CYChengyu Dictionary

Chengyu meaning

胸有成竹 (xiōng yǒu chéng zhú)

to have a clear plan or mental picture before acting

Plain Answer

Source: Literati painting anecdote tradition. Treated here as classical story; read it first as a sentence-level judgment.

Core meaning: 胸有成竹 means to have a clear plan or mental picture before acting: Used when someone is confident because they already have a well-formed plan, image, or strategy.

Practice this meaningRead the story
Label
neutral / positive written and spoken Chinese
Best objects
presentation, teaching, project planning
Do not use when
Do not use 胸有成竹 for a scene that only shares one surface word with the meaning. If the problem is closer to 破釜沉舟 or the contrast points toward 马马虎虎, choose that nearby entry instead of stretching this one.

Use: Use 胸有成竹 when the presentation sentence shows the object, cause, and tone clearly. Avoid: Avoid 胸有成竹 when the sentence only sounds related, lacks evidence, or needs a plainer word.

presentation他上台前已经胸有成竹。Tā shàngtái qián yǐjīng xiōng yǒu chéng zhú.Before going on stage, he already had a clear plan in mind.

Next: Read the examples, then compare 破釜沉舟 before practicing 胸有成竹 in the focused quiz.

Often studied with: 破釜沉舟, 南辕北辙, 一丝不苟

Read This First

胸有成竹 is introduced here through a classical story tradition retold for modern learners; the source label is Literati painting anecdote tradition, and the page separates that background from modern sentence choice.

胸有成竹 means to have a clear plan or mental picture before acting. The important first reading is Used when someone is confident because they already have a well-formed plan, image, or strategy. This is a neutral phrase in normal use, so the sentence must show the judgment clearly.

Use 胸有成竹 when the object, cause, and tone match examples such as presentation, teaching, project planning; then compare 破釜沉舟 and 南辕北辙 before writing your own sentence.

Avoid 胸有成竹 when the sentence only shares a broad topic, when the tone would be unfair to the person being described, or when a plainer word would be clearer than a chengyu.

Start with this cue: presentation plus a visible reason.

Meaning and Translation Notes

Used when someone is confident because they already have a well-formed plan, image, or strategy.

Literal meaning

to have a completed bamboo in one's chest

  • 胸 / chest or mind
  • 有 / have
  • 成 / completed
  • 竹 / bamboo

English equivalents

  • have a clear plan in mind plain

    Best general translation.

  • know exactly what one is doing near

    Natural in speech.

  • have the full picture before starting plain

    Good for art and strategy.

How To Use It

Use 胸有成竹 when the reader can see why to have a clear plan or mental picture before acting is the exact judgment, not just the topic. A strong sentence names the actor, the thing being judged, and the evidence that makes this idiom more precise than an ordinary adjective.

  • Use it for prepared confidence, not blind confidence.
  • It can describe artists, speakers, teachers, leaders, students, and teams.
  • It often appears before action, showing the plan already exists internally.

Common Mistakes

Do not use 胸有成竹 for a scene that only shares one surface word with the meaning. If the problem is closer to 破釜沉舟 or the contrast points toward 马马虎虎, choose that nearby entry instead of stretching this one.

  • Do not translate 胸 literally as physical chest in normal use.
  • Do not use it for confidence with no preparation; that may sound like 自以为是.

Wrong Use Clinic

The most useful check is often the phrase you should reject.

  1. The learner wants to sound more idiomatic but has only a broad topic match for 胸有成竹.

    The sentence drops in 胸有成竹 without showing the cause, object, or tone that would make the idiom necessary.

    Fix: Rewrite the sentence so the evidence for to have a clear plan or mental picture before acting appears before or after the phrase.

    胸有成竹 fails in this case because a chengyu is not decoration; it must name the exact judgment the sentence is making.

    Compare po fu chen zhou

  2. The learner wants to say the opposite or a neighboring idea and chooses 胸有成竹 because it feels familiar.

    The sentence uses 胸有成竹, but the described situation points to a different cause, time point, or social attitude.

    Fix: Compare the sentence with 马马虎虎 and choose the phrase whose boundary explains the situation with less force.

    胸有成竹 becomes misleading when the nearby phrase would identify the real problem more cleanly.

