狐死首丘

húsǐ-shǒuqiū
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 a dying fox turns its head toward its home hill
  2. 2 longing for home, especially in old age

Examples

HSK 7-9
Tā niánjì dà le, húsǐ-shǒuqiū, xiǎng huí lǎojiā dùguò wǎnnián.
Grown old, he longs for home like the dying fox turning to its hill, and wants to spend his last years in his hometown.
HSK 7-9
Húsǐ-shǒuqiū de qínghuái ràng tā zhōngjiū huídào le gùxiāng.
The fox-turning-to-the-hill feeling eventually brought him back to his birthplace.

Tips

history
From 屈原 《九章·涉江》 and 《礼记·檀弓》: tradition held that a fox, no matter how far it roamed, turned its head toward the hill where its den lay as it died. Confucian commentary called this , a sign of not forgetting one's roots.

Stroke Order

shǒu
qiū