妙笔生花

Pronunciation: miào bǐ shēng huā Literal meaning: Wonderful brush produces flowers

Origin & Usage

A collection of Tang anecdotes records that Li Bai dreamed the tip of his brush had put out flowers, and that his gifts were extraordinary from then on. A marvellous (妙) brush (笔) growing (生) flowers (花) locates the talent in the instrument rather than in the labour, which is exactly what a legend about Li Bai ought to do. Writing that produces more than the words on the page appear to account for earns it, and it goes to style rather than to argument: nobody's proof is ever 妙笔生花.

Examples

English: "Her writing was so vivid that the scenes seemed to bloom from the page."

Chinese: 她的文笔妙笔生花，场景仿佛从纸上绽放。