sell one 's children

sell one 's children

Selling men and women is a Chinese idiom. Pinyin is m à in á NY à n à, which means selling one's own children because of life. It comes from stone nodding: Lu Mengxian seeks his wife on the river.

The origin of Idioms

Ming Dynasty's natural fool Shi nodou Lu Mengxian seeks his wife on the river: "besides, in such a barren age, that family does not sell men and women to survive."

Idiom usage

In the old society, the common people sold men and women or barely made a living.