📖 Meaning
Literally means going from door to door with an alms bowl begging for food or donations. It is used metaphorically to describe soliciting help, favors, or financial support from everyone one encounters, regardless of the closeness of the relationship. The term carries a tone of self-degradation and desperate pleading.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Qing dynasty novel 'Ernü Yingxiong Zhuan' (Tales of Heroic Sons and Daughters) by Wen Kang, Chapter 12. In the original passage, a character warns against borrowing an excuse to go begging among relatives and friends regardless of the depth of the friendship, wagging one's tail and pleading for pity. The imagery evokes a Buddhist monk walking from house to house with an alms bowl, which became a metaphor for indiscriminate and shameless solicitation of aid.
💡 Example Usage
他宁愿沿门讬钵度日，也不愿回头求助于那些势利的亲戚。
He would rather go begging from door to door for a living than turn back and seek help from those snobbish relatives.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 沿门讬钵
- Pinyin: yán mén tuō bō
- Literal Translation: along, door, beg, alms bowl
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4