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.
這故事載於「漢書」，後人把司馬相如家境貧困、空無一物的情況，引伸為「家徒壁立」或「家徒四壁」。