When the young Mencius came home from his studies, he told his mother that he had made no progress. She took a knife and cut through the cloth on her loom. “Your neglect of study is like my cutting this cloth.” Mencius was afraid. He studied day and night without rest and became a famous scholar.
The Three Character Classic retells the story in six characters: “When the son did not study, she broke off the work at her loom.” (子不学，断机杼)