笑问客从何处来

笑問客從何處來
xiào wèn kè cóng hé chù lái
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 smiling, they ask where the guest has come from
  2. 2 the bittersweet moment of returning home a stranger

Examples

Duōnián wèi guī, cūnkǒu de xiǎohái xiàowènkècónghéchùlái.
Not having returned in years, the village children smiled and asked where the visitor was from.
Zhèzhǒng xiàowènkècónghéchùlái de gǎnjué, hǎiwài yóu zǐ dōu dǒng.
Every overseas Chinese understands that feeling of 'being asked as a stranger where one is from.'

Tips

history
From He Zhizhang 《回乡》: 儿童相见相识何处 — 'the children meet me but don't recognize me, and smiling ask where the guest has come from.' He Zhizhang came home after more than 50 years in the capital.
usage
here is chù (place). This is the full second line; see also the shorter 何处. Almost always comes after 儿童相见相识.

Stroke Order

xiào
wèn
cóng
chǔ
lái