竹 zhú bamboo
How it came to be
象形 · Pictogram
A drawing of the thing it means.
The oldest form shows two bamboo stalks with their leaves.
用法
- Noun "bamboo", mostly bound in compounds; the free everyday noun is 竹子 (zhúzi).
- 爆竹 (bàozhú) "firecracker" literally means "exploding bamboo", from the old practice of burning bamboo to make loud pops.
- 胸有成竹 (xiōngyǒuchéngzhú) "to have a well-formed plan in mind" is a vivid idiom: literally "already having a bamboo (painting) complete in one's chest", from painters who visualize the whole bamboo before drawing a stroke.