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衣錦還鄉

简衣锦还乡 · 繁衣錦還鄉

Mandarin · pinyin yī jǐn huán xiāng

lit. to come back to one's hometown in silken robes (idiom)
fig. to return home after making good
Taiwan pr. yì jǐn huán xiāng

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Characters in this entry

衣: yī · clothes, clothing; cover, skin; Kangxi radical 145
錦: Look up this written character
還: hái · still, yet, also, besides
鄉: Look up this written character
锦: jǐn · brocade, tapestry; embroidered
还: hái · still, yet, also, besides
乡: xiāng · country; rural; village

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–3–2–1 · yi1 jin3 huan2 xiang1

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji3 gam2 waan4 