胸有成竹 The Bamboo Painter with Real Bamboo in His Heart
在中国文化里，梅、兰、菊、竹分别代表最受人敬重的四种美德，而竹代表的是坚韧、正直、简朴和谦逊。因此，竹子很自然地成为了中国绘画里最常见的一个主题，而人们一般认为能画好竹子的人也有这些美德。“胸有成竹”说的是历史上有点古怪的一位画家的真实故事，而讲故事的人是画家的表弟，宋朝家喻户晓的大文豪苏轼(1037–1101)。
The most admirable human virtues in Chinese culture are symbolized by four plants—plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo. Bamboosymbolizes the virtues of resilience, honor, simplicity and modesty. So naturally it is a favorite subject in Chinese art—and those who can paint it well are presumed to possess its virtues as well. This is the true story of Wen Yuke, an eccentric artist who “had real bamboo in his heart,” as told by his cousin Su Shi (1037–1101), a renowned poet of the Song dynasty.
这个成语故事里的画家名叫文与可(1018–1079)。像中国历史上有名的诗人与画家一样，文与可也是靠在朝廷里做官来维持生计。当时，文与可在今天陕西省一个比较偏僻的地方做官，不过他挺开心的，因为那里到处生长着竹子，而文与可对竹子很痴迷。文与可常常和妻子到一个叫做“筼筜谷”的地方去赏竹，画竹，吃用竹笋做的菜。在别人眼里，这都没什么不正常的，而有些古怪的是文与可一年四季的生活都离不开竹子。不管是烈日炎炎还是冰天雪地，文与可都要到竹林里去，仔仔细细地观察竹子在不同的自然环境里的姿态。表弟苏轼曾经到文与可任职的地方拜访过表兄，知道他是个“竹痴”，甚至在他们的通信中拿这件事儿开玩笑。
Like virtually all famous poets and artists in Chinese history, the artist Wen Yuke (1018–1079) made a living as a government official. He held a rather undistinguished post in a poor backwater area in present-day Shaanxi province, but that was just fine with him because bamboo—his passion—grew abundantly in that area. He would often go to a place called Tall Bamboo Valley with his wife to gaze at the bamboo, paint them and enjoy dishes prepared with bamboo shoots. This in itselfwas not all that unusual. What was eccentric about Wen Yuke was that he wanted to experience the life of the bamboo in all seasons and weather conditions. Under the scorching sun or in the freezing snow, he would be out amongst the bamboo meticulously observing them. His cousin Su Shi visited him at his post and knew that he was a “bamboo fanatic.” Su Shi even teased him about it in their correspondence.
世事难料。就在文与可安心过着田园生活的时候，却被调往京城附近，升任新的官职。苏轼非常兴奋，期待与表兄一起饮酒赋诗作画，共度更多美好的时光。不过，文与可跟看重官职的人不一样，告别田园生活让他十分难过，结果他在赴任的路上病倒了，不久就去世了。
But life is unpredictable. Just as Wen Yuke’s idyllic life seemed set, he was promoted to a post near the capital. Su Shi was happy at the news and looked forward to spending more time with Yuke, to enjoy drinking, writing poetry and painting together. Unlike other men who focus on advancement, however, Wen Yuke’s heart sank, and he fell ill on the way to his new post and passed away.
苏轼听到这个消息，万分悲痛，就写了一篇悼文来怀念文与可，以及表兄对竹子深深的爱。在这篇悼文里，苏轼写道：“与可画竹就像竹子长在竹林里一样。只是一寸高的初生小芽，就已经看到竹节和竹叶了。与可准备画竹之前，心里已经有了竹子完整的形象。真正下笔的时候，他只要全神贯注地照着心里想的竹子的样子，让画笔在纸上飞舞，一气呵成。”苏轼在悼文里还提到，只知道这个画竹的道理是不能成为大师的，只有不断地练习，技法才能变成一种本能。
Grief-stricken, his cousin Su Shi wrote a eulogy tocommemorate Wen Yuke and his love of bamboo. In this essay he said “Yuke’s approach to painting bamboo can be likened to the way bamboo grows in nature. A one-inch sprout harbors all the elements of a tall, fully-grown bamboo plant. As Yuke prepared to paint bamboo, he first formed the image of an entire real-life bamboo in his mind before he set brush to paper. He focused his gaze on this fully-formed bamboo within his mind’s eye, then simply let his brush express that real-life bamboo as it moved onto the paper.” His essay goes on to explain that just knowing this principle doesn’t make someone a great bamboo painter, for it takes many years of practice for it to become second nature.
从此以后，“胸有成竹”就成了一个比喻，用来指一个人对所要做的事情非常有信心，也就是说这个人凭着本能就能轻而易举地做好那件事情。
As a result of Su Shi’s essay, “Holding a fully-formed bamboo in his heart” has come to be a metaphor for “being fully confident about doing something because one already knows it by heart.” This also implies that the person or artist has trained himself so thoroughly that the task has becomeintuitive.
今日谚语：胸有成竹
直译: To have fully-formed bamboo in your heart.
释义: (The painter of bamboo) has “a fully-formed image of bamboo” in his mind, implying that painting the bamboo will be intuitive. This is a metaphor for knowing something so well or having practiced a skill so thoroughly that one has complete confidence to do it well because it is second nature.
典出: “Memoir of Wen Yuke Painting Bamboos at the Tall Bamboo Valley,” an essay written by Su Shi in 1079, during the Northern Song dynasty.《文与可画筼筜谷偃竹记》，1079年北宋苏轼著。
1. 梅 plum
2. 兰 orchid
3. 菊 chrysanthemum
4. 竹 bamboo
5. 敬重 to respect
6. 美德 virtue
7. 坚韧 strong and durable, resilient
8. 简朴 simple and unadorned
9. 谦逊 humble, modest
10. 绘画 to paint paintings
11. 古怪 eccentric, odd
12. 表弟 younger male cousin
13. 家喻户晓 to be a household name
14. 文豪 great literary figure
15. 朝廷 imperial court, government
16. 维持 to maintain
17. 生计 livelihood
18. 偏僻 remote, out of the way
19. 痴迷 obsessed, infatuated
20. 筼筜谷 Tall Bamboo Valley
21. 赏 to appreciate, to admire, to enjoy
22. 竹笋 bamboo shoots
23. 烈日炎炎 scorching sun
24. 冰天雪地 ice and snow; freezing cold weather
25. 观察 to observe
26. 姿态 posture, pose, appearance
27. 任职 to hold a position
28. 世事难料 affairs of the world are hard to predict
29. 田园 “field and garden,” countryside; pastoral
30. 调往 to be transferred to
31. 升任 to be promoted (professionally)
32. 兴奋 delighted
33. 期待 to look forward to
34. 赋诗 to compose poetry
35. 共度…时光 to pass time together
36. 告别 to bid farewell to
37. 赴任 to go forth to take up a position
38. 去世 to pass away, to die
39. 悲痛 sorrowful; grief
40. 悼文 a written or spoken memorial for a deceased person
41. 怀念 to cherish the memory of
42. 芽 sprout
43. 节 section, joint (in a bamboo stalk)
44. 形象 image
45. 全神贯注 totally focused, with total concentration
46. 飞舞 “fly and dance”
47. 一气呵成 to complete in one breath
48. 技法 technique
49. 本能 intuitive, second nature
50. 比喻 metaphor
51. 凭着 on the strength of, to rely on
52. 轻而易举 easy to do
