一窮二白

Chinese
 
one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)
 exhausted; poor two
 
white; empty; blank; bright; clear; plain; pure; gratuitous
trad. (一窮二白) 一 窮 二 白
simp. (一穷二白) 一 穷 二 白

Etymology

Possibly from On the Ten Major Relationships, a speech delivered by Mao Zedong in 1956 on the socialist construction of the People's Republic of China.

我曾經說過，我們一為「窮」，二為「白」。「窮」，就是沒有多少工業，農業也不發達。「白」，就是一張白紙，文化水平、科學水平都不高。 [MSC, trad.][▼ expand/hide]
我曾经说过，我们一为“穷”，二为“白”。“穷”，就是没有多少工业，农业也不发达。“白”，就是一张白纸，文化水平、科学水平都不高。 [MSC, simp.]
From: 1956, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《論十大關係》 (On the Ten Major Relationships), 《毛澤東選集·第五卷》 (Selected Works of Mao Zedong: Volume V) (1977). English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition
Wǒ céngjīng shuō guò, wǒmen yī wéi “qióng”, èr wéi “bái”. “Qióng”, jiùshì méiyǒu duōshao gōngyè, nóngyè yě bù fādá. “Bái”, jiùshì yī zhāng báizhǐ, wénhuà shuǐpíng, kēxué shuǐpíng dōu bù gāo. [Pinyin]
As I have said elsewhere, we are first “poor” and second “blank”. By “poor” I mean we do not have much industry and our agriculture is underdeveloped. By “blank” I mean we are like a blank sheet of paper and our cultural and scientific level is not high.

Pronunciation

Idiom

一窮二白

  1. poor and blank; economically impoverished and culturally backward
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