Chinese convesation tag:mind

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Having Had Ready Plans Or Designs In One's Mind

(胸有成竹 xiong you cheng zhu)

Having Had Ready Plans Or Designs In One's Mind

In the song Dynasty (960-1279), there was a scholar whose name was Wen Tong and who styled himself the nickname “Yuke”. He was not only admired by others for his great learning, but he also enjoyed widespread fame for his skill at bamboo drawing. His drawings of the bamboo plants were exceptional and unique in their beauty and style. He was so popular in this skill, that every day there were always people who called at his house to ask for one of his bamboo drawings.

As a matter of fact, there were quite a few painters contemporary with him who could draw bamboos fairly well. These other artists were very skilled. But yet, Wen Tong’s art stood apart. It was as if he had an element of understanding of the subject that the other artists lacked. This issue was the subject of much discussion and wonderment. Many people argued that there was some special technique or understanding that Wen Tong had that the other artists did not.

The answer to this question is lost to time. However, great friends of the artist have their strongly held opinions. And these opinions have been passed down through the ages. Su Shi and Chao Buzhi, gave vivid explanations in their respective poetic and prose works.

They claim that the secret to the great art was fundamental to Wen Tong’s success. That they thought that he had the great understanding of the subject matter of the Bamboo because of his great love for the bamboo. Wen Tong loved bamboos so much that he had grown various bamboos everywhere around his house. No matter what season it was and no matter whether it was sunny or rainy, he used to go to the bamboo forest to observe how they were growing. He pondered over the length and breadth of the bamboo poles as well as the shapes and colors of the leaves. Whenever he had gained a new understanding, he went back to his study, spread a piece of paper and prepared some ink by rubbing an ink stick on an ink slab, and drew what was in his mind on the paper. Through accumulation over a long period of time, the images of the bamboo in different seasons, under different weather conditions and at different moments were deeply imprinted in his mind. So whenever he stood before the paper and picked up a painting brush with concentrated attention, the various forms of the bamboo which he had observed at ordinary times at once rose before his eyes. And so every time he was drawing bamboos he appeared confident and at ease, and all the bamboos he had painted were very vivid and true to life.

When people spoke highly of his paintings, he always said modestly that he had just put the images of the bamboo imprinted in his mind on the paper.

A young man wanted to learn bamboo drawing; when he knew that Chao Buzhi had made a profound study of Wen Tong's art of drawing, he went to Chao Buzhi for instruction. Chao Buzhi wrote a poem to him. In the poem, there are the following two lines:

When Yuke was painting the bamboos,

He had their images ready in his bosom.

Later people have summarized the lines as “having had the images of the bamboo ready in one's bosom," which means having had ready plans or designs in one's mind before doing a certain job so that its success is guaranteed. It is also used go mean being calm and cool - headed in dealing with things.

This story comes from an article written by Su Shi concerning Wen Yuke's art of bamboo drawing.

xiong1	you3	cheng2	zhu2
胸	有	成	竹

北宋画家文同,字与可.他画的竹子远近闻名,每天总有不少人登门求画.文同画竹的妙诀在哪里呢?原来,文同在自己家的房前屋后种上各种样的竹子,无论春夏秋冬,阴睛风雨,他经常去竹林观察竹子的生长变化情况,琢磨竹枝的长短粗细,叶子的形态、颜色,每当有新的感受就回到书房,铺纸研墨,把心中的印象画在纸上.目积月累,竹子在不同季节、不同天气、不同时辰的形象都深深地印在他的心中,只要凝神提笔,在画纸前一站,平日观察到的各种形态的竹子立刻浮现在眼前.所以每次画竹,他都显得非常从容自信,画出的竹子,无不逼真传神.

当人们夸奖他的画时,他总是谦虚地说:"我只是把心中琢磨成熟的竹子画下来罢了."

有位青年想学画竹,得知诗人晁补之对文同的画很有研究,前往求教.晃补之写了一首诗送给他,其中有两句:"与可画竹,胸中有成竹."

故事出自北宋苏轼《文与可yún dāng谷偃竹记》."胸有成竹",比喻做事之前已作好充分准备,对事情的成功已有了十分的把握;又比喻遇事不慌,十分沉着.

posted by vann0000 February 9, 2009

Chinese Idioms - 对牛弹琴

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Duì niú tán qín
对牛弹琴

Play the lute to a cow

对牛弹琴－　Dui Niu Tan Qin

Literal Meaning - Face cow, play (stringed) instrument．
Figurative meaning - Reasoning with Stubborn people or talking to the wrong audience

The Story:

In ancient times, there lived a musician named Gong Mingyi. He was a master of the Zheng, a plucked string instrument. Unfortunately, his rash behavior often led him astray.

One day, he saw a cow grazing in a field near his house. He was inspired by the scene and ran outside to play a tune for the cow. Gong Mingyi played beautifully, finding himself intoxicated by the music. But the cow paid no heed to the elegant sounds, simply focusing its attention on eating the grass. Gong Mingyi was surprised at this and could not comprehend the cow’s flippant indifference. He felt that since his performance had been masterful, this means that the cow neither understood nor appreciated his elegant music!

Explanation:

"Play the lute to a cow", implies that someone speaks or writes without considering his audience. Generally speaking, it means the speaker or writer has over-estimated his listeners or readers. In these cases, the idiom mocks the audience rather than the speaker.

Usage Example:

Don't play the lute to a cow; he will not understand your feeling.

对牛弹琴(對牛彈琴)

【拼音】duì niú tán qín

【出处】公明仪为牛弹清角之操，伏食如枚。非牛不闻，不合其耳矣。　　汉·牟融《理惑论》

【释义】讥笑听话的人不懂对方说得是什么。用以讥笑说话的人不看对象。

【用法】作谓语、宾语、定语；用于讥讽别人

【结构】偏正式

【近义词】对牛鼓簧、白费口舌

【反义词】对症下药、有的放矢

【同韵词】病国殃民、平步青云、一登龙门、山中白云、血口喷人、自己人、藏诸名山，传之其人、以力服人、遁世离羣、偃武觌文、......

【年代】古代

【灯谜】牧童拉二胡

【邂逅语】抱着琵琶进磨坊

【英语】castpearlsbeforeswine<preachtodeafears;talktoapost;whistlejigstoamilestone>

【德文】einerKuhdieLautevorspielen<indenWindreden>

【日语】馬の耳に念仏(ねんぶつ)

【法语】perdresasalive<parleràunmur,àunsourd>

【俄语】трáтитьзряврéмя

【语文课本】但是，他太卑微，太渺小，太愚昧，最大的倾泄也只是对牛弹琴，换得一个漠然的表情。　　余秋雨《道士塔》高中三册·课文·１１

【成语故事】古代音乐家公明仪每次弹琴时，他的琴声引来很多鸟儿与蝴蝶。当看到水牛在吃草，就对水牛弹奏几曲，结果水牛无动于衷地走开，公明仪大叹：“对牛弹琴，一窍不通。”

【成语示列】对牛弹琴，牛不入耳，骂得很好，咱们一总再算账！　　清·李当珍《镜花缘》第九十回

【成语连句】

我也知道这是对牛弹琴，他这样敷衍我欺骗我也不止一次了。
毛主席在《反对党八股》就说：＂＇对牛弹琴＇这句话，含有讥笑对象的意思。
我想，这不是对牛弹琴吗？再说，＂人类灵魂的工程师－－这岂不是吹牛吗？我算老几？＂我又轻轻地在她的头上拍了一下，把她抱起来，在她颊上亲了一个吻，然后把她推向门外。

posted by vann0000 February 15, 2009