During the Eastern Han Dynasty, a boy named Cheng Gong lost his father and was so poor that at age eight, he herded pigs for a wealthy family. Near his home, a Confucian scholar named Xu Zisheng taught the classic *Spring and Autumn Annals* to hundreds of students. One day, while passing the school, Cheng Gong stopped to listen, utterly captivated. He begged to join, but Xu Zisheng replied, "You're a poor swineherd—how can you afford to study?" Cheng Gong insisted, "I'll work for you in exchange for lessons!" Xu Zisheng, impressed by his determination, accepted. Cheng Gong then labored tirelessly, fetching water and chopping wood, while absorbing every word of the lectures. Years later, he became a renowned scholar himself, proving that poverty is no barrier to learning. Today, this story reminds us that true dedication can overcome any obstacle.
One day, while herding pigs past a school, Cheng Gong overheard Teacher Xu lecturing and stood outside to eavesdrop. Teacher Xu noticed him, recognized him as a studious child, and invited him into the classroom to join the lesson.
"Where is the pig you were supposed to herd?" The master, not seeing Cheng Gong return with the pig, found him at the school and asked.
By the time the pigs had vanished without a trace, Cheng Gong was so terrified that he hid behind Teacher Xu, trembling uncontrollably.
"Little beast!" The landlord was about to hit him. Teacher Xu stopped the landlord and said, "Don't hit him, he's still a child. I'll have a student find your pig and bring it back."
The scattered pigs were finally rounded up and brought back.
"Come listen to my lectures every day from now on," Teacher Xu said to Cheng Gong. Cheng Gong, holding back tears, replied, "I can't afford the tuition." "In that case, you can gather firewood for the school as your tuition."
From that point on, Cheng Gong studied tirelessly under Teacher Xu's guidance, and after completing his education, he began teaching Confucian classics to his own students. Later, due to wartime chaos, he fled with his wife and children to Mount Mengyin to live in seclusion, repeatedly declining official invitations from the government to serve as a magistrate.
Later, the idiom "Tending Swine While Attending Lectures" became a classic allusion to diligent study.
Source: *Book of the Later Han*, "Biography of Cheng Gong"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "牧豕听经" came to describe how true dedication can overcome any obstacle.