📖 Meaning
Describes a person who is completely illiterate, unable to recognize even the simplest written character. It emphasizes total ignorance of reading and writing, often used to highlight someone's lack of formal education.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the 'Old Book of Tang' (《旧唐书》), in the biography of Zhang Hongjing, a Tang dynasty military governor. Zhang once scornfully told his soldiers, 'In times of peace, your ability to draw a two-stone bow is worth less than knowing even one simple character.' His arrogant remark, which belittled martial skill in favor of literacy, later gave rise to this idiom. There is scholarly debate over whether the original text read '識一個字' (know one character) and was miscopied as '識一丁字', but the idiom in its current form has been used for centuries to denote complete illiteracy.
💡 Example Usage
祖父自幼家贫，不识一丁，却供出了三个大学生。
My grandfather grew up in poverty and was completely illiterate, yet he managed to put three children through university.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 不识一丁
- Pinyin: bù shí yī dīng
- Literal Translation: not, recognize, one, character
- Category: Knowledge
- Characters: 4