There is no tile on the top and no pin on the bottom

There is no tile on the top and no pin on the bottom

Where there is no tile on the top and no pin on the bottom is where there is no tile on the top of the finger and no pin on the bottom of the limb. It is described as having nothing and being extremely poor. It comes from volume 20 of Jingde Zhuandeng Lu by Shi Dao of Song Dynasty.

interpretation

There is no tile on the top of the head, and there is no place for pins under the limbs. To describe having nothing and being extremely poor.

source

Song Shidao's original "Jingde Zhuandeng Lu" Volume 20: "there is no tile on the top and no outstanding cone on the bottom. Where do scholars stand?"

Examples

The poor peasants are not afraid of losing anything. There are a lot of them. They are indeed "～". Why don't they join the peasant association? (Mao Zedong's investigation report on Hunan peasant movement)