







匡衡凿壁 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to study diligently under difficult circumstances”. To be a model of assiduous learning despite poverty. Literally, “Kuang Heng drilled a hole in the wall”.
During the Western Han Dynasty, Prime Minister Kuang Heng came from a poor family and could not afford to attend school.
During the day, he helped others with work. At night, he had no money for lamp oil, so he chiseled a hole in the earthen wall of his house to borrow light from his neighbor to read.
He even offered free labor to households that owned books in exchange for reading them.
Through his assiduous study, he eventually became the Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince during the reign of Emperor Yuan.

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Open the tool →匡衡凿壁 (kuāng héng záo bì) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to study diligently under difficult circumstances”.
匡衡凿壁 is pronounced kuāng héng záo bì in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 匡衡凿壁 means “Kuang Heng drilled a hole in the wall”. It is used to mean “to study diligently under difficult circumstances”.
匡衡凿壁 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
后以之为刻苦读书的典实。