江山易改，本性难移

Traditional form:

江山易改，本性難移

Pinyin (reading):

jiāngshānyìgǎi,běnxìngnányí

Definitions:

• it is easier to change mountains and rivers than to alter one's character (idiom)
• you can't change who you are
• Can the leopard change his spots?

Characters:

• 江 - large river; the Yangtze; surname
• 山 - mountain, hill, peak
• 易 - to change; to exchange, to trade; simple, easy
• 改 - to alter, to change, to improve, to remodel
• 本 - root, origin, source; basis
• 性 - sex, nature, character; suffix converting a verb to an adjective
• 难 - hard, difficult, arduous; unable
• 移 - to shift, to move about, to drift

Traditional characters:

• 江 - large river; the Yangtze; surname
• 山 - mountain, hill, peak
• 易 - to change; to exchange, to trade; simple, easy
• 改 - to alter, to change, to improve, to remodel
• 本 - root, origin, source; basis
• 性 - sex, nature, character; suffix converting a verb to an adjective
• 難 - hard, difficult, arduous; unable
• 移 - to shift, to move about, to drift