There is no tile on the top and no pin on the bottom
Where there is no tile on the top and no pin on the bottom is where there is no tile on the top of the finger and no pin on the bottom of the limb. It is described as having nothing and being extremely poor. It comes from volume 20 of Jingde Zhuandeng Lu by Shi Dao of Song Dynasty.
interpretation
There is no tile on the top of the head, and there is no place for pins under the limbs. To describe having nothing and being extremely poor.
source
Song Shidao's original "Jingde Zhuandeng Lu" Volume 20: "there is no tile on the top and no outstanding cone on the bottom. Where do scholars stand?"
Examples
The poor peasants are not afraid of losing anything. There are a lot of them. They are indeed "~". Why don't they join the peasant association? (Mao Zedong's investigation report on Hunan peasant movement)
Chinese PinYin : shàng wú piàn wǎ,xià wú chā zhēn zhī dì
There is no tile on the top and no pin on the bottom
the music lingered in the air long after the performance ended. yú yīn niǎo niǎo
try to shorten the neck of a crane and lengthen that of an owl -- to go against nature. duàn hè xù fú
be proud and pleased with oneself. yáng yáng zì dé