由“疏”“密”兩個意義相反的詞構成，有稀疏與稠密、簡略與詳細、粗疏與精密、寬松與嚴密、疏遠與親密等含義。在書法繪畫等藝術批評中，疏密主要指結構或布局方面的安排以及筆墨運用的濃淡粗細等。在文學批評中，“疏”與“密”經常聯用，“疏”義為疏蕩、疏闊、粗略等，多指詩文創(chuàng)作中的隨意、粗疏、不嚴密；“密”義為精密、嚴密、緊湊等，多指詩文創(chuàng)作中在構思、邏輯、用語等方面嚴謹周密，有時亦指密集堆砌的毛病。中國古人認為，“疏”與“密”對立統一，好的作品在結構、布局上應當疏密相間。

This concept consists of several pairs of opposites: sparsity and density, brevity and thoroughness, roughness and precision, flexibility and rigor, and estrangement and intimacy. In the artistic criticism of painting and calligraphy, the term is used to mainly describe the structural arrangement, general layout, as well as dark or light, thick or thin execution of strokes in these two art forms. In literary criticism, "sparsity" and "density" often occur together. "Sparsity" means carefree, rough or sketchy. It refers especially to thoughtlessness, carefreeness or looseness in the creation of prose and poetry. "Density" means meticulous, tight or compact. It often refers to rigor and thoroughness in theme development, logic, and wording in the creation of prose and poetry, and occasionally to the demerit of piling too many words up for no good reason. Ancient Chinese believed that sparsity and density represent a unity of opposites. A good work of art should balance density with sparsity in both structure and layout.

引例 Citations：

◎試筆成文，臨池染墨，疏密俱巧，真草皆得，似望城扉，如瞻星石。（蕭綱《答湘東王上王羲之書》）

（王羲之）下筆成文，在硯池邊蘸墨揮毫，無論是疏朗還是精密都很巧妙，真書、草書都精心寫就，其靜處如同遠觀城門，其動處好似瞻望天上的隕星。

Wang Xizhi wrote swiftly and skillfully, dipping his brush in the concave inkstone from time to time. His calligraphic writing, whether sparingly or densely spaced, looks truly beautiful. Both his regular script and cursive script were written with immense care. In repose, his flow of words can be likened to watching a city gate from far away. In motion, it can be likened to watching a meteorite in the sky. (Xiao Gang: In Answer to Prince Xiangdong for Kindly Presenting Me with a Calligraphic Work by Wang Xizhi)

◎古無真正楷書……至國朝，文征仲先生始極意結構，疏密勻稱，位置適宜。（謝肇淛（zhe?）《五雜組》卷七）

古代沒有真正的楷書……到我們明朝，文征明先生才開始致力于書體結構，他的作品無論疏朗、嚴密都非常勻稱，位置適當。

There was no real regular script in ancient times... It was not until the Ming Dynasty that Wen Zhengming started to explore rules governing the structure of characters in calligraphy. His works feature a perfect balance between sparsity and density. Each stroke is in its proper place. (Xie Zhaozhe: An Orderly Narration on Five Assorted Offerings)

◎詞貴疏密相間。（陳廷焯《詞壇叢話》）

詞的寫作貴在疏朗與嚴密相互交錯。

The merit of ci poetry composition rests on the balance of sparsity and density. (Chen Tingzhuo: Random Remarks on Ci Poetry Creation)

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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