There Are Already Whole Bamboos In His Heart--Xiong You Cheng Zhu

This Chinese of This Chinese Story "There Are Already Whole Bamboos In His Heart--Xiong You Cheng Zhu" is 胸有成竹, and Pin Yin xiōng yǒu chéng zhú.

Wen Tong was a great painter In a Northern Song Dynasty. He was born in Si Chuan province and famous for his ink bamboo paintings. He was one of the paragons of "scholar's painting" (文人画), which idealized spontaneity and painting without financial reward.

Wen Tong was very fond of bamboo, thus he grew various bamboos everywhere around his house.

Once he had spare time, he would walk in the bamboo forest, carefully observing the way the bamboo grew, noting the way the branches and leaves stretched from the trunk and the details of growth during the four changing seasons.

After a long time, the image of the bamboo in different seasons, under different weather conditions and different moments were deeply imprinted in his mind.

As a result, he did not need to see the bamboo while he painted them.

Legend has it that he could hold two brushes in one hand and paint two different distanced bamboos simultaneously.

One of his best friends, Chao Bu Zhi, a talented poet and writer, commented on Wen Tong's painting skill:" When he draws bamboo, there are already whole bamboos in his heart."

Background and Writer Comment:

The idiom of There Are Already Whole Bamboos In His Heart--Xiong You Cheng Zu is used to describe the case in which someone has a well thought out plan and thus is completely confident.

Its English counterpart is the phrase -- "Have a card up one's sleeve".