Stories of famous people from ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad (must be ancient, modern, Chinese, foreign)!

Chiseling through walls to steal light

During the Han Dynasty, Kuang Heng was a very diligent and studious young man.

Because his family was very poor, he had to do a lot of work during the day to earn money. Only at night could he sit down and read in peace. However, he couldn't afford candles, and he couldn't read when it got dark. Kuang Heng was heartbroken for this wasted time, and felt very painful inside.

His neighbor's family is very wealthy, and candles are lit in several rooms at night to light up the house. One day, Kuang Heng plucked up the courage and said to his neighbor: "I want to study at night, but I can't afford a candle. Can I borrow an inch of your house?" The neighbor always looked down on people who were poorer than his family, so he made a vicious mockery. Said: "Since you are too poor to buy a candle, why should you read?" Kuang Heng was very angry after hearing this, but he was more determined to read well.

Kuang Heng returned home and quietly cut a small hole in the wall. The neighbor's candlelight came through the hole. With this faint light, he began to read books eagerly, and gradually read all the books at home.

After reading these books, Kuang Heng felt that the knowledge he had mastered was far from enough, and his desire to continue reading more books became more urgent.

Ba Jin’s reading method

The famous writer Ba Jin’s reading method is very strange, because he did it without books. It is indeed a wonder in the world to study without books. What is going on? Ba Jin said: "The second time I was hospitalized, I took a nap for less than an hour every day, so I got out of bed and sat on the small sofa, waiting for the nurse to come. I came to take my temperature at 1 o'clock. I sat motionless, but my mind refused to rest. It seemed that it wanted to remember some books and works I had read in the past. Before the decline, keep some good things."

It turns out that his way of reading is to sit quietly and recall the books he has read. This has many benefits:

(1) It is not restricted by conditions and can make full use of time. Ba Jin cited two examples: One was during the Soviet Patriotic War, when Leningrad was besieged by the German army for a long time, a girl wrote in her diary "such and such type, "Anna Karenina"" and the like sentence. There was no electricity or candles at that time, and the entire city was under blackout. She could not read, but sat quietly in the dark and recalled the plot of the book. Tolstoy's novels helped her survive those terrifying nights. Another example is his own personal experience during the decade of civil unrest. He said: "During the 'Cultural Revolution', if the rebels had allowed me to write a diary and allowed me to write a diary according to my own wishes, my diary would have been filled with book titles. People would be surprised: there was a seal in my study, and The lock has been closed for ten years. Where can I find those books to read? They forget that there is a big warehouse in the human mind, which stores things that others cannot take away. "These two examples show that everything is not normal. You can "read" under any reading conditions.

(2) Review the past and learn the new. Through recollection, take out the books you have read in the past and chew them bit by bit, just like a cow ruminating, which can further digest and absorb. Every time you recall, you will have new understanding, new knowledge, and new gains.

(3) Ability to continuously draw spiritual strength from books that have been read. Ba Jin said: "I am fighting against illness now and get encouragement from various works... Even if I don't have the energy to read new works while I am ill, the accumulation of spiritual wealth in the past is enough for the rest of my limited life." Until death, people need light and heat."

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Gu Yanwu supervised his own reading

"Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world." This well-known saying was first put forward by Gu Yanwu, a patriotic thinker and famous scholar in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

Gu Yanwu has been diligent in studying since childhood. He was enlightened at the age of 6 and started reading history books and literary classics at the age of 10.

When he was 11 years old, his grandfather Liyuan Gong asked him to finish reading "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" and warned: "Some people now want to save trouble and think everything is settled after just browsing books like the "Compendium" , I think this is not worthwhile." These words made Gu Yanwu realize that studying and learning is an honest thing and must be treated seriously and faithfully. Gu Yanwu studied diligently, and he adopted the measure of "self-supervision of reading": first, he set himself a number of volumes that he must read every day; second, he restricted himself to copying the books he read after reading every day. After he finished reading "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", one book became two books; again, he required himself to take notes and write down his experiences every time he read a book. Some of his reading notes were later compiled into the famous "Rizhilu"; finally, every spring and autumn, he would review the books he had read in the first half of the year, reciting them silently and inviting others to read them aloud, and discovered the differences. Check immediately. He stipulated that he should review 200 pages of classes in this way every day. He would never finish the review and never take a break.

