回乡偶书回鄉偶書
shǎo少xiǎo小chī离jiā lǎo家老dà大huí回，
xiāng yīn乡音mó无gǎi改bìn máo鬓毛shuāi衰。
ér tóng儿童xiāng jiàn相见bù不xiāng shí相识，
xiào笑wèn问kè客cóng hé从何chǔ处lái来。
Line by line
- 少小离家老大回，少小離家老大回， I left home young and return home old;
- 乡音无改鬓毛衰。鄉音無改鬢毛衰。 my accent unchanged, my temples thinned.
- 儿童相见不相识，兒童相見不相識， The children see me but do not know me —
- 笑问客从何处来。笑問客從何處來。 smiling, they ask where the stranger is from.
The poet & the story
He Zhizhang (659–744) left home young, served at court for five decades, and returned to his Zhejiang village at eighty-five. He was famous for his free spirit — he called himself the “Madman of Siming” and was the first established poet to champion the young Li Bai, dubbing him the “Banished Immortal.”
Interpretation
He left home small and returns old; his accent is unchanged but his hair has thinned. The children of the village see him and don’t know him — smiling, they ask the visitor where he comes from. The innocent question lands like a blow: in his own birthplace, he has become a guest. Anyone who has returned after long years abroad knows this poem by heart.