指人为外物所触动产生了创作冲动，经过构思与艺术加工，形成为文艺作品。“物”指直观可感的自然景物、生活场景。古人认为创作缘起于外界事物的感召而激起了创作欲望，文艺作品是外物与主观相结合的产物。这一术语强调了文艺创作源于生活的基本理念。

A person's creative impulse is triggered by one or more externalities, and after conceptualization and artistic treatment, this results in a work of art. Such externalities include both natural sights and scenes from life which can be directly sensed. Ancient Chinese believed that creation resulted from externalities which evoked a desire to create, and that works of art and literature were the result of combining externalities with subjective thinking. This term emphasizes the fundamental idea that artistic creation is rooted in life.

引例 Citations：

◎凡音之起，由人心生也。人心之动，物使之然也。感于物而动，故形于声。(《礼记·乐记》)

一切音乐都起源于人的内心。人的内心之所以产生活动，是受到外物感发的结果。人受外物的感发而产生内心活动，所以会通过音乐表达出来。

All music originates in people's hearts. Feelings arise in people's hearts because externalities cause them to do so. Hearts are moved by externalities, hence they express themselves through music. (The Book of Rites)

◎人禀七情，应物斯感，感物吟志，莫非自然。（刘勰《文心雕龙·明诗》）

人具有喜、怒、哀、惧、爱、恶、欲等七种情感，受到外物的感召就会产生不同的情感反应。情感被外物激发，人就会将内心的情感、想法吟咏出来，这一切都是自然发生的。

People have the seven emotions of joy, anger, sadness, fear, love, loathing and desire. Different emotions are evoked by externalities. Once their emotions are aroused by externalities, people will think of ways to express their inner feelings, and all this happens naturally. (Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons)

（推荐：教育部 国家语委 供稿：北京外国语大学 外语教学与研究出版社）