懸樑刺股

See also: 悬梁刺股

Chinese

		to hang oneself from a beam
trad. (懸樑刺股/懸梁刺股)		懸樑/懸梁	刺股
simp. (悬梁刺股)		悬梁	刺股
Literally: “to tie (one's hair) to the rafters (so that if one falls asleep, one will be awakened), and to prick one's thighs (in order to stay awake)”.

Etymology

懸樑／悬梁 (xuán liáng) refers to what Sun Jing (孫敬／孙敬) of Eastern Han did:

孫敬，字文寶，好學，晨夕不休。及至眠睡疲寢，以繩系頭，懸屋樑。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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孙敬，字文宝，好学，晨夕不休。及至眠睡疲寝，以绳系头，悬屋梁。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Han, circa 1^st century CE

Sūn Jìng, zì Wénbǎo, hǎoxué, chén xī bùxiū. Jízhì mián shuì pí qǐn, yǐ shéng xì tóu, xuán wūliáng. [Pinyin]

Sun Jing, courtesy name Wenbao, was studious. He would study from morning to night. When he felt sleepy, he would tie his hair with a string and hang it on the rafters (so that if he fell asleep, he would be awakened).

刺股 (cì gǔ) refers to what Su Qin did:

讀書欲睡，引錐自刺其股，血流至足。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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读书欲睡，引锥自刺其股，血流至足。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

Dúshū yù shuì, yǐn zhuī zì cì qí gǔ, xuè liú zhì zú. [Pinyin]

When he (Su Qin) felt sleepy while studying, he would use an awl to prick his thighs (in order to stay awake) until blood flew over his feet.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xuánliángcìgǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄩㄢˊ ㄌㄧㄤˊ ㄘˋ ㄍㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyun⁴ loeng⁴ ci³ gu²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xuánliángcìgǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄩㄢˊ ㄌㄧㄤˊ ㄘˋ ㄍㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: syuánliángcìhgǔ
    • Wade–Giles: hsüan²-liang²-tzʻŭ⁴-ku³
    • Yale: sywán-lyáng-tsz̀-gǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyuanliangtsyhguu
    • Palladius: сюаньлянцыгу (sjuanʹljancygu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕy̯ɛn³⁵ li̯ɑŋ³⁵ t͡sʰz̩⁵¹ ku²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyun⁴ loeng⁴ ci³ gu²
    • Yale: yùhn lèuhng chi gú
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jyn⁴ loeng⁴ tsi³ gu²
    • Guangdong Romanization: yun⁴ lêng⁴ qi³ gu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyːn²¹ lœːŋ²¹ t͡sʰiː³³ kuː³⁵/

Idiom

懸樑刺股

1. to study diligently