For forty years, I have been painting bamboo branches,

writing my thoughts during the day and night.

The redundant and complicated trimming has been done away with, leaving only thinness,

Painting comes to life. Time is ripe.

---- (Qing Dynasty) Zheng Banqiao

The poet painted and wrote about bamboo throughout his life. Looking back on his own experience, he felt deeply.

The first two sentences are about painting and writing, which requires diligence and concentration in order to succeed.

"Cutting off the redundant and leaving the lean and lean" means that writing poetry and painting are actually the same as being a human being. Only when you can cut out the redundant and simplify it can you succeed. It can be considered that it has reached a certain height.

"When painting is raw, it is when it is cooked" contains a deeper truth, which is actually the three stages of artistic pursuit: raw, cooked and raw. He once There is a saying about the three realms of painting bamboo: "There are bamboos in the eyes, there are bamboos in the chest, and there are no bamboos in the chest." Of course, he borrowed the three realms of Zen Buddhism: "Seeing a mountain is a mountain, seeing a mountain is not a mountain, seeing a mountain is still a mountain." Say.

Just like painting bamboo, isn’t it the same as being a human being? Therefore, some people say that writing is like people, and paintings are like people.

-----Excerpt The book "Zen's Poetry, Calligraphy and Painting"