During the Han Dynasty, in the Szechwan city of Chengtu, there lived a man named Szu-ma Hsiang-ju, who had been a minor official first under the Emperor Ching and later under King Liang Hsiao. Thereafter he led a quiet private life, but due to the impoverished state of his household, the days passed by uneasily.
Being an intimate friend of the Lin-chiung County magistrate Wang Chi, Szu-ma Hsiang-ju would often travel to Lin-chiung and stay in the courier's station there. With hopes of helping to raise Szu-ma Hsiang-ju's social position, Wang Chi went every day to visit him there.
This story eventually reached the ears of Linchiung County's wealthy personage Cho Wang-sun. "The magistrate has an honored visitor, why don't we give a banquet and invite them to join us?" he thought.
On the day that Szu-ma Hsiang-ju and Wang Chi went to join in the feast, the house was full to the doors with guests. As the others admired the new arrival's refined countenance, Wang Chi persuaded Szu-ma Hsiang-ju to play upon the zither.
Cho Wang-sun had at this time a daughter named Wen-chun who had recently lost her husband. Szu-ma Hsiang-ju knew that she loved music, so he purposely added to his song a note of adoration, but as the others heard this they assumed he was simply showing respect for Wang Chi.
Szu-ma Hsiang-ju drank, talked, and laughed throughout the banquet in a manner both leisurely and elegant. As Wen chun secretly watched him, she could not help but falling in love with this man. As the entertainment drew to a close, Szu-ma Hsiang-ju convinced Wen-chun's maid servant with a small bribe to inform her mistress of the intentions of his heart.
One day, Wen-chun came to Szu-ma Hsiang-ju's place of residence, determined to spend the rest of her days in his company. Szu-ma Hsiang-ju took Wen-chun back to Chengtu, but besides the four walls of his house there was only emptiness, not a thing.
Therefore his only resource was to return to Linchiung County, depending upon the assistance of his friends to open a small inn.
This story is recorded in the History of the Han Dynasty: later people used the descriptions of the impoverished state of Szu-ma Hsiang-ju's household as the basis for the expressions "the family has only standing walls" and "the family has merely four walls.
