十室九空
shí shì jiǔ kōng
nine homes in ten are empty; a place laid waste
Character by character
十shí
ten
ten
室shì
houses
houses
九jiǔ
nine
nine
空kōng
empty
empty
Example
战乱过后，这一带十室九空，田地都荒废了。
After the fighting nine houses in ten round here stood empty, and the fields went to waste.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
An old phrase for places emptied by war, plague or famine. Today it is also used, less grimly, of villages left by people who have gone to work in the cities: 年轻人都进城打工了，村里十室九空.
Learn this in Lesson 159 · HSK 7–9: 伍连德与1910年鼠疫 (Wu Lien-teh and the plague of 1910)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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