What does the saying that the rich cannot live in a big house and the poor cannot live in a long distance mean?
The first half of the sentence? The rich cannot live in a big house? The literal explanation is that the rich cannot live in a big house. It may sound strange to you, but actually the room here refers to the "bedroom". The old man thinks that no matter how rich he is, he cannot live in a bedroom that is too big.
Because the bedroom is too spacious, the whole house looks a bit empty. The bedroom is originally a place for resting. If it is too big, it will make people feel empty when walking into the bedroom. Especially in winter, being alone in the bedroom can feel a bit desolate.
The older generation believes in Feng Shui. They believe that if the house is too big, the person’s yang energy will not be able to fill the entire house. Living in such a house is not only bad for your health, but also affects the owner's fortune. Therefore, everyone thinks that no matter how rich you are, your house should not be too big, as long as it is enough to live in.
The second half of the sentence? A long way to go if you are poor? The literal meaning is that if a person is very poor, then he should not go a long way. Because transportation was very inconvenient in the past, poor people would think of going out to make a living and find a job.
But after I got outside, I discovered that it is not easy to make money outside. Life outside is even harder than at home. If you get sick outside, no one knows and no one can help. If you accidentally get into trouble, there won't even be anyone to help you.
If you have money, you can still find someone to help you deal with it, but if you don’t have money, the situation will be very serious and bad. Many people encountered these things in the past, so the old people specially summarized these sayings to teach young people.
The older generation has summarized many common sayings based on their own life experiences. By putting these experiences into easy-to-remember proverbs, they can be passed down to future generations and avoid detours.