On Structure

The structure of Chinese literature emphasizes the establishment of theme, advocates the combination of abstract and concrete elements, embeds a consciousness of life within the work, and seeks innovation within established rules. Poetry, lyrics, and arias have a continuing relationship in their development, such as emphasizing sentence patterns, rhythm, rhyme, and a close relationship with music; they are refined and condensed, creating idea-image through omission and inversion of word order, reflecting the rhythm of music and the expression of emotions. The structure of prose is mainly characterized by a scattered form but unified spirit, a cohesive beginning and end, twists and turns, and diversity within unity. Ancient Chinese novels, with their fresh and lively content and flexible forms, subtly align with the deep psychological characteristics of the national cultural tradition, often using techniques such as the winding path, fox tail maneuver, circular triplets, and alternation of abstract and concrete methods. Ancient Chinese drama, in terms of literary form, is manifested in the arrangement of scenes, roles and performing categories, and narrative patterns, commonly adopting a point-line structure, including single-thread, dual-thread, and variant structures. In terms of structural methods, it reflects techniques such as consistency from start to finish, foreshadowing and callbacks, a single narrative thread, and focusing on one character or event.