磨杵成针

mó chǔ chéng zhēn

to grind an iron bar down to a fine needle (idiom); fig. to persevere in a difficult task

to study diligently

磨

mó

to rub

杵

chǔ

pestle

成

chéng

short name for Chengdu 成都[Cheng2 du1]

针

zhēn

variant of 針|针[zhen1], needle