📖 Meaning
Describes a place so deserted and quiet that one could catch sparrows at the doorstep, indicating very few visitors. It is a variant of the more common idiom '门可罗雀'. The imagery conveys a scene of extreme emptiness and neglect at an entrance that was once busy.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase traces back to the Song dynasty writer Wu Zeng's work 'Nenggai Zhai Manlu' (能改斋漫录), in a section discussing how expressions are inherited over time. The text records that the Northern Song official Ding Wei (丁晋公, posthumously styled) had already written in a poem: 'A roof that can shelter crows betokens high office; a door at which one can net sparrows befits a declining old man.' This shows the expression for a doorway so deserted that sparrows could be caught there was already in poetic use before it crystallized into a set idiom. Qing dynasty playwright Li Yu (李渔) later employed it in his work 'Shen Luan Jiao' (慎鸾交) to depict a scene stripped of proper decorum and bereft of guests.
💡 Example Usage
自他退休之后，家中便门堪罗雀，再无人来访。
After he retired, his home became so deserted that one could catch sparrows at the door, and visitors ceased to come.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 门堪罗雀
- Pinyin: mén kān luó què
- Literal Translation: door, can, net, sparrow
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4