叶落归根

Traditional form:

葉落歸根

Pinyin (reading):

yèluòguīgēn

Definitions:

• a falling leaf returns to the roots (idiom); everything has its ancestral home
• In old age, an expatriate longs to return home.

Characters:

• 叶 - leaf, page; surname
• 落 - to fall, to drop; surplus, net income
• 归 - to return, to go back; to return to, to revert
• 根 - root, basis, foundation

Traditional characters:

• 葉 - leaf, page; surname
• 落 - to fall, to drop; surplus, net income
• 歸 - to return, to go back; to return to, to revert
• 根 - root, basis, foundation