Here is the translation of the given content into English: "Read Newspapers, Read Headlines: The Art of Crafting News Headlines"

Author: Tian Wangsheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: The Aesthetic Purpose of News Headlines
When you open a newspaper, enthusiastic readers first see the layout—the "face" of the page. On this "face," those spirits larger than the body text, some adorned with beautiful "eyelashes," are the headlines—the "eyes" of the newspaper. A newspaper's vitality lies first and foremost in these "eyes," as they vividly reflect the reporting intent of the day. The saying "To judge a person by their eyes" embodies this principle.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China, there was a great painter named Zhang Sengyou, renowned for his dragon paintings. Legend has it that he painted four dragons on the walls of Anle Temple in Jinling. Everything seemed normal until he added the eyes, at which point the dragons broke through the walls and flew away. The phrase "to paint a dragon, dot its eyes" originated from this story.
Through the mist of mythology and beyond the mystical aura, we see an important truth in human culture: to paint a dragon, you must dot its eyes. Without eyes, the dragon remains lifeless. A song has its beauty, a play has its climax, a painting has its brilliance, and a piece of literature or a news report must also have one or more shining points. These moments require the unique skill of "painting eyes" from the creator.
It is reported that the great writer Leo Tolstoy (Russia) depicted 85 different types of eyes in his character portrayals, while the great painter Leonardo da Vinci (Italy) observed in his sketches that the eyebrows, eyes, and mouth change differently depending on the cause of a scream. Research in this area dates back much earlier in China than in foreign countries.
One of the masters of painting figures in Chinese art history—Guan Kaizhi (Jin Dynasty)—was said to spend several years without adding eyes to his characters. When asked why, he replied, "The beauty or ugliness of the body has nothing to do with the essence. To convey the spirit and depict the soul lies in this 'lost spot.'"
The modern writer Lu Xun also advocated, "To depict the most distinctive features of a person, it is best to draw their eyes." He further noted, "If you draw the entire head of hair, even if it is rendered with meticulous detail, it is utterly meaningless" (Selected Works of Lu Xun, Volume 4, page 395). This is what he meant by "To know the whole from a part, to capture the spirit with a single glance" (Selected Works of Lu Xun, Volume 4, page 104).
Mencius said, "The best way to observe a person's inner world is to observe their eyes." Eyes are the focal point of attention because they are the window to the soul, through which one can understand the language of the heart. Is it not said that love between men and women involves "casting glances in the dark"? Those gentle, autumn-like glances reveal the soul's expression.
The Tang Dynasty poet Jia Dao described the relationship between the title (theme) and the eyes (eyes) as follows: "The title is the essence of poetry; the eyes are the essence of the name. Just as a person's eyes and eyebrows must be bright together to fully capture the essence of the human form, so too must the title and eyes of a poem be clear to observe all phenomena."
Similarly, readers always glance at the headline before reading a news report, gaining a basic impression of the story—what it is about and how it should be evaluated. Therefore, news editors consider crafting headlines their core skill. To hone this skill, dedicated editors consciously train their eyes and pen.