衣 锦 还 乡

yī jǐn huán xiāngdictionary entry

lit. to come back to one's hometown in silken robes (idiom) / fig. to return home after making good / Taiwan pr. [yì jǐn huán xiāng]

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-d6b9f4f2163fd2ff. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

衣錦還鄉 衣锦还乡 [yi1 jin3 huan2 xiang1] /lit. to come back to one's hometown in silken robes (idiom)/fig. to return home after making good/Taiwan pr. [yi4 jin3 huan2 xiang1]/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

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

Character information

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

Other forms in these source records: 衣錦還鄉

衣
yī
clothes / CL:件[jiàn] / Kangxi radical 145
yì
to dress / to wear / to put on (clothes)
锦
jǐn
brocade / embroidered work / bright
还
hái
still / still in progress / still more / yet / even more / in addition / fairly / passably (good) / as early as / even / also / else
huán
to pay back / to return
Huán
surname Huan
乡
xiāng
country or countryside / native place / home village or town / township (PRC administrative unit)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.