Meaning of 十室九空
十室九空 means nine out of ten houses are empty; describing the desolation and mass displacement caused by natural disasters or wars. Pronounced shí shì jiǔ kōng.
- nine out of ten houses are empty; describing the desolation and mass displacement caused by natural disasters or wars
Definitions & Examples
Zhàn战
zhēng争
guò过
hòu后
，
zhè这
piàn片
tǔ土
dì地
shí十
shì室
jiǔ九
kōng空
，
huāng荒
liáng凉
bù不
kān堪
。
After the war, nine out of ten houses in this land stood empty, utterly desolate.
Nà那
chǎng场
dà大
dì地
zhèn震
shǐ使
de得
zhěng整
gè个
cūn村
zhuāng庄
shí十
shì室
jiǔ九
kōng空
，
xìng幸
cún存
zhě者
men们
fēn纷
fēn纷
qiān迁
wǎng往
wài外
dì地
。
That massive earthquake left the entire village nearly deserted, with survivors fleeing to other regions.
Gǔ古
dài代
shī诗
cí词
zhōng中
cháng常
yòng用
"
shí十
shì室
jiǔ九
kōng空
"
lái来
xíng形
róng容
zhàn战
luàn乱
hòu后
de的
qī凄
liáng凉
jǐng景
xiàng象
。
Ancient poetry often used the phrase 'nine out of ten houses empty' to describe the tragic scenes following war.
Jīng经
guò过
lián连
nián年
zāi灾
huāng荒
，
xī昔
rì日
fán繁
huá华
de的
xiàn县
chéng城
rú如
jīn今
yǐ已
shì是
shí十
shì室
jiǔ九
kōng空
。
After years of famine, the once-prosperous county town now stands almost completely deserted.