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乡音未改鬓毛衰

鄉音未改鬢毛衰
xiāngyīnwèigǎibìnmáocuī
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 my hometown accent unchanged, but my temple hair has thinned
  2. 2 (fig.) a life lived away — the core is still home, but the body has aged
  3. 3 (lit.) native-place sound not changed, temple hair thinned

Examples

他离乡五十年，回来时正是乡音未改鬓毛衰。
Tā líxiāng wǔshí nián, huílái shí zhèng shì xiāngyīn wèi gǎi bìnmáo cuī.
He had been away for fifty years — coming back, it was truly 'accent unchanged, but temple hair thinned.'
老华侨探亲，孩子们笑他乡音未改鬓毛衰。
Lǎo huáqiáo tànqīn, háizimen xiào tā xiāngyīn wèi gǎi bìnmáo cuī.
The old overseas Chinese returned to visit — the children laughed that his 'accent was unchanged but his temples had gone gray.'

Tips

history
From 贺知章《回乡偶书》(He Zhizhang, Tang, c. 744), written when the poet returned home to Yongxing at age ~86 after fifty years at the imperial court: 少小离家老大回，乡音未改鬓毛衰。儿童相见不相识，笑问客从何处来 (Left home young, return old; my hometown accent unchanged, but temple hair thinned. The children meet me but don't know me — smiling, they ask where the stranger is from). One of the most beloved homecoming poems in the tradition.
usage
鬓毛衰 is traditionally read bìn máo cuī (old pronunciation for rhyme with 回/来); in modern Mandarin many teachers now accept shuāi for 衰. 鬓 specifically = hair at the temples (where graying shows first). Quote whenever someone returns after long absence.

Stroke Order

乡 xiāng
音 yīn
未 wèi
改 gǎi
鬓 bìn
毛 máo
衰 shuāi