To be completely illiterate; not to know a single character.
Era:
Ancient
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Story:
The idiom '不识一丁' (bù shí yī dīng) traces its origin back to the Tang Dynasty.
Zhang Hongjing, a military governor of Youzhou, had two subordinates named Wei Yong and Zhang Zonghou. They frequently socialized and drank together. During that period, the realm enjoyed peace, and there were no skirmishes along the borders, leaving the soldiers with ample leisure time.
They would often express their sentiments, saying, 'In such peaceful times, the pursuit of martial arts is not as beneficial as the study of literature. Even the ability to draw a two-stone bow is not as valuable as knowing a single character.'
Over time, the idiom evolved, likely influenced by the visual and phonetic resemblance between the character '个' (ge) and '丁' (ding), eventually coming to signify complete illiteracy or the inability to recognize even the simplest character.