树 高 千 丈，叶 落 归 根

shù gāo qiān zhàng , yè luò guī gēndictionary entry

fig. a tree may grow a thousand zhang high, but its leaves return to their roots (proverb) / fig. everything has its ancestral home / in old age, an expatriate returns home

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-ae35bbcb588fd2db. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

樹高千丈，葉落歸根 树高千丈，叶落归根 [shu4 gao1 qian1 zhang4 , ye4 luo4 gui1 gen1] /fig. a tree may grow a thousand zhang high, but its leaves return to their roots (proverb)/fig. everything has its ancestral home/in old age, an expatriate returns home/

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Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

Other forms in these source records: 樹高千丈，葉落歸根

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

树高千丈叶落归根

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.