Back in 2008, I had a blast learning an old Chinese storytelling art form called pingshu 评书. Enjoy this classic story called《铁棒磨成针》”Grinding a Rod Into a Needle.”
(Unfortunately, I don’t have a professional recording of this performance, thus the poor recording quality and brief gaps in content at certain moments.)
Below is the English translation for those who are interested:
“Grinding a Rod into a Needle”
I’m sure you have all heard of Li Bai, the famous Tang dynasty poet, right? But perhaps you don’t know that his father was a very successful, wealthy businessman. Growing up, Li Bai had everything a person could possibly want, with servants and maids to wait on him hand and foot. So one might ask, seeing that his father was so successful, why did Li Bai need to study? Why not just follow in his father’s footsteps, learn the family trade, and take over the business when the time comes? That’s right – if you spend all this time and money getting a PhD but can’t find a job, what’s the use in that?
Oh, but back in those days, you wouldn’t be caught dead saying something like that! Society back then wasn’t like it is today. They had a special saying to sum things up: “The worth of other pursuits is small, the study of books excels them all.” If you do business, make lots of money, but don’t have any position in society, you can’t possibly bring honor to your ancestors. If you want to have any kind of future, you must work your tail off studying. What? You don’t think that studying can amount to anything? Well, let me tell you–if you study hard, you can have anything you desire.
Song Zhenzong (Zhao Heng) said it well in “Encouraging Learning.” In today’s language: If you want to make a fortune, you don’t have to take out a bank loan to invest in more land; you can get rich simply from studying! If you want to live comfortably in a mansion, you can gain a golden house simply from reading a book. If you want to have a home, but have no wife or matchmaker, well, you can get a girl as beautiful as flower and jade just by studying!
So Li Bai stayed at home every day to study with his teacher. He was young in those days; the Four Books and Five Classics were boring and too deep for him to understand. After a long while of not understanding, he became angry, “What fun is there in this? I won’t read for another minute!” The teacher looked shocked, “Oh, young master, please don’t stop studying! If you don’t continue on, where will I work?”
“I, I’m going to the toilet.” After speaking, Li Bai walked out. After using the toilet, he ran out into the street. Once there, Li Bai breathed a huge sigh of relief. And as he raised his eyes, he couldn’t help but feel happy. In front of him were singing birds, opera singers, candysellers—so enticing and exciting! Li Bai walked over.
As he was walking, he suddenly stopped and stood still. There in front of him was a big rock with an old woman was sitting behind it. The old woman kept grinding on the stone with a big old thick iron rod. Li Bai thought to himself, What does this old woman want to shape this stone into?
It makes sense for him to think this way. He has every kind of stone imaginable in his home’s back garden. This old woman in front of me must be using this iron rod to shape this rock into something! How interesting! Thinking along these lines, he stepped forward and asked, “Old woman , what do you plan to grind this stone into?”
When the old woman heard his question, she said, “What? You think I’m grinding this stone? No, silly boy! I am grinding a needle!” Li Bai said, “You’re going to grind this thick iron rod into a needle?”
“Yes, why don’t you believe me?”
Can Li Bai believe her? Although he has never done needlework, he has seen what a needle looks like. A needle is so thin! Even when ground down to half its size, this thick iron rod will be impossible to use as a needle. He felt that the old lady must be fooling him.
“Old woman, how is this possible? You are fooling people!”
When she heard this, she replied, “Why would an old woman like me want to fool you! You are fine with all these other old people out here exercising, why don’t you like it that I’m out grinding a needle? What’s so impossible? I grind down a little each day, and one day it will be a needle!”
Wow! Li Bai suddenly understood many things. She is right! As long as one perseveres, one can accomplish anything.With this on his mind, Li Bai ran home, burst into the house, and went straight to the study. When he arrived at the study, out of breath, he saw his teacher and asked, “Teacher, where were we at in the book just now?”
Seeing as Li Bai hadn’t shown up for quite some time, the teacher asked, “Li Bai, why did you take so long in the toilet?”
“Well, I, uh, I had a stomachache.” After speaking, he picked up his book and started reading diligently.
The teacher thought to himself, That can’t be! and said in a commanding voice, “I went to the toilet to look for you and you weren’t there! Li Bai, tell me! Where in the world did you go?”
Here’s the lesson in it all:
When young, we are fond of playing and don’t study hard
Reading is boring; it’s like being caged up.
When by chance I meet an old woman grinding an iron rod,
I instantly understand.
