Jīngguò duōnián piāobó, tā zhōngyú huídào gùxiāng rù tǔ wéi ān.
After years of wandering, he finally returned home to be buried in his native soil.
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history
Recorded in Ming-dynasty 《二刻拍案惊奇》卷三十一: 从来说入土为安 — reflecting the Confucian belief that the deceased only find peace once properly interred, which is why delayed burials traditionally troubled the family.
culture
Grounds the Han Chinese preference for burial over cremation (historically) and the importance of returning a body to the ancestral homeland. Used both literally at funerals and figuratively to mean 'put a matter finally to rest'.
