CHENGYU
悬梁刺股(xuán liáng cì gǔ)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- literary, approving
- Source:
- 《战国策·秦策一》《汉书》
MEANING
- Literal
- to tie hair to a beam and prick the thigh
- Figurative meaning
- to study with fierce self-discipline
ORIGIN STORY
Two scholars became the model of hard study: Sun Jing tied his hair to a roof beam so that nodding off would jerk him awake, and Su Qin pricked his own thigh with an awl whenever drowsiness came, keeping himself alert.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“to burn the candle at both ends”
EXAMPLES
他悬梁刺股，终于考上了理想的大学。Tā xuán liáng cì gǔ, zhōngyú kǎo shàng le lǐxiǎng de dàxué.HSK6
He studied with iron discipline and finally got into his dream university.
有悬梁刺股的精神，学习就不怕苦。Yǒu xuán liáng cì gǔ de jīngshén, xuéxí jiù bù pà kǔ.HSK6
With that kind of grit, study holds no fear.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: It is about extreme self-discipline, used to praise, rarely to prescribe literally.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
悬xuánto hang
梁liángroof beam
刺cìto prick
股gǔthigh
Tap a character to explore it
TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01