望门投止 — “To seek shelter or lodging indiscriminately out of dire necessity”

望门投止 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to seek shelter or lodging indiscriminately out of dire necessity”. To desperately look for refuge without the luxury of choice. Literally, “Look at a door and seek lodging”.

Frequency

望门投止 Pronunciation and Pinyin

望门投止 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
望	wàng	11	look, hope, visit
门	mén	3	door, gate, entrance
投	tóu	7	throw, cast, or invest
止	zhǐ	4	to stop

Example Sentence with 望门投止

在逃亡的路上，他只能望门投止，希望能找到一个安全的落脚点。

On his escape route, he could only seek shelter indiscriminately, hoping to find a safe place to rest.

Origin and Story of 望门投止

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was an upright man named Zhang Jian, styled Yuanjie, from Gaoping, Shanyang (present-day Yanzhou, Shandong). In the 8th year of Yanxi (165 AD), Zhang Jian was appointed as the Supervising Official of Shanyang East.

At that time, a powerful eunuch named Hou Lan, who wielded great influence, hailed from Fangdong, Shanyang. Hou Lan's relatives, relying on his power, committed numerous atrocities against the local people in Fangdong. Zhang Jian wrote a letter exposing Hou Lan and his mother.

However, as Hou Lan was constantly by the emperor's side, he intercepted the letter before it reached the emperor. This created an enmity between Hou Lan and Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian had a fellow villager named Zhu Bing, a sycophantic flatterer whom Zhang Jian always despised. Upon learning that Zhang Jian had reported Hou Lan, Zhu Bing, eager to please Hou Lan, secretly informed the court, accusing Zhang Jian of forming private factions and plotting rebellion.

Seeing this, Hou Lan immediately ordered Zhang Jian's arrest. Facing the approaching officials, Zhang Jian had to flee in haste. He desperately sought refuge, "望门投止" (wang men tou zhi), at any house he came across. Because the local people all knew of Zhang Jian's integrity and good reputation, they risked danger to shelter him.