貧

Material poverty or destitution. The sense extends to a general insufficiency or deficiency (e.g., "scanty" or "meager") when applied to non-material contexts such as language or resources.

Functions as an adjective ("poor"), a noun ("poverty"), or a stative verb ("to be poor" or "to become impoverished").

Contrast with 富 (wealth) regarding material possession. Contrast with 賤 (low status); though often paired as 貧賤, 貧 refers specifically to lack of means (economic state), while 賤 refers to low social rank or being despised (social standing).

Simplified variant: U+8D2B.

Composed of 宀 (roof), 分 (division), and 田 (field), suggesting the partitioning of land or a household characterized by scarcity.

In certain early philosophical contexts, particularly Daoist-leaning texts, this term may denote a moral category—representing the virtue of simplicity or liberation through non-possession—rather than a material tragedy.