He made a rough sketch with very light
brush strokes. He thought carefully about the composition of the painting. (慘澹經營)
In the Tang Dynasty of China, there was a
famous painter. His name is Cao Ba.
His story is written in history books.
In the Tang Dynasty of China, there was a
very famous king whose name was Li Longji.
After Li Longji became king, the national
power of the Tang Dynasty became stronger every day.
Li Longji invited him to the palace several
times as a guest, and Li Longji also gave him a very important task.
There was a house in the Imperial Palace of
the Tang Dynasty. The walls of this house were painted with portraits of some
of the loyal ministers who had served the Tang Dynasty since its founding.
The king commissioned him to restore the
portraits.
After completing this difficult task, Li
Longji was very happy.
One day, Li Longji was talking to him in
the hall of the palace.
Li Longji said to him
I have a very good horse called (Yuhua
Cong).
I have asked several painters to paint this
horse before, but I feel that I am not satisfied with the paintings they have
done.
I want you to paint this horse for me, and
I want you to do it right in front of me.
Do you think you can do it?
He replied with a smile.
I am willing to take on this task, and I think
I can paint a picture that will satisfy you.
Li Longji laughed and immediately ordered
the palace guards to bring the horse to the two of them.
He began to observe this very large and
beautiful horse.
After observing for about ten minutes, he
fell into deep thought. Then he made a rough sketch with very light brush
strokes. He thought carefully about the composition of the painting.
Everyone in the room looked at him in
silence, not daring to speak.
Suddenly he took a deep breath, his eyes
shone, he took the Chinese brush and began to paint on a piece of silk that the
king had prepared for him.
In a very short time he created the
painting of the horse.
When he had finished, he showed the
painting to everyone in the hall. Everyone in the hall was surprised and
speechless. Everyone in the hall thought it was so amazing.
Everyone in the hall felt that the horse in
the painting was almost the same as the real horse. He completely described the
characteristics of the horse and the feeling of power and vitality that the
horse exuded.
Everyone in the hall cheered and praised
him, including the king.
The king was very pleased and immediately
gave an order. The king announced that he would send a lot of gold to Cao Ba as
a reward.
The original meaning of this idiom is that
he made a rough sketch with very light brush strokes. He thought carefully
about the composition of the painting.
This idiom is now extended to describe a
person who plans and executes something very carefully.
Dear friend, what inspirations or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Have you ever seen a painter paint live?
What do you think are the key points in the composition of a good painting?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
慘澹經營(He made a rough sketch with very
light brush strokes. He thought carefully about the composition of the
painting.)
中國的唐王朝，有一個著名的畫家。他的名字叫做曹霸。
歷史書上記載了他的故事。
中國的唐王朝有一個很著名的國王，這個國王的名字叫做李隆基。
李隆基接任國王之後，唐王朝的國力一天比一天強大。
李隆基曾經好幾次邀請他到皇宮中作客，李隆基還把一個很重要的任務交給他。
唐王朝的皇宮中有一棟房子，這棟房子的牆壁上畫著從唐王朝建立以來，對唐王朝有功勞的一些忠誠的大臣的肖像。
國王聘請他重新為修復這些人物肖像。
他完成這個艱難的任務後，李隆基非常的開心。
有一天，李隆基與他在皇宮的大廳中對話，李隆基對他說。
李隆基對他說。
我有一匹非常棒的馬，這匹馬的名字叫做(玉花聰)。
我之前找過好幾個畫家畫這匹馬，但是我覺得那些畫家畫出來的畫作我都覺得不滿意。
我想要請你替我畫這匹馬，而且我希望你能夠我的面前當場作畫。
你認為你可以接下這個任務嗎?
他微笑著回答國王。
我願意接下這個任務，我認為我可以畫出令你覺得滿意的畫作。
李隆基大笑並且立刻吩咐皇宮中的侍衛們把這匹馬牽到他們兩個人面前。
他先開始觀察這匹非常的高大而且漂亮的馬。
觀察了大約十幾分鐘後，他陷入沉思，接著他先用很淡的筆觸打草稿，他很用心地思考這幅畫的構圖
這個大廳中的人都安靜地看著他不敢說話。
突然間，他吸了一口氣，他的眼睛發光，他拿起中國毛筆並且開始在一匹國王為他準備好的絲絹上作畫。
他在很短的時間內他創作出了這匹馬的的畫作。
他畫完之後，他把這幅畫展示給大廳中所有的人看，大廳中的人每個人都驚訝地說不出話，大廳中的每個人都覺得太神奇了。
大廳中的所有人都的覺得這幅畫中的馬跟真實中的馬幾乎完全一樣。他完全描繪出了這匹馬的特點與這匹馬散發出來的力量感與生命力。
大廳中的所有人發出了巨大的歡呼讚美聲，國王也是其中之一。
國王很開心地立刻下達一道命令，國王宣布要送非常多的黃金給曹霸當作獎勵。
這一句成語原本的意思是他先用很淡的筆觸打草稿，他很用心地思考這幅畫的構圖。
這一句成語目前被引申用來形容一個人非常用心的規劃並且執行一件事情。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你曾經看過畫家現場作畫嗎?你認為一張好的畫的構圖應該有那些要點呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為歷代名畫記-卷9-76條
https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=316161#%E5%94%90%E6%9C%9D%E4%B8%8A
出處為杜甫-丹青引贈曹將軍霸
