断织劝学 — “To encourage perseverance in study or work”

断织劝学 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to encourage perseverance in study or work”. To admonish someone not to give up their efforts or studies halfway, using the analogy of cutting off weaving. Literally, “Cut weaving to encourage study”.

Frequency

断织劝学 Pronunciation and Pinyin

断织劝学 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
断	duàn	11	break, stop, decide
织	zhī	8	weave or knit
劝	quàn	4	persuade or advise
学	xué	8	learn, study, school, knowledge

Example Sentence with 断织劝学

老师用断织劝学的故事激励学生们不要半途而废，要坚持不懈地学习

The teacher used the story of "cutting the loom to encourage study" to inspire students not to give up halfway but to persevere in their learning.

Origin and Story of 断织劝学

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, a scholar named Le Yangzi once found a piece of gold and brought it home to his wife. His wife admonished him not to covet unexpected wealth.

From then on, he went out to pursue his studies. A year later, he returned home, having lost his motivation to continue.

His wife used scissors to cut the silk on her loom as an analogy, hoping he would persevere and not give up his efforts midway. Inspired by her words, he resumed his studies and finally achieved success after seven more years.