41 Learning Methods That Benefit a Lifetime

Chapter 18 Sun Jing's "Head Hanging from the Beam" is addicted to books
People often use the allusion of "the head hangs from the beam, the awl stabs the thigh" to praise the spirit of hard work.The "head hanging from the beam" in this allusion is about a Hebei native, his name is Sun Jing.

Sun Jing, a native of Xindu (now Jizhou City) in the Han Dynasty.He is eager to learn when he is young, he has extensive knowledge and memorization, and he regards books as his life, so he often reads and studies all night long.The neighbors called him "Mr. Closed".

When Sun Jing was studying, he took notes at any time, and often read it until midnight. After a long time, he sometimes fell asleep unavoidably.When I woke up, I regretted it again.One day, when he looked up and was thinking hard, his eyes stopped on the beams, and his eyes suddenly lit up.Then I found a rope, one end of the rope was tied to the beam, and the lower end was tied to my hair.In this way, whenever he is tired and sleepy and wants to doze off, as long as he lowers his head, the rope will yank his hair, and the pain will wake him up and drive away the drowsiness.From then on, when he was studying every night, he used this method to study hard.

Year after year of hard study, Sun Jing has read poems and books, learned a lot, and became a scholar who is familiar with ancient and modern times. He was quite famous in the north of Jianghuai at that time. Come to him to study, solve doubts and discuss knowledge.

Another allusion "cone biting bone" is related to Su Qin, a famous scholar in the Warring States Period.

(End of this chapter)