Pi Rixiu, a renowned Tang Dynasty writer known for his poetry, prose, and rhapsodies, had gained fame by his twenties—but his left eye drooped, making his face look rather unsightly.
In 866 AD, at age 32, the poet Pi Rixiu was recommended to take the imperial examination in Chang'an. After just ten days lodging at Yongchong Lane in the southeast quarter, his literary fame spread across the capital. Yet because he refused to flatter the powerful officials, he received no recommendations and ultimately failed the exam.
After failing the imperial exams, Pi Rixiu returned to his hometown, compiled over two hundred of his poems and essays into ten volumes, and titled the collection *Pi Zi Wen Sou*. The following year, he traveled to the capital once more to take the exams again.
The chief examiner for this imperial exam was Vice Minister of Rites Zheng Yu. After reading Pi Rixiu's essay, he was so impressed that he summoned Pi to his mansion before the results were even announced. When Pi arrived, Zheng Yu smiled and said, "Your writing is extraordinary—I had to meet the man behind it."
Zheng Yu had assumed that Pi Rixiu, with such brilliant writing, must have a handsome and upright appearance. But upon meeting him, he found that one of his eyes was slightly misaligned, which was somewhat unsettling. So he mockingly asked, "You are so talented—why is one of your eyes so ill-matched?"
Pi Rixiu was annoyed by Zheng Yu's question and immediately retorted, "You must not lose the sight in both of your eyes just because I have only one!"
Zheng Yu was clearly stung by Pi Rixiu's words, so he played a small trick. When the results were posted, although Pi Rixiu passed the imperial exam, he was placed dead last.
Later, Pi Rixiu served as a minor official in Chang'an. Witnessing the court's corruption and sensing the impending chaos, he wrote numerous essays exposing and condemning the dark social realities. Soon after, he joined the Huang Chao rebellion.
"The idiom 'unremarkable appearance' originally meant a person's looks are plain or ugly; now it is sometimes used to describe poor outward appearance."
Source: *Beimeng Suoyan*
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "其貌不扬" came to describe unremarkable appearance originally meant a person's looks are plain or ugly; now it is sometimes poor outward appearance.