Translation of Su Shi's "Confident Bamboo" in the Northern Song Dynasty:
When bamboo first grows, it is only an inch-long bud, but it has nodes and leaves. From small bamboo shoots with cicada bellies and snake scales to upright giant bamboos several feet tall, they have always had joints and leaves. But when people nowadays draw bamboos, they connect them one by one and pile them up leaf by leaf. Where can there be bamboo left in this way? So when it comes to painting bamboo, you must have the complete bamboo in your heart. Hold the pen and look at it carefully, and you will be able to see the bamboo you want to draw.
At this time, quickly follow what you see and draw to capture the image you see, just like a rabbit jumping and a falcon landing. This is what Yoke taught me. I couldn't do it, but I knew why. Since you know in your heart that you should do this, but you can't do it, your understanding and actions are not consistent, and your understanding of principles and actual operations are not consistent, these are all problems of insufficient learning.
So, we often understand things in our hearts but fail to do them skillfully. We usually think we know things very well, but suddenly we don’t understand them when things happen. Is this the case only with bamboo painting?
Original text:
The first growth of bamboo is an inch-long sprout, and the leaves have knots. From a snake clam in the belly to a sword drawn ten fathoms away, this is what we are born with. Today's painters are working on it step by step, and the leaves are tired. Is there any bamboo anymore? Therefore, when painting bamboo, you must first have the bamboo in your chest, hold the pen and look at it carefully. When you see what you want to paint, get up eagerly and follow it, pick up the pen straightly, and chase what you see. Like a rabbit rising and a falcon falling, it will pass away after a short period of time.
You can teach me this. I can't do it, but my mind knows why it is. Since the husband knows why it is so, but cannot do it, the inside and outside are not consistent, the mind and the hand are not corresponding, and it is a fault of not learning. Therefore, anyone who sees it but is not familiar with it knows how to understand it at ordinary times, but suddenly loses it when things happen.
Extended information:
Creative background:
Yundang Valley is located in the northwest of Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province, and there are many bamboos in the valley. In the eighth year of Xining reign of Song Shenzong (1075), Wen Tong was appointed as the magistrate of Yangzhou and once built a pavilion in this valley. Wen Tong was Su Shi's cousin and good friend. He was a painter of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was good at painting landscapes, especially bamboo. He created the bamboo leaf painting method of dark ink on the surface and light ink on the back. He founded the "Huzhou Bamboo School" in later generations. He once painted "Yun" "Dong Valley Yan Bamboo" was presented to Su Shi.