How did Chairman Mao study?

Special Hobbies

For decades, Chairman Mao has been very busy, but he always found time, even every second, to read and study. His former residence in Zhongnanhai is simply filled with books. Books are everywhere on the bookshelves in the bedroom, on the office desk, dining table, and coffee table. Except for the place where one person is lying on the bed, all of them are occupied by books.

In order to study, Chairman Mao used all available time. During the few minutes of physical activity before swimming, I sometimes read a few poems by famous people. After swimming up, I didn't bother to rest, so I picked up the book again. He never wastes even a few minutes on the toilet. A reprint of "Selected Works of Zhaoming" by Chunxi of the Song Dynasty and some other books and periodicals were made by using this time to read a little bit today and a little bit tomorrow, intermittently.

When Chairman Mao went out to hold meetings or inspect work, he often wrote in the box. He ignored the vibrations and bumps of the train on the way. He always held a magnifying glass in one hand and pressed the page of the book with the other, reading without stopping. When I go abroad, just like in Beijing, there are books placed on the bed, on the office desk, on the coffee table, and on the dining table, and I read them whenever I have free time.

Although Chairman Mao was seriously ill in his later years, he still continued to read. He re-read a set of hardcover "The Complete Works of Lu Xun" that was brought to Beijing from Yan'an and published before liberation, as well as many other books and periodicals.

Once, Chairman Mao had a fever of over 39 degrees, and the doctor did not allow him to read. He said sadly, I have loved reading all my life, but now you don't let me read, and you tell me to lie here and eat and sleep all day long. You know how uncomfortable I am! The staff had no choice but to take the books away again. Putting it next to him, he smiled happily.

Study seriously and read over and over again

Chairman Mao has always been opposed to the kind of reading method that only aims at reading books quickly without focusing on the effect. When he read the complete collection of Han Changli's poems and essays, except for a few chapters, he carefully considered and studied every chapter, from vocabulary, sentence reading, chapters to the meaning of the full text, not letting go of any aspect. Through repeated reading and chanting, he can recite most of the poems in Hanji fluently. He had read "Journey to the West", "A Dream of Red Mansions", "Water Margin", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other novels since he was in elementary school, and read them again in the 1960s. He has seen more than ten different versions of "Dream of Red Mansions". A "Selected Works of Zhaoming" was read when he was in school. He read it in the 1950s and 10s, read it in the 1960s, and read it several times in the 1970s. There are three existing versions of his annotations.

He has read some books on Marxism-Leninism and philosophy more times. He read "History of the United Communist Party" and Li Da's "Outline of Sociology" ten times each. He has repeatedly studied "The Communist Manifesto", "Das Kapital", "Selected Works of Lenin", etc. Many chapters and paragraphs are also annotated and underlined.

No writing, no reading

For decades, every time Chairman Mao read a book or article, he would mark important places with circles, lines, dots, etc. Symbols, write many comments in the header and blank space.

Books hanging on horns

In the Tang Dynasty, Li Mi heard that Bao Kai was in Goushan and went to visit him.

He rode an ox, hung a volume of "Han Shu" on its horns, and read as he walked. Yang Su, the Duke of Yue, saw him on the road and followed him from behind, pulling the reins of his horse, and asked, "What book made you so diligent?" Li Mi said it was "The Biography of Xiang Yu". Yang Su then discussed with Li Mi and thought that he was a wizard (see "New Book of Tang·Biography of Li Mi"). Later, "book hanging by horns" was used as a metaphor for diligent study.