thinly clad and badly fed

thinly clad and badly fed

It's a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is y ī D ā NSH í B ó, which means life is hard. It's from Mao Zedong's ten requirements for the Kuomintang.

Idiom explanation

Thin clothes and little food. Describe the hardship of life.

Idioms and allusions

"For example, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army and other armies were the most underpaid, with scanty clothing and food, no ammunition, and no medical preparation," Mao Zedong wrote in his ten point request to the Kuomintang

Idiom usage

It refers to living in poverty. For example, in the feudal period, many poor people were poor in food and clothing.