Idiom Explanation:
Not even a single penny, describing a person who is poor to the extreme.
Pronunciation:
不名一钱
bù míng yī qián
Origin:
西汉·司马迁《史记·邓通传》：“长公主赐邓通，吏辄随没入之，一簪不得著身。于是长公主乃令假衣食，竟不得名一钱，寄死人家。”
Story:
During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Han had a favorite minister named Deng Tong. In fact, he had no great talent and was favored because he was willing to do anything as long as he could make Emperor Wen happy.
One day, a fortune-teller came to the palace and the Emperor asked him to tell Deng Tong’s fortune. The fortune-teller looked at Deng Tong carefully for a while and said, “He will die of poverty and hunger in the future.” When Emperor Wen of Han heard this, he found it funny and said, “How is that possible? I can make him very rich, how can he die of poverty and hunger? It must be a miscalculation!” The fortune-teller said, “This is what I have calculated, but whether it will be fulfilled or not, we will only know later.”
At that time, because Deng Tong was well liked by Emperor Wen of Han, he received many rewards and had a lot of money. Later, Emperor Wen ordered to give Deng Tong a copper mountain in Yan Dao, Shu County (now Xingying, Sichuan), and allowed him to cast money by himself, which made Deng Tong even richer. The “Deng’s money” he minted was circulated in the whole country. Under the sky, it can be said that no one was richer than him except the emperor.
The Emperor once had a sore and pus, Deng Tong used his mouth to suck out the pus from the sore for the Emperor many times. When the prince came to the palace to ask about the Emperor’s condition, the Emperor asked the prince to suck the pus for himself as well, and the prince dared not stop sucking, but his face was very ugly. Later, the prince learned that Deng usually sucked the pus for Emperor Wen, he was very ashamed and thus resented Deng to death. He thought, “When I become the emperor, I will fix him up.
After the death of Emperor Wen, the crown prince became the emperor, and he was Emperor Jing of Han. Emperor Jing soon removed Deng Tong’s official position. Deng Tong was idle at home not long after, someone complained that he violated the copper smuggled to the outside world to cast money, the officials a torture, there is indeed the case, so the case was decided. Then, Emperor Jing confiscated all of Deng Tong’s property. Deng Tong’s family fortune was all gone, and he also owed a lot of debts. Emperor Jing’s sister gave Deng Tong some money, officials also confiscated all, even a hairpin on the head is not left. Finally, Deng Tong was so poor that he had no money, and he lived in someone else’s house until he died.
