Life-long Wisdom in Beautiful Prose---Reading Beautiful Prose for Middle School Students

Author: Sun Yuying, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Experience the charm of words, accumulate literary literacy; wisdom as a guide, contemplate the essence of life, embark on a literary journey close to the heart, and appreciate the infinite charm brought by beautiful prose! Prose is small—it lacks the thrilling plots of novels, the intense conflicts of dramas, or the grand structures of epics. Its smallness lies in details, themes, and language. All of these are delicate, but these "smallness" originates from the soul. We can hear its gentle heartbeat and, from this faint heartbeat, feel its pure and passionate depth. Prose is also big—it is big in thought, in ideas, and in understanding. Prose is like a drop of seawater; though tiny, it carries the taste of the ocean. These "bigness" are not heavy—weight lies in clumsiness, while the "bigness" of prose is full of grace. Wisdom and intelligence are different. Intelligence may be an innate gift, an unattainable favor bestowed by heaven. But intelligence does not always mean goodness, or why would there be the saying "intelligence leading to one's downfall"? Wisdom is a cultivated virtue, a gift that everyone has the potential to receive from God. Yet, acquiring wisdom is not easy—it is like a pearl, a treasure that a clam can only obtain after enduring the grinding of flesh and sand, becoming a radiant gem. Wisdom and prose are inseparable companions. The ancestors placed the "pearls" they condensed from their "flesh and blood" into words, thus creating wise prose. Wise prose is like a woman who walks out of the misty rain of Jiangnan—though quiet and peaceful, she cannot hide her hidden passion and vitality.