1. Chiseling through walls to steal light
During the Western Han Dynasty, there was a farmer’s child named Kuang Heng. He wanted to study very much when he was a child, but because his family was poor, he had no money to go to school. Later, he learned to read from a relative and gained the ability to read.
Kuang Heng couldn't afford books, so he had to borrow books to read. At that time, books were very valuable, and people who owned them were not willing to lend them to others easily. Kuang Heng worked part-time for wealthy people during the busy farming season. He didn't pay any wages and only asked people to lend him books to read.
After a few years, Kuang Heng grew up and became the main labor force in the family. He worked in the fields all day long, and only had time to read a little while taking a break at noon, so it often took ten and a half days to finish a book. Kuang Heng was very anxious and thought to himself: I plant crops during the day and don’t have time to read. I can use more time to read at night. But Kuang Heng’s family was very poor and couldn’t buy oil for lighting lamps. What should he do?
One night, Kuang Heng was lying on the bed and reciting the books he had read during the day. Carrying it on my back, I suddenly saw a ray of light coming from the east wall. He stood up in a hurry, walked to the wall and took a look, ah! It turned out that what came through the cracks in the wall was the neighbor's light. So Kuang Heng thought of a way: he took a knife and dug a larger gap in the wall. In this way, the light that came through was also greater, so he leaned against the light that came through and read a book.
Kuang Heng studied hard in this way and later became a very knowledgeable person.
2. Zhang Yao worshiped his wife as his disciple
During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a military attache named Zhang Yao. Because of his meritorious service in hard battles, he was promoted to the post of Chief Envoy of Henan. He had lost school since he was a child and was uneducated. He was often discriminated against by courtiers. The imperial envoy Liu Yunan said that he was "illiterate", so he was appointed as the chief soldier. From then on, Zhang Yao determined to study hard so that he could be good at literature and martial arts.
Zhang Yao thought that his wife was very educated, so when he got home, he asked his wife to teach him how to read. The wife said: It is okay to want to teach, but there is one condition, that is, you must worship the teacher and learn respectfully. Zhang Yao fully agreed, immediately put on his court clothes, asked his wife to sit in front of Confucius' memorial tablet, and bowed to her three times and kowtowed nine times.
From then on, his wife taught him how to read classics and history in his spare time. Whenever his wife acted like a teacher, he would bow down and listen to the instructions without daring to be disrespectful. At the same time, he also asked someone to carve an "illiterate" seal and often wore it on his body as a warning. A few years later, Zhang Yao finally became a very knowledgeable person.
Later, when he was the governor of Shandong, someone again accused him of being "illiterate." He wrote to the emperor for an interview. The interview results surprised the emperor and many ministers. When Zhang Yao took office in Shandong, he built river embankments, repaired roads, opened factories, refined manufacturing, and did many things that benefited the country and the people. Because he was diligent and studious, the emperor posthumously named him "Qinguo" after his death.
3. Hua Di teaches his children
During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was an outstanding writer and historian named Ouyang Xiu. The article is well written and has high achievements in literature. When he was four years old, his father passed away and life at home was very difficult. His mother wanted her son to go to school, but where could she find the money to send him to school? She thought about it and decided to teach her son herself. She couldn't afford paper and pen, so she used grass stalks to write on the ground instead of paper and pen, and taught her son how to read. Under the guidance of his mother, Ouyang Xiu used grass stalks to write on the ground, and finally succeeded in learning. This is the famous story of "Hua Di teaches his son" in history.
4. Cheng Men Li Xue
The idiom "Cheng Men Li Xue" is a household name. It comes from the story of Yang Shi, a native of Le County, who was a famous Neo-Confucian scholar in the Song Dynasty.
Yang Shi was smart since he was a child. He entered the village to study at the age of four. He could write poems at the age of seven and compose poems at the age of eight. He was known as a child prodigy. When he was fifteen years old, he studied classics and history, and in the ninth year of Xining, he was on the Jinshi list. He was determined to write books and lectures throughout his life. He gave lectures in many places and was very popular. When he was at home, he devoted himself to studying, writing and teaching at Hanyun Temple and Guishan Academy for a long time.
One year, when Yang Shi was on his way to Liuyang County, he took the trouble to make a detour to Luoyang to pay homage to Cheng Yi in order to further his studies. One day, Yang Shi was traveling with his school friend. Because they had different views on a certain question, in order to get a correct answer, they went to the teacher's house for advice.
It is the middle of winter, the weather is freezing cold and the ground is covered with thick clouds. Halfway through their journey, the wind was blowing hard, the snow was falling, and the cold wind was pouring into their collars unbridled. They wrapped their clothes tightly and hurried on. When I arrived at Cheng Yi's house, I saw my husband sitting by the stove, meditating and relaxing. Yang Shi and Yang Shi did not dare to disturb the teacher, so they stood respectfully outside the door, waiting for their husband to wake up. At this time, the distant mountains are like jade clusters, the woods are like silver makeup, and the houses are also decorated in pure white. One of Yang Shi's feet was frozen and he was shivering from the cold, but he still stood respectfully. After a long time, Cheng Yi woke up and found Yang Shi standing in the wind and snow from the window. He was covered in snow, and the snow under his feet was more than a foot thick. He quickly got up to welcome them into the house.
Later, Yang Shi learned the true meaning of Cheng Men Lixue. Southeast scholars praised Yang Shi as the "authentic Cheng Xue" and was known as "Mr. Guishan" in the world. Since then, the story of "Cheng Men Li Xue" has become a beautiful story through the ages about respecting teachers and respecting morality.
Extended information:
If you want to know more about the stories of the ancients who worked hard to study, you can buy a copy of "Interesting Stories about the Hardworking and Eager to Learn of Ancient Chinese". The True Book is a book published by Guangdong People's Publishing House in 1999. The authors are Ka Encai, Weng Wenhao, and Sun Yikai. The book records the stories of Confucius who was tireless in learning, Su Qin who prodded his buttocks to read, Zhang Liang who picked up his shoes and found military books, Huang Ba Prison Middle School (Shang Shu), Lu Wenshu herding sheep to read, Kuang Heng's chiseling of walls to borrow light, and Zheng Xuan's meeting with his master in three years.
Reference material: Baidu Encyclopedia-Interesting things about ancient Chinese people who were hardworking and eager to learn