What is the T'ien Tzu Men Sheng, which translates literally as "the students of the emperor"? One would assume that the term referred to the highest ranking mandarins, but it was also, in fact, a folk description of beggars down on their luck.
天子門生？既是皇帝的學生，想必是官拜極品的狀元郎；民間卻又以它為落魄江湖的丐幫代名詞。