This term refers to improving a literary work by refining its basic content and

making the presentation concise. Refining and deleting is a basic process

in literary writing. The term was first mentioned in The Literary Mind and the

Carving of Dragons. It means that in producing a literary work, the author should

select the right elements from all the material he has, delete unnecessary parts

and keep the essence, and write in a concise way to best present what he has

in mind and to best suit the styles of writing. It shows that literary creation is a

process of constantly striving for perfection in terms of both content and form.

This idea had a great impact on the theory of theatrical writing in the Ming and

Qing dynasties.