📖 Meaning
A mere trifle of savings or wealth. 'Dan' (儋) was a unit equal to what one man could carry on a shoulder pole, and 'shi' (石) a dry measure of grain; together they denote a small quantity. The idiom describes someone whose stored-up assets amount to very little.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the 'Book of Han: Biography of Yang Xiong' (《汉书·扬雄传上》), describing the Western Han scholar Yang Xiong. Though his family property was worth no more than ten pieces of gold and he lacked even a dan or shi of stored grain, he remained peaceful and content, devoted to learning rather than profit. His poverty-stricken yet serene demeanor made him a model of scholarly detachment from material wealth. The expression thus evokes the image of a learned person of modest means.
💡 Example Usage
他一生清廉，家中无儋石之储，却从未向人诉苦。
Honest and upright all his life, he never had even a dan-shi's worth of savings at home, yet he never complained to anyone.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 儋石之储
- Pinyin: dàn shí zhī chǔ
- Literal Translation: dan, shi, 's, store
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4