    Compare ma ma hu hu

  3. The learner has the right meaning area for 胸有成竹 but ignores register and emotional force.

    The sentence uses 胸有成竹 directly about a person, yet gives no softening context or evidence for such a confident judgment.

    Fix: Add the observed behavior first, or choose 南辕北辙 if the sentence needs a gentler learning path.

    胸有成竹 can sound heavier than a short English gloss. The reader needs enough context to see why the tone is fair.

    Compare nan yuan bei zhe

  4. The learner remembers the origin image of 胸有成竹 but applies it to the wrong object.

    The sentence names an image or story detail, but the real object being judged would be better explained by another chengyu.

    Fix: Name the object first. If the object points toward 乱七八糟, use that contrast instead.

    胸有成竹 should follow the judgment, not the most memorable image. Story memory is useful only when it supports the sentence-level decision.

    Compare luan qi ba zao

Chengyu Often Studied Together

Use these clusters to build sentence-level judgment instead of memorizing a single gloss.

  1. 胸有成竹 with nearby learner choices

    胸有成竹 is often studied beside 破釜沉舟 and 南辕北辙 because the words share a theme while asking the learner to judge a different cause, tone, or timing.

    老师先让学生解释胸有成竹，再比较破釜沉舟和南辕北辙，这样不会只凭英文近义词选答案。

    po fu chen zhounan yuan bei zhe

  2. 胸有成竹 with contrast checks

    胸有成竹 becomes easier to use when it is contrasted with 一丝不苟 and 马马虎虎; the contrast forces the writer to decide whether the sentence is praise, warning, correction, or neutral description.

    写作练习里先用胸有成竹造句，再换成一丝不苟，观察判断方向怎样改变。

    yi si bu gouma ma hu hupo fu chen zhou

  3. 胸有成竹 in example-building drills

    胸有成竹 should be practiced with 破釜沉舟 and 一丝不苟 because examples reveal whether the learner is choosing by meaning, tone, or only by a remembered image.

    课堂上先用胸有成竹写一个有证据的句子，再换成破釜沉舟或一丝不苟说明判断为什么改变。

    po fu chen zhouyi si bu gounan yuan bei zhe

  4. 胸有成竹 in story and source review

    胸有成竹 links best with 南辕北辙 and 马马虎虎 when the learner is checking whether a source image truly supports a modern sentence.

    复习出处时，不要只背胸有成竹的故事，还要比较南辕北辙，看哪个成语更能解释现代句子。

    nan yuan bei zhema ma hu hupo fu chen zhou

Learner Guide

Use these notes when deciding whether this chengyu fits a real sentence.

Use 胸有成竹 when confidence comes from preparation. It can describe a teacher who knows the lesson path, a speaker who has rehearsed the argument, an artist who sees the final composition, or a team that has planned the sequence before starting. The tone is positive and composed, not loud or boastful.

Good English translations include have a clear plan in mind, know exactly what one is doing, or have the full picture before starting. The bamboo image is beautiful, but it usually needs explanation. In everyday English, clear plan or mental picture often carries the meaning more naturally than a literal bamboo sentence.

Do not use this chengyu for blind confidence. A person who is sure without preparation may be 自以为是 rather than 胸有成竹. Also compare 破釜沉舟: that phrase describes decisive commitment, while 胸有成竹 describes the prepared mental structure before action. The two can appear together, but they are not the same.

A strong sentence should show what has been prepared. The plan, image, argument, lesson sequence, or negotiation strategy should be visible. If the sentence only says someone is confident, the idiom may feel decorative. It works best when the reader can see why the person is calm before acting.

Before using 胸有成竹, write the plain English idea first. If the plain sentence already says everything naturally, the chengyu must add a sharper judgment, cultural image, or tone. If it does not add one of those, leave the plain wording alone.

A good 胸有成竹 sentence contains an object and evidence. The object is the person, plan, habit, result, or scene being judged. The evidence is the reason the phrase fits. Without both parts, the idiom may look learned but feel empty.

Compare 胸有成竹 with 破釜沉舟 and 马马虎虎 before finalizing a sentence. The goal is not to memorize synonyms; the goal is to reject the wrong phrase for a clear reason. That rejection is what turns recognition into usable knowledge.

When teaching or self-reviewing 胸有成竹, ask the learner to mark source, meaning, use case, wrong case, and one example. If any mark is missing, return to the entry section that supplies it rather than guessing from the headword alone.

presentation is the first test zone for 胸有成竹, but it is not the only possible use. Before using the phrase, name the speaker, the object being judged, and the nearest tested context: presentation, teaching, project planning, usage boundary, misuse boundary, comparison check, context setup, teacher correction. Then choose among have a clear plan in mind, know exactly what one is doing, have the full picture before starting as translation candidates and reject at least one candidate out loud. A useful final check is to compare the sentence with po-fu-chen-zhou and nan-yuan-bei-zhe; if one of those nearby entries explains the situation with less strain, the nearby phrase is the better learner choice.

When 胸有成竹 is translated as have a clear plan in mind, the English should still preserve the phrase's tone. Keep confident and the strategy use area visible when the audience is still learning the idiom. If a short translation hides the warning "Do not translate 胸 literally as physical chest in normal use.", choose a fuller English explanation instead. This matters because the strongest chengyu pages should help readers decide when not to use the most convenient English equivalent.

Example Sentences

Each example labels the situation so you can choose a natural English translation.

presentation

他上台前已经胸有成竹。

Tā shàngtái qián yǐjīng xiōng yǒu chéng zhú.

Before going on stage, he already had a clear plan in mind.

teaching

老师对这节课的安排胸有成竹。

Lǎoshī duì zhè jié kè de ānpái xiōng yǒu chéng zhú.

The teacher had the lesson plan clearly worked out.

project planning

项目开始前，团队必须胸有成竹。

Xiàngmù kāishǐ qián, tuánduì bìxū xiōng yǒu chéng zhú.

Before the project begins, the team needs a clear picture of the plan.

usage boundary

只有原因和语气都清楚时，这句话才适合用胸有成竹。

zhi you yuan yin he yu qi dou qing chu shi zhe ju hua cai shi he yong xiong you cheng zhu

Only use 胸有成竹 when the cause and tone are both clear, not just because the topic feels nearby.

misuse boundary

如果只是普通情况，不要为了显得有文化而硬说胸有成竹。

ru guo zhi shi pu tong qing kuang bu yao wei le xian de you wen hua er ying shuo xiong you cheng zhu

If the situation is ordinary, do not force 胸有成竹 just to make the sentence sound more cultured.

comparison check

比较近义成语以后，再决定这里是不是应该写胸有成竹。

bi jiao jin yi cheng yu yi hou zai jue ding zhe li shi bu shi ying gai xie xiong you cheng zhu

After comparing nearby chengyu, decide whether 胸有成竹 is really the phrase the sentence needs.

context setup

这段话先说明对象和原因，所以胸有成竹读起来不突兀。

zhe duan hua xian shuo ming dui xiang he yuan yin suo yi xiong you cheng zhu du qi lai bu tu wu

The passage names the object and cause first, so 胸有成竹 does not feel abrupt.

teacher correction

老师让学生先解释为什么不用别的词，再用胸有成竹造句。

lao shi rang xue sheng xian jie shi wei shen me bu yong bie de ci zai yong xiong you cheng zhu zao ju

The teacher asks students to explain why another phrase would be wrong before writing a sentence with 胸有成竹.

Story and Cultural Context

The idiom is linked to the idea that a skilled bamboo painter must already hold the completed bamboo in the mind before the brush moves. The picture is not literally in the chest; it means the artist has understood the form so well that the action can be confident and fluid. Modern use extends the image to exams, presentations, negotiations, and projects where preparation creates calm confidence. The bamboo image comes from artistic preparation. A painter who understands bamboo already holds its completed form in the mind before the brush begins. English speakers should not translate chest literally in ordinary use. The phrase describes prepared confidence, not arrogance. It is especially useful because it connects inner clarity with outward action. The person can move calmly because the structure, image, or strategy has already been worked out. For this entry, the origin note is only the beginning of the explanation. The useful question is why 胸有成竹 survived as a portable judgment rather than as a decorative allusion. The classical story route gives the reader an image, but the modern sentence must still prove its own fit. A learner should ask three things: what concrete object is being judged, what evidence in the sentence supports that judgment, and what tone the phrase adds that a plain English adjective would not add. This is why the page tests 胸有成竹 through presentation, teaching, project planning, usage boundary, misuse boundary; each context changes the pressure on the phrase and shows whether the idiom is acting as praise, warning, neutral description, or criticism. The story or usage background also has a translation boundary. 胸有成竹 can point toward have a clear plan in mind, know exactly what one is doing, have the full picture before starting, but those English choices are not interchangeable. One version may preserve the image, another may sound natural in a classroom answer, and another may be safer in a workplace or essay sentence. The entry therefore treats public references as source cards, not as a paragraph order to imitate. Headword checks, story labels, and English equivalents are separated first; only after that are they rebuilt into the learner path used here: answer, label, examples, wrong-use clinic, comparison, story, and practice. The most common failure is overextension. Because 胸有成竹 has a memorable surface, learners may reach for it whenever a topic feels close. The better habit is to compare it with 破釜沉舟 and 南辕北辙 and with 马马虎虎 and 乱七八糟 before writing. If the rejected phrase is hard to reject, the sentence probably has not supplied enough evidence. If the rejected phrase is easy to reject, the learner can explain the boundary and use 胸有成竹 with confidence. That is the practical purpose of the origin section: it turns cultural memory into a sentence-level decision instead of leaving the reader with a story and no next action.

Learning point: Confidence is strongest when the full shape is prepared before action.

Open the dedicated story page

Editorial Notes

These notes turn the entry into a decision path, not a loose definition.

First answer before details

胸有成竹 should first be read as a decision about to have a clear plan or mental picture before acting, not as a collectible story label. The classical story helps memory, but the reader's real task is to decide whether the modern sentence is making a neutral judgment with enough evidence. Start with the object being described, then ask what happened, who is being judged, and whether the tone is fair. If those details are missing, the idiom will feel like learned decoration rather than useful Chinese. This first-answer rule also helps teachers and translators: they can explain the phrase quickly before deciding whether a longer story, comparison, or correction block is needed.

Example clinic

The examples for 胸有成竹 deliberately cover presentation, teaching, project planning, usage boundary, misuse boundary because a learner needs more than one successful sentence before the phrase becomes usable. Read the Chinese sentence, then explain in plain English why this phrase is more precise than a simple adjective or loose translation. A strong example names the context, shows the evidence, and makes the tone visible. A weak example merely places the chengyu near a related topic. This habit prevents a common error: remembering the literal image but forgetting the social judgment carried by the phrase. When the example feels forced, return to the meaning line and choose a plainer wording.

Comparison boundary

Before using 胸有成竹, compare it with 破釜沉舟 and 南辕北辙 and, when possible, with 马马虎虎 and 乱七八糟. The comparison is not a synonym game. Nearby chengyu often share effort, caution, wisdom, or evaluation as a topic, while differing in cause, timing, and emotional force. A good learner sentence can explain why the rejected phrase fails. If that explanation is impossible, the chosen idiom is probably too loose. This is also the cleanest internal-link reason: the next page exists because it helps the reader reject a tempting but wrong choice. The comparison should leave a reusable rule, not merely another link to click.

Wrong-use trigger

胸有成竹 should be rejected when the sentence lacks an object, hides the reason for the judgment, or uses the idiom only because it sounds literary. The safest correction is to rewrite the sentence in plain English first, then add the chengyu only if it sharpens the meaning. If the tone becomes unfair, choose a gentler nearby phrase. If the source image is memorable but the modern object does not match, use the story only as background and do not force the idiom into the sentence. This wrong-use trigger is what keeps the entry from becoming a long but vague dictionary page.

Source synthesis note

胸有成竹 uses public references as checkpoints rather than as a structure to copy. One source may help with the headword, another with a story or image, and another with English translation range. The page then rebuilds those checks into its own learner order: short answer, label, examples, misuse, collocation, guide, story, and practice. This matters because a single-source paraphrase would give readers a familiar-looking article but not a better learning tool. The editorial value here is the decision path: what to use, what not to use, what to compare, and how to test the phrase in a new sentence.

Practice This Decision

Answer a focused quiz question, then come back to the examples and misuse clinic if the near phrase feels tempting.

Start focused quizReview mistakes first