儿童相见不相识

兒童相見不相識

értóng xiāngjiàn bù xiāngshí

quotation

Meanings

1 the children, on seeing me, do not recognize me
2 He Zhizhang's line about returning home after decades - the villages are the same but the kids are strangers

Characters

(grammatical target marker)

Examples

HSK 7-9

他出国三十年才回村，儿童相见不相识，心里一阵心酸。

Tā chūguó sānshí nián cái huí cūn, értóng xiāngjiàn bù xiāngshí, xīnlǐ yīzhèn xīnsuān.

He only returned to the village after thirty years abroad - the kids didn't know him, and his heart ached.

HSK 7-9

老同学回母校，儿童相见不相识，笑问客从何处来。

Lǎo tóngxué huí mǔxiào, értóng xiāngjiàn bù xiāngshí, xiào wèn kè cóng héchù lái.

The old alum returned to his school - the children didn't know him, and smilingly asked where the visitor had come from.

Tips

history

From 回乡偶书·其一 by 贺知章 (He Zhizhang, Tang dynasty): 少小离家老大回，乡音无改鬓毛衰。儿童相见不相识，笑问客从何处来. He Zhizhang wrote it after retiring to his hometown at age 86 after a 50+ year absence. Canonical Chinese textbook poem about homecoming.

usage

相 here is the grammatical marker 'toward one another / a target' (same as in 相信, 相爱), not 'appearance.'

Stroke Order

儿 ér

童 tóng

相 xiāng

见 jiàn

不 bù

识 shí