Chinese language study HK – Read the story in China to learn Chinese -Stealing the Light for Study by Making a Small Hole Secretly from Neighbor’s Wall

Mandarin Lesson

In the Western Han Dynasty there was a Chinese man named Kuang Heng. Kuang Heng was born in a poor family, but he was diligent in his study. As his family was too poor to afford to buy a candle for him, he often felt sad when evening came.  Every evening he could see the candle-light from his neighbor, but the light could not reach his home. Later, an idea came to him – to secretly make a small hole in the wall and let a glimmer of light come in through the hole. This stealing light allowed him to study until late at night. When he was grown up he became a very famous scholar in the Western Han Dynasty.

 

The original meaning of this idiom is to make a hole in the wall and read a book by stealing the light from a neighbor. Later it came to refer to studying under very hard conditions.

鑿壁借光
 “中國西漢的時候,有個人叫做匡衡(Kuāng Héng)。匡衡年輕的時候十分好學,但是他家裡很窮,買不起蠟燭。匡衡晚上想讀書的時候,常常因為沒有燈光而發愁。鄰居家有蠟燭,晚上會有亮光,但是亮光卻照不到他的家裡。後來,他想了一個辦法,就在牆壁上悄悄地鑿了一個小孔,讓隔壁人家的燭光透過來,每天藉著小孔中微弱的光線讀書。就這樣,他經常學到深夜,後來成了西漢著名的學者。
鑿壁借光”這個成語是說偷借鄰居家的燈光讀書。後來指在艱苦的條件下堅持刻苦學習。