Full text: Do you know who I am? It's easier said than done: it's hard to paint a tiger's skin than a bone, and people know its face but not its heart.
It is possible to draw tiger skins, but it is difficult to draw bones directly through their skins; Metaphorically, you can know a person and what he looks like, but it is difficult to know what he is thinking. It can be explained that it is difficult to understand the essence through phenomena or unpredictable.
Extended information story:
There is a story in "Walking Cloud Zen Hua Yang Ji Shen Hou", which was copied later:
Japanese Zen master Yuechuan is a master of painting. Before painting, he must ask the buyer to pay in advance, otherwise he will never start writing. This style of work will inevitably make the general public complain about him, and often criticize him for being famous for his Zen and asking for money.
One day, a lady asked Zen master Moon Boat to draw a picture.
"How much can you pay?" Jackson asked at the beginning of the moon ship.
The lady replied, "You can pay as much as you want, but I want you to come to my house and show off in public."
Moon boat Zen master agreed and went to her house with your wife. I saw a party in your wife's house. When the Moon Boat Zen Master was about to talk about the reward, your wife said to the people attending the party, "Look, this painter only knows how to ask for money. Although his paintings are good, they are dirty and polluted by money. Therefore, his works should not be hung in my living room, but can only decorate my skirt. "
As he spoke, he took out a skirt he had worn and asked the Moon Boat Zen Master to paint on it.
Moon boat Zen master asked, "How much do you want?"
The lady said, "I can afford your price!" " "
So, the moon boat Zen master offered a very expensive price, then drew a picture according to the lady's request, took the money and left immediately.
Many people don't understand why the Zen master can take it as long as he has money, even if he is insulted. Later, I learned that there was often famine in the place where Zen master Yuechuan lived, and the local rich refused to pay for poverty alleviation, so I built a warehouse to store rice for relief. And because his master made a wish to build a temple before his death, it was a pity that his ambition was not realized and he died unfortunately. Therefore, Master Yuechuan also wants to fulfill his last wish.
When these two wishes came true, he immediately gave up his pen and stopped painting, saying, "It is difficult to paint a tiger's skin, but it is difficult to paint a person's heart." Money is ugly; The heart is clean. "
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Vernacular Translation