Yuan Mu Jing Zhen

Sima Guang was a famous historian， politician and litterateur in the Song Dynasty. When he was young， he thought himself inferior to his brothers in the memory and intelligence， so he spent more time in studying. Every time when the lecturer finished the lesson， his brothers all went out to play， but Sima Guang chose to stay at home to review the courses until he could remember every word of the text.

With his diligence， he became a scholar-minister in the court. However， even though he had already taken an important position in the government， he became more diligent in studying， craving more knowledge and wisdom that could match his position. In his apartment， there were only furniture and books without any precious decorations.

One of the most interesting things was a cylinder wooden pillow placed on his plain-looking bed.

Sima Guang chose that particular pillow for a certain reason. He usually read books till the midnight. When he was too tired to continue， he could lie down， rested his head on the cylinder pillow and slept for a while. If he slept on an ordinary pillow， he could easily sleep till the dawn. But a cylinder pillow could roll out of his headsreach if he moved a bit. That could wake him up and urge him to continue his reading. Therefore， Sima Guang called his cylinder pillow the “alarm pillow”.endprint