Many of China's vast idioms are related to diligent study. The phrase "head overhanging beam, cone thorn stock" is undoubtedly one of the most widely circulated and touching idioms.
The "head hanging beam" originated from Sun Jing of the Han Dynasty.
Sun Jing has been ambitious since childhood and loves to read. In order to drive away drowsiness, he often tied his head with a rope and then tied the other end of the rope to the beam. Whenever he was drowsy from reading, the rope would pull into his hair and wake him up. Relying on this spirit of diligence that is not afraid of hardship, Sun Jing gradually became a well-known university scholar.
In order not to let drowsiness affect his studies, Su Qin's approach during the Warring States period was much the same as Sun Jing's.
Whenever sleepiness struck, Su Qin stabbed his thigh with an iron cone. When the pain overcame the drowsiness, Su Qin did not want to sleep. In this way, Su Qin, who was extremely cruel to himself, read a lot of books and studied diligently, and in the end, he shocked the world, was affirmed by many kings, and united with six countries such as Han, Wei, Chu, and Qi to jointly fight against the Qin state.
Although Sun Jing and Su Qin are both well-known "inspirational" figures for women and children, the endings of the two are very different. After Sun Jing's success, he continued to study, and people called him the great Confucian of the time. After Su Qin became famous, he experienced ups and downs, and finally fell into a tragic end of five horses and corpses.
So, how did Su Qin, who learned to be rich in five cars and eight exquisite in eight faces, get to this step? It all started with the breaking of the Six Nations Alliance.
Under the interference of Gongsun Yan of the State of Qin, the State of Qi and the State of Wei jointly launched an attack on the State of Zhao, and the theory of concordance advocated by Su Qin had already existed in name only. King Zhao, who had once obeyed Su Qin's words, also changed his face at this time and began to doubt Su Qin's intentions. Under such circumstances, Su Qin had to go to the Yan kingdom to realize his ambitions in the Yan country.
After arriving in the Yan Kingdom, before he could gain a firm foothold, Su Qin encountered a rather tricky thing. In 332 BC, King Yi of Yan, who had just succeeded to the throne, mourned his father, and the entire Yan kingdom was in a state of grief. King Xuan of Qi of the State of Qi saw that the defense of the border of the State of Yan was slack, so he took advantage of the danger of the people and decisively sent troops to launch a surprise attack on the State of Yan.
The State of Yan and the State of Qi had previously been allies fighting side by side, and King Yi of Yan could never have imagined that King Xuan of Qi would act in this way. In a hurry, the Yan army was repeatedly defeated, and it was really unable to resist the qi army's offensive. Soon, all ten cities of the Yan Kingdom fell into the pocket of King Xuan of Qi. After the news of the defeat reached the Yan kingdom, King Yan Yi was very angry.
Therefore, he ordered someone to summon Su Qin and said coldly, "Before, the first king valued Mr. Wang's talents and did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to help him." If there is no first king, sir, I am afraid it will be difficult to promote the unity of the six countries. Now the State of Qi suddenly attacked the State of Yan, occupying dozens of cities. May I ask, is the road of the gentleman still going well? ”
Listening to King Yan Yi's words, Su Qin's face was red, and he really couldn't say an answer.
After thinking about it, Su Qin decided to meet King Xuan of Qi in person, no matter what, to return the lost territory for the Yan kingdom. After coming to the State of Qi, Su Qin carefully analyzed the situation in the various kingdoms for King Xuan of Qi.
At that time, King Yi of Yan had just married the princess of King Hui of Qin, the king of the State of Qin, and the relationship between the State of Yan and the State of Qin was very harmonious. Relying on the powerful State of Qin, Su Qin was full of confidence and constantly explained to King Xuan of Qi the serious consequences of attacking Yan. On the one hand, King Xuan of Qi was afraid of the State of Qin, and on the other hand, he was impressed by Su Qin's eloquence, so he returned the city of the State of Yan.
After this incident, King Yan Yi threw himself into the ground with su Qin's admiration. No matter how others denigrated Su Qin, he expressed disbelief. Later, some people spread rumors that Su Qin and King Yan yi's mother had an affair. Su Qin knew the seriousness of this matter, so he took the initiative to request an envoy to yanguo to clear up the suspicion. In order to get King Yi of Yan to agree, Su Qin also solemnly stated that his visit could weaken the comprehensive national strength of the State of Qi and remove the hidden dangers around him for the State of Yan.
Su Qin was bent on weakening the State of Qi, so he tried every means to increase the internal friction of the State of Qi. After the death of King Xuan of Qi, Su Qin persuaded the reigning King of Qi to do a great job, saying that this would reflect filial piety. Since Su Qin was extremely famous, king Qi Tang did not doubt that he had him, and immediately complied. Seeing this, Su Qin continued to encourage King Qi Tang to build more palaces and gardens, and guided King Qi Tang to seek pleasure and entertainment all day long, ignoring major state affairs.
Although the King of Qi Tang was turned around by Su Qin's tuan tuan, there was no shortage of wise men in the State of Qi. In order to protect the rights and interests of the country, several ministers of the State of Qi secretly sent assassins to kill Su Qin. After some fighting, although Su Qin was lucky to escape the disaster, he was also fatally traumatized and did not have a few days to live.
Before dying, in order to die with the assassins, Su Qin said to the King of Qixiang: "The Great King said to the outside world that the subject was a traitor sent by the State of Yan, and then he divided the body of the five horses of the subject in public, and at the same time offered a heavy reward for the murderer who injured the subject." In this way, the murderer will surely appear. After King Qi Tang did so, the Assassins quickly cast their nets.
After all, the paper could not contain the fire, and after Su Qin was dismembered by the five horses, his sinister intentions for the State of Qi were slowly revealed. Although Su Qin retaliated against the Assassins by scheming, he could not save his life. Of course, this ending is perfect, and he only said the only truth to the king before he died... It's a bit unrealistic, but I do like it.
Later generations said that Su Qin was good at Fengyuan left and right, so it was too normal in that era. At that time, in the world, who didn't talk about Qin discoloration? However, Su Qin's combination of indulgence really made Qin soldiers hide in HanguGuan for fifteen years and did not dare to come out, and this merit could not be erased. It can be said that in the entire Warring States period, what touched me the most was the Zongheng family.
Because most of the Zongheng family are free from the ordinary masses of the people, how many words can the masses of the people circulate in the history books for thousands of years? How many people are famous in history? What caused this was that they seized the great historical opportunity given by that era, and they used their outstanding talents to compose the magnificent epic of the Chinese nation.
Resources:
["History of Su Qin Lie", "Zizhi Tongjian", "Warring States Policy", "Warring States Zongheng Family Letter"]