so poor as to have no room to stick an awl on

so poor as to have no room to stick an awl on

Poor without a cone, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is p í NW ú L ì Zhu ī, which means that you are so poor that you don't even have a place as small as an awl. It comes from the book of Han Shi Huo Zhi.

The origin of Idioms

Ban Gu's "Hanshu shihuozhi" in the Eastern Han Dynasty said: "the rich are in tianlianqian, while the poor are in a poor place."

Idiom usage

In Pu Songling's strange tales from a lonely studio Xue weiniang in the Qing Dynasty, it is said that "the surname of Gafu is Yin, the name of his son is rich, and he is good at learning." In the Song Dynasty, Chen Liang's "on the ancient drinking · sang Weihan" said: "in the past, Emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty tried to start a business. He advocated justice in a rash way and had no place to be The fourth poem of Xue Dongpo's emigration, written by Jin and Yuan Haowen, is: "it's more than enough to set a good cone, and I will punish and create it all my life." In Tang Dynasty, Wei Yingwu wrote a poem in reply to an old friend '

Analysis of Idioms

Synonym: penniless, destitute, destitute

Idioms and allusions

The first story is "Xunzi · Fei Shier Zi Pian" ～ 00 ～ Ruofu's general plan, Qi Yan Xing, a unified class, and the group of the world's heroes, and told to the ancient, teach and even Shun, between the Ordovician, on the mat, gather the article of the sage king, the Buddha and the common customs of the world, six speakers can't enter, twelve sons can't kiss. There is no place to be famous, but princes can't compete with them. In the position of a doctor, a monarch can't be an animal alone, and a country can't be tolerated alone. It's better to be famous than princes. They are not willing to be ministers, and they are not allowed to be saints. So is Zhongni Zigong. In a world, all things are rich, which can support the people and benefit the world at the same time. All the people who have access to the world are obedient to the law. The six Sayers stand and rest, and the twelve sons move and change, so the sage is the one who has the right to be the emperor of Shun and Yu. Story 2 "records of food and goods" in Volume 24 of the book of the Han Dynasty ~ 37 ~ in ancient times, the tax revenue of the people was nothing more than one, and they wanted to change things together; the tax revenue of the people was only three days, and their strength was enough. The people's wealth is enough to provide for the aged, to fulfill filial piety, to pay taxes on matters, and to be loved by their wives. In Qin Dynasty, it was not the case. Shang Yang's method was used to change the emperor's system. In addition to the minefields, the people had to sell and buy them. The rich had thousands of acres of farmland, while the poor had to live in a poor place. The place where the awl is placed. It refers to a very small place. He was so poor that he didn't even have a place as small as an awl. It can also be used as "setting cone, setting cone" and so on.