头悬梁，锥刺股

头选梁，锥刺股

Literally means:

tie one's hair on the house beam and jab one's side with a needle to keep oneself awake

Actually means:

painstaking in study one's study

Su Qin and Sun Jing, two ancient scholars, were both diligent in their studies. Every time they felt tired and sleepy at night, Su Jing would tie his hair with a rope would jab his thigh with an awl in order to leep themselves awake and go on studying Later on the phrase was used to describe assiduous selfstudy. It is often used to encourage people to study hard. It can be abbreviated to 悬梁刺股.

古代的苏秦和孙敬两人都勤奋好学。每当夜里疲倦想睡觉时，孙敬就用一根绳子的一头系住头发，另一头吊挂在屋梁上，而苏秦则用锥子刺自己的大腿。他们这样做都是为了驱散疲乏防止打瞌睡，坚持继续读书。后人便用“头悬用来激励人们发奋用功学习。可缩合为“悬梁刺股”。