民不聊生 mín bù liáo shēng

DEFINITIONS

  1. The people have no way to make a living (idiom, from Record of the Grand Historian 史記|史记[Shi3 ji4])
  2. no way of getting by

CHARACTERS

民 mín
HSK 4
people, subjects, citizens
不 bù
HSK 1
no, not; un-; negative prefix
聊 liáo
HSK 3
somewhat, slightly, at least
生 shēng
HSK 1
life, living, lifetime; birth