| 三 |
sān xún jiǔ shí | lit. to have only nine meals in thirty days (idiom) / fig. (of a family) on the brink of starvation / in dire straits |
| 三 |
Sān | surname San |
| 三 |
sān | three / 3 |
| 旬 |
xún | ten days / ten years / full period |
| 九 |
jiǔ | nine / 9 |
| 食 |
shí | to eat / food / animal feed / eclipse |
| 食 |
sì | to feed (a person or animal) |