树高千丈，叶落归根

Traditional: 樹高千丈，葉落歸根

shù gāo qiān zhàng , yè luò guī gēn

Dictionary entry

fig. a tree may grow a thousand zhang high, but its leaves return to their roots (proverb)

What does 树高千丈，叶落归根 mean?

树高千丈，叶落归根 (shù gāo qiān zhàng , yè luò guī gēn) has the following dictionary meaning.

1fig. a tree may grow a thousand zhang high, but its leaves return to their roots (proverb)

2fig. everything has its ancestral home

3in old age, an expatriate returns home

Character breakdown

Open each character to see its own meanings and vocabulary links.

树shùtree · CL:棵[ke1]高Gāosurname Gao 千qiānthousand 丈zhàngmeasure of length, ten Chinese feet (3.3 m) · to measure 叶xiéto be in harmony 落làto leave out · to be missing 归Guīsurname Gui 根gēnroot · basis

Reviewed examples

No reviewed example dialogues yet. This page only shows verified dictionary data until a context lesson is published.

How to pronounce 树高千丈，叶落归根

树高千丈，叶落归根

shù gāo qiān zhàng , yè luò guī gēn

Tap to hear Standard Mandarin.

Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.