意存筆先,畫盡意在

简 意存笔先,画尽意在 · 繁 意存筆先,畫盡意在
Mandarin · pinyin yì cún bǐ xiān , huà jìn yì zài

Meanings

  1. the idea is present before the first stroke of the brush, when the last stroke is placed the idea shines through
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Characters in this entry

意
yì · thought, idea, opinion; think
存
cún · exist, live, be; survive; remain
筆
bǐ · writing brush; write; stroke
先
xiān · first, former, previous
畫
huà · delineate, painting, picture, drawing; draw
盡
Look up this written character
在
zài · be at, in, on; consist in, rest
笔
bǐ · writing brush; write; stroke
画
huà · a painting, picture, drawing; to draw
尽
jǐn · exhaust, use up; deplete
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

意存筆先,畫盡意在 · find source passages ↗ · 意存笔先,画尽意在 · find source passages ↗

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意存筆先,畫盡意在 · yi4 cun2 bi3 xian1 , hua4 jin4 yi4 zai4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 42,666
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record意存筆先,畫盡意在 意存笔先,画尽意在 [yi4 cun2 bi3 xian1 , hua4 jin4 yi4 zai4] /the idea is present before the first stroke of the brush, when the last stroke is placed the idea shines through/