📖 Meaning
To study something with concentrated effort and deliberate with all one's mental energy. It describes someone who devotes themselves wholeheartedly to research and thinking, sparing no effort in pursuit of understanding.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Song dynasty work 'Yungu Zaji' (云谷杂记) by Zhang Bian (张渂). It recounts how the great historian Sima Guang (司马温公) was deeply fond of the Han dynasty philosopher Yang Xiong's work 'Tai Xuan' (太玄). Sima Guang himself said that ever since his youth he had loved the book, studying it exhaustively and deliberating over it with all his effort for many years, and only then did he dare to write a commentary on it.
💡 Example Usage
他为了攻克这道难题，研精竭虑，连续数月不曾懈怠。
To crack this difficult problem, he studied and deliberated exhaustively, never slacking off for months on end.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 研精竭虑
- Pinyin: yán jīng jié lǜ
- Literal Translation: study, exhaustively, exhaust, thought
- Category: Learning
- Characters: 4