Originally, it means that when drawing the bamboo, the image of the bamboo was already in the mind. Now it describe people who have already made up their mind before doing something.
Idiom Pronunciation:
胸有成竹
xiōng yǒu chéng zhú
Origin:
宋·苏轼《文与可画筼筜谷偃竹记》：竹之始生，一寸之萌耳，而节叶具焉。自蜩腹蛇鲋，以至于剑拔十寻者，生而有之也。今画者乃节节而为之，叶叶而累之，岂复有竹乎？故画竹必先得成竹于胸中，执笔熟视，乃见其所欲画者，急起从之，振笔直遂，以追其所见，如兔起鹘落，少纵则逝矣。与可之教予如此，予不能然也，而心识其所以然。
Story:
In the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a famous painter named Wen Tong, who was a master of bamboo painting at that time. In order to paint the bamboo well, Wen Tong kept drilling in the bamboo forest all the year round, no matter it was spring, summer, autumn or winter, and no matter it was windy or raining. The sun was like a fire, baking the ground hot in the three hot days. But, as usual, Wen Tong ran to the side of the bamboo forest facing the sun, standing in the baking sun, concentrating on observing the changes in the bamboo. He used his fingertips to measure how long the bamboo nodes were, and then he remembered how dense the bamboo leaves were. Sweat drenched his shirt and his face was sweating, but he acted as if nothing had happened.
One time, the sky blew a gale. Then, lightning and thunder, looking at a rainstorm is coming, people have to run home. But at this time, sitting at home, Wen Tong, hurriedly grabbed a straw hat, to the head a buckle, straight to the mountain bamboo forest to run. He just walked out of the door, the rain with a basin of water like the next open.
Wen with the same mind to see the bamboo in the wind and rain, where do you still care about the rain slippery road! He lifted up his clothes, climbed up the hill and ran to the bamboo forest. He ran into the bamboo grove breathlessly, not bothering to wipe the rainwater flowing to his face, and observed the bamboo unblinkingly. I saw the bamboo in the wind and rain blowing, bending and nodding, shaking to and fro. Wen Tong carefully put the bamboo by the wind and rain in the posture of the mind.
Because Wen Tong has been observing and studying the bamboo for years, he knows exactly how the shape of the bamboo changes in spring, summer, autumn and winter; how the color and posture of the bamboo are different in cloudy, sunny, rainy and snowy days; how the bamboo is different under the strong sunlight and the clear moonlight; and how different the bamboo looks from one to another. So when he drew the bamboo, he did not need to sketch it at all.
A man named Chao Tiaozhi praised Wen Tong, saying, “Wen Tong has already got a good idea of how to draw bamboo.” Later, the phrase “having a good understanding of bamboo” became an idiom.
Similar Idioms:
- 心中有数
