そうせきちんりゅう

stubborn as a mule refusing to admit defeat

Sun Ch'u planned to live the life of a hermit, where he would gargle漱 using water flowing流 in streams and use rocks石 as his pillow枕. However, he expressed this intention backwards by accident, saying he would gargle rocks and lay his head upon the river. When his friend pointed out the error, Sun Ch'u refused to admit the mistake, pretending to mean that he would lay his head to the river to wash his ears and gargle rocks to polish his teeth Also 枕流漱石