives have added another circle. When the wave of the global scientific revolution surges, when humans explore the mysteries of space, when China’s reform is deepening into every corner, what should we do? We must advance with vigor, stand tall and gaze forward! Opportunity is lost when time waits for no one! Perhaps we will see: the towering mountain of literature is hard to move, the vast sea of meetings is hard to fill! "Football" will never end, endless "bickering" will continue! Perhaps we will feel: solving a small problem may take 300 days, researching a small suggestion may involve endless circles of requests and reports! Perhaps we will discover: a cup of tea with a cigarette, a few phone calls taking a whole day, has become the normal routine of bureaucratic officials! How tragic and lamentable this view of time is, how negative and stubborn this life view is!
Friends, don’t be intimidated or by this illness. Don’t become pessimistic, discouraged, or defeated. Because we have found the magic cure for it—reform! Reform! Eliminate the excess of personnel, the bloated bureaucracy, and all,,, and procrastination that hinder the four modernizations! Let time fly, in sync with our work efficiency and construction speed! Lenin once said, "To win time is to win everything." Yes, time is invisible but valuable. Workers say, "Time is product." Farmers say, "Time is grain." Soldiers say, "Time is victory." Doctors say, "Time is life." Teachers say, "Time is talent." And we must loudly declare, "Time is the four modernizations, time is the brilliant future!"
Friends, let us cherish time. In this way, our lives will not age with the turn of the new year, we will stay young forever, and we will live eternally! Our tomorrow will be even more brilliant!