“巧”是靈巧、聰慧，技藝嫻熟精湛；“拙”則是不巧，心思遲鈍，技藝笨拙。在藝術領域中，“巧”指文辭、構思、技法等方面的巧妙，其藝術形式修飾性較強。理論家們多重視“拙”，反對刻意工巧。真正的“拙”不是粗劣低級，而是自然天成，是“巧”到極致的渾然狀態，看不到斧鑿痕跡。但是，“拙”應該是自然而然達成的，如果有意識地追求“拙”，很可能收到相反的效果。“巧”與“拙”相輔相成，天然去偽飾，則能達到高妙的藝術境界。

"Cleverness" is a synonym for ingenuity, intelligence or exquisite skills. "Clumsiness," on the other hand, means awkwardness, dullness of the mind or lacking in skill. In the field of art, "cleverness" refers to an ingenious, effortless state of creation whereby general layout, wording, and writing techniques together are at their natural best. It stresses the ornamental function of artistic form. Many theorists favor the idea of retaining "clumsiness" but oppose deliberate manipulation of skill. "Clumsiness" here isn't the same as shoddy or of a low grade. It means a perfectly natural state of being, or a piece of writing so excellent by its own right as to lose all traces of artificial ingenuity. However, this "clumsiness" should be attained naturally. If a writer deliberately pursues clumsiness, it will only backfire. Cleverness and clumsiness are complementary to each other. Any pretense should be abandoned in favor of what is natural. Only thus can artistic excellence be achieved.

引例 Citations：

◎大直若屈，大巧若拙，大辯若訥。（《老子·四十五章》）

最直的反而像是彎曲一樣，最靈巧的反而像笨拙一樣，最好的口才反而像不善言辭一樣。

The truly straight will appear crooked; the truly skillful will appear clumsy; the truly eloquent will appear impeded. (Laozi)

◎寧拙毋巧，寧樸毋華，寧粗毋弱，寧僻毋俗，詩文皆然。（陳師道《后山詩話》）

寧可笨拙不要奇巧，寧可樸實不要華麗，寧可粗放不要細弱，寧可生僻不要俗套，寫詩作文都是這個道理。

Better clumsy than deliberately exquisite, better plain than gorgeous, better coarse than dainty, and better rarely seen than conventional. This applies to both poetry and prose. (Chen Shidao: Houshan's Understanding of Poetry)

◎文章不難于巧而難于拙，不難于曲而難于直，不難于細而難于粗，不難于華而難于質。可為智者道，難與俗人言也。（李耆卿《文章精義》）

文章不難寫得奇巧而難在重拙，不難寫得曲折而難在直接，不難寫得繁細而難在粗放，不難寫得華麗而難在淳樸。這個道理可以和聰明人講，難以告訴俗人。

The difficulty in writing lies not in cleverness, but in clumsiness; not in being meandering, but in being straightforward; not in being meticulous, but in being crude; and not in being gorgeous, but in being plain. This kind of truth can be discussed only with intelligent people, not with the vulgar. (Li Qiqing: The Essentials of Writings)

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供稿：北京外國語大學 外語教學與研究出版社

責任編輯：錢耐安