Idiom Explanation:
A wife who ate wine dregs and grain skins together in times of poverty. The term refers to a wife who shared the hardships of poverty, and is now also used to refer to one’s wife in a modest way.
Pronunciation:
糟糠之妻
zāo kāng zhī qī
Origin book:
《后汉书·宋弘传》：臣闻贫贱之知不可忘，糟糠之妻不下堂。
Origin Story:
During the Han Dynasty, it happened that Wang Mang chased Liu Xiu. At that time, Liu Xiu was single-handedly pursued by Wang Mang, running from north to south day and night. When the two sides were fighting, Liu Xiu had a general named Song Hong who was unfortunately wounded. When they fled to the territory of Rao Yang, Song Hong really can not walk, and the chasing troops behind and tight. Liu Xiu had no choice but to entrust Song Hong to a family named Zheng Zhuang to recuperate from his injuries.
The family surnamed Zheng was very sympathetic to Liu Xiu, and very kind, treating Song Hong like family, serving tea, good food and drink, very considerate care, especially the Zheng family daughter, although not very pretty, but decent, smart and generous, like family members to treat Song Hong, to Song Hong decoction soup and medicine, hush and warmth. Song Hong was very touched, and the two of them grew fond of each other over time. After Song Hong’s injury was healed, he became a couple.
Later, Song Hong followed Liu Xiu to fight in the north and south, and finally helped Liu Xiu to win the world. After Liu Xiu became the emperor, everything went well, but only one thing made him feel relieved: his sister lost her husband at an early age, the whole day sullen, intend to marry her to Song Hong, but I do not know whether she agreed. One day, Liu Xiu and his sister discussed the courtiers together. The sister said, “Song Gong (referring to Song Hong) is so powerful and virtuous that the ministers are unmatched.” Liu Xiu was very happy to hear that his sister had already been impressed by Song Hong’s elegance and uprightness, but Song Hong already had a wife, so Emperor Guangwu could not give her a marriage.
On this day, Liu Xiu and Song Hong chatting, pretending to unintentionally try to say: “Proverb says that noble friends are easy, rich wives are easy, human feelings are?” It means: as the saying goes, when you are noble, you forget your friendship, when you are rich, you want to take another wife, is this a common human feeling? When Song Hong heard this, he knew that the emperor had something to say, so he replied cleverly: I have heard that one should not forget one’s close friends who are poor and lowly, and one should not abandon one’s wife who is in trouble together.
After hearing Song Hong’s reply, Liu Xiu knew that he would not abandon his wife and marry Princess Huyang instead. Liu Xiu was deeply touched by Song Hong’s character and not only did not blame him, but also valued him more. From then on, the story of “The wife who eats cereal peel” became a beautiful story, which is passed down to this day.
