During the Five Dynasties period, there was a man named Sang Weihan who was exceptionally ugly—short and stout with a face so long and wide it was hard to compliment. He often looked in the mirror and joked to himself, "A seven-foot body is not as impressive as a one-foot face." Despite his appearance, he felt no inferiority and declared his ambition to pass the imperial exams and become a high-ranking minister.
Like most scholars of his time, Sang Weihan set out on the narrow path of the imperial examinations. When he first took the jinshi exam, the chief examiner frowned at his surname, "Sang," which sounded like "mourning"—a terribly unlucky omen. Someone kindly advised him, "There are many roads to officialdom; why force this one?" Sang Weihan replied firmly, "A surname is given at birth and cannot be changed. I will not abandon my ambition over this." He wrote a piece titled "The Sun Rises Over Fusang" to encourage himself, then forged a large iron inkstone and showed it to all, declaring, "If this iron inkstone wears through, only then will I give up the jinshi path." Moved by his resolve, everyone marveled. Heaven rewards the steadfast, and he eventually passed the exam. Later, Shi Jingtang recruited him as a secretary in the Heyang military command, and Sang Weihan remained loyal to him ever after.
When Emperor Li Congke of the Tang Dynasty ordered Shi Jingtang to relocate from Taiyuan to Tianping Army, Shi refused the decree and decided to ally with the Khitan, seeking aid from Yelü Deguang. Meanwhile, Zhao Degong, the Prince of Beiping and commander of all circuits, also sent envoys to request Khitan support for his own usurpation. Assessing the situation, Yelü Deguang judged Zhao Degong's forces stronger and planned to install him instead. Upon hearing this, Shi Jingtang dispatched Sang Weihan to the Khitan camp. Sang argued the strategic stakes, but Yelü Deguang remained undecided, saying, "Have you seen a rat caught? If not careful, it can still bite your hand. Zhao Degong is no weakling—he's a formidable opponent." Sang Weihan replied, "What is there to fear from Zhao Degong? Your great nation already has him by the throat—how can he still bite?" Still hesitant, Yelü Deguang made excuses, but Sang Weihan knelt before his tent from dawn to dusk, weeping bitterly, as determined as when he took the imperial exams. Moved at last, Yelü Deguang agreed to install Shi Jingtang.
Later, the idiom "grinding through an iron inkstone" came to describe deep dedication to study or mastery of writing.
Source: *New History of the Five Dynasties*, "Biography of Sang Weihan"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "铁砚磨穿" came to describe deep dedication to study or mastery of writing.