身无长物 — “To have nothing but oneself”
身无长物 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to have nothing but oneself”. To be extremely poor or unencumbered by material possessions. Literally, “Body without superfluous things”.
Frequency
身无长物 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 身shēn
- 无wú
- 长cháng
- 物wù
身无长物 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 身无长物
他一生清贫，身无长物，却活得自在洒脱。
He lived a simple and impoverished life, having no superfluous possessions, yet he lived freely and unrestrained.
Origin and Story of 身无长物
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Gong lived a simple and frugal life. When he accompanied his father from Kuaiji to the capital Jiankang, his friend Wang Chen paid him a visit. They conversed joyfully.
Wang Chen noticed that the bamboo mat Wang Gong was sitting on was very good, so Wang Gong promptly gave it to him and used a straw mat instead. Upon learning this, Wang Chen felt apologetic.
Wang Gong then said: "You do not understand me, sir; I, Gong, am a person with no superfluous possessions."
Idioms Related to 身无长物
Synonyms of 身无长物
More idioms starting with 身
- shēn身bù不yóu由zhǔ主beyond one's control
- shēn身bù不yóu由jǐ己beyond one's control
- shēn身bù不yù遇shí时born at an unfortunate time
- shēn身lín临qí其jìng境To experience something firsthand or immersively
- shēn身jià价bèi倍zēng增greatly enhance one's personal worth
- shēn身jià价bǎi百bèi倍one's social status or value rises significantly
- shēn身tǐ体lì力xíng行practice what you preach
- shēn身tǐ体fà发fū肤one's entire physical self
- shēn身zuò做shēn身dāng当take full responsibility for one's actions
- shēn身xiān先shì士zhòng众lead by example
- shēn身xiān先shì士zú卒lead by example
- shēn身xiān先zhāo朝lù露pass away swiftly like morning dew
Questions about 身无长物
- What does 身无长物 mean?
- 身无长物 (shēn wú cháng wù) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to have nothing but oneself”.
- How do you pronounce 身无长物?
- 身无长物 is pronounced shēn wú cháng wù in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 身无长物 literally mean?
- Literally, 身无长物 means “Body without superfluous things”. It is used to mean “to have nothing but oneself”.
- Where does 身无长物 come from?
- 身无长物 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 身无长物?
- 除自身外再没有多余的东西。形容贫穷。