Have a Well-Thought-Out Plan
Wen Yu was a famous wit in the Song Dynasty. He is not only good at writing, but also good at calligraphy and painting, especially bamboo. All the bamboo trees in his pen are like living trees.
Someone asked him, "How can you paint bamboo so well?"
He smiled and said, "Look at my yard. Every day I would go for a walk in this bamboo forest, carefully observe each bamboo, from the trunk to the branches and leaves, any small place I did not miss. Every feature of them I have engraved in my mind; The way they look in the wind, the way they look in the rain, the way they look in the sun, I know them very well. These bamboos seem to grow in my heart. When I pick up strokes, I already have their forms in my mind, as if they grow on my drawing paper. It's easy to draw when you know it."
Later, a man of letters wrote a poem praising wen and the technique of drawing bamboo. There are two lines: when you draw bamboo, you have bamboo in your heart.
胸有成竹
文与可是宋朝有名的才子。他不但写得一手好文章，还擅长书法和绘画，尤其擅长画竹子。他笔下的竹子，一棵棵都树棚如生。
有人问他：“怎样才能将竹子画得这么好呢？”
他笑着说：“你看我这院子里，种的全是竹子。每天我都会到这竹林中散步，仔细地观察每一棵竹子，从竹子的主干到枝条再到叶子，任何一个细小的地方我都不放过。它们的每一个特点，我都刻在脑子里；它们在风中的样子、雨中的样子、太阳照射下的样子，我都非常熟悉。这些竹子就好像长在我的心里一样。当提笔画的时候，我心里就已经有了它们的形态，好像它们就长在我的画纸上。心里有数，画起来当然就容易了。”
后来，有个文人作了一首诗，称赞文与可画竹的技术，其中有两句是：与可画竹时，胸中有成竹。