📖 Meaning
Describes a state of poverty where one's dwelling is old and dilapidated. Rain leaks in from above and wind blows in from the sides, leaving the house with no proper shelter from the elements.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from a stele inscription by the Tang dynasty scholar Han Yu (韩愈), one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song. In his text for a sea deity temple stele, he wrote that the building was exposed to rain from above and wind from the sides, with nothing to serve as a proper cover or barrier. The phrase vividly portrays a structure so weathered and broken that it can barely protect its occupants.
💡 Example Usage
他家境贫寒，所居之屋上雨旁风，难以遮蔽。
He lived in poverty, his dwelling so dilapidated that rain and wind came freely through it, offering little shelter.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 上雨旁风
- Pinyin: shàng yǔ páng fēng
- Literal Translation: above, rain, beside, wind
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4