Tā yìshēng qīngpín, què pǐnxíng gāojié, cóngbù xiàng quánguì dītóu.
He was poor all his life, yet his conduct stayed noble and pure, and he never bowed to the powerful.
Tips
culture
Poems use the pine, the bamboo, the plum blossom, the chrysanthemum and the lotus to stand for it, because each stays green, flowers in the cold or grows clean out of mud. Said of character, never of a clean room.