埋骨何须桑梓地

埋骨何須桑梓地

máigǔhéxūsāngzǐdì

phrase

Meanings

1 why must one's bones be buried in one's native land?
2 (fig.) a patriot leaves home for the world — don't let homesickness hold you back
3 (lit.) bury — bones — why — must — mulberry-catalpa — land (native place)

Characters

catalpa (桑梓 = native place)

地

dì

land

Examples

少年立志出国读书，埋骨何须桑梓地。

Shàonián lìzhì chūguó dúshū, mái gǔ héxū sāngzǐ dì.

As a youth he was determined to study abroad — 'why must one's bones lie in the native land?'

毛泽东少年诗埋骨何须桑梓地，人生无处不青山。

Máo Zédōng shàonián shī mái gǔ héxū sāngzǐ dì, rénshēng wú chù bù qīngshān.

The young Mao's poem: 'why must bones lie in native soil — in life, there are green hills everywhere.'

Tips

history

From 毛泽东《七绝·改西乡隆盛诗赠父亲》 (Mao Zedong, 1910, adapted from a Japanese Meiji-era verse traditionally attributed to 西乡隆盛 Saigō Takamori, presented to his father on leaving home for school): 孩儿立志出乡关，学不成名誓不还。埋骨何须桑梓地，人生无处不青山 (This child resolves to leave the village gate; without accomplishing his studies, vowed not to return. Why must his bones lie in the mulberry-catalpa soil? — in life, green hills are everywhere). Written at age 17; now one of the most famous farewells-to-home poems of modern China.

usage

桑梓 = classical 'native place' (桑 mulberry + 梓 catalpa, the two trees elders planted by their homes per 《诗经·小雅》). Canonically paired with 人生无处不青山 ('life — nowhere lacks green hills'). 何须 = 'why must / need?'

Stroke Order

埋 mái

骨 gǔ

何 hé

须 xū

桑 sāng

梓 zǐ

地 dì