📖 Meaning
A metaphor for diligent and self-motivated study. It describes someone who, despite poverty and hardship, finds any means available to keep learning—even burning chaff for light. The idiom praises extraordinary perseverance and devotion to education.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Biography of Gu Huan in the History of the Southern Dynasties (Nan Shi). Gu Huan, a scholar of the Southern Dynasties period, was born into poverty and could not afford school tuition. He would lean against the wall behind a village school to listen to lessons, never forgetting what he heard. At night, lacking lamp oil, he burned pine knots to read or burned chaff to light his studies. His relentless dedication to learning amid hardship became a lasting symbol of scholarly perseverance.
💡 Example Usage
古人燃糠自照的精神，值得每一个求学的人学习。
The spirit of the ancients who burned chaff to illuminate their studies deserves to be emulated by everyone pursuing knowledge.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 燃糠自照
- Pinyin: rán kāng zì zhào
- Literal Translation: burn, chaff, self, illuminate
- Category: Learning
- Characters: 4