三家村

sānjiācūn

idiom

Meanings

1 three-household village
2 a tiny, out-of-the-way hamlet
3 the middle of nowhere

Characters

Examples

他在三家村里教了一辈子书。

Tā zài sānjiācūn lǐ jiāole yíbèizi shū.

He spent his whole life teaching in a backwater village.

这里虽是三家村，风景却极好。

Zhèlǐ suī shì sānjiācūn, fēngjǐng què jí hǎo.

The place may be nothing but a three-hut hamlet, but the scenery is stunning.

Tips

history

Su Shi's line 永谢十年旧，老死三家村 — 'I'll leave behind a decade's ties and grow old in a three-house village.' Classical shorthand for a remote rural nowhere, still used today for comic effect.

Stroke Order

三 sān

家 jiā

村 cūn