Make the paragraph literary

I need to understand some things before I can help with re-writing. Let's see if I have the story right.

Fan Li was one of the common people but he stood out because of two things: he had a carefree way of living, singing and dancing and joking with everyone and he was very smart. When he spoke on serious things he had a wonderful way of expressing truth. The people loved and respected him, even when they called him "Madman Fan" it was a way of teasing him about his brilliance.

When Wen Zhong heard of him, he wondered, "Who is this? This Madman Fan?" So he sent one of his friends to see what it was about Fan Li that made him so different. The friend reported back that Fan Li was just a goofy kind of man, a clown really, nothing special, but still Wen Zhong wondered about what made the people think so highly of Fan Li, "The people can see things sometimes that the friends of high officials cannot see." So he decided to see for himself.

He went to Fan Li's house and knocked on the door. Fan Li was surprised by his visit and the carefree man was suddenly a little shy, he was, after all, just a man from Wan, he wasn't dressed to meet such an important person, he thought, so he didn't answer the door. He waited for Wen Zhong to leave, then quickly went out and borrowed some good clothes from his brother, just in case Wen Zhong came back.

Fan Li had to wait a long time, hours went by, but then there was a knock on the door and it was Wen Zhong. They became great friends instantly. The two men sat together talking for a long time about many things: birdsong, the way a tree may grow or not grow, the ways of men in power and out of power and how they were so sorry it had taken so long for them to meet.

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This is not finished, Oristar. I just want to see if I have the facts and the flavor of the story. It's a good story. We need to work on better descriptions of Fan Li and his antics.


Joe

Hi Joe,

It is so interesting that you got the paragraph like that. Well, originally, I thought the writing was very clear for you native English speakers, and now I found the understandings were so different.

Of course I'd like to know what caused the difference.

(1)Yes, Fan Li had a carefree way of living and actually he was very smart and wise, but no one recognize his wisdom until Wen Zhong appeared in front of him. What you understood is according to common sense. I think that is perfect way of understanding something in western culture. But in the story, Wen Zhong was described as a prophet who could penetrate the truth that common people could not. That is, people familiar with Fan Li all thought Fan Li was really a madman who used to be stupid and crazy. They disliked and DISRESPECTED him, not respected him. Why the story wanted to describe Fan Li as this, because it wanted to make Wen Zhou as a particularly wise man with great foresight that far excels common people's ability. To tell the truth, I don't believe this, because that is illogic. But the story is about ancient China that followed ancient Chinese philosophy. In which supernatural power has its position.

(1) Regarding "The people can see things sometimes that the friends of high officials cannot see"

You've put people first. Scientifically speaking, that is perfect. But in ancient China, heroism was rampant everywhere. A hero was worshiped while common people were regarded as stupid. Wen Zhong was regarded as a hero, he picked out the seemingly mad but actually wise man Fan Li out of the "stupid" common people.

I think from your understanding, differences between western culture and eastern culture could be seen.

The last two paragraphs in which you described your understanding about Fan Li is quite acceptable. But there is a bit difference. As I said above, the story also wanted to make Fan Li as a prophet. His wisdom foretold him that Wen Zhong would come back, not that he felt a bit shy. He wanted to see Wen's patience and honesty. So he dressed up to make that meeting day as his red letter day. The similar story can be seen in many ancient Chinese works, such as famous Three Kingdoms, in which Zhu Geliang avoided to meet Liu Bei until he had visited his straw-roofed house three times.

I am going to read this over on Sunday morning and have some things to say,,,

Joe

Nice. I am waiting for your must-inspire reply.

reading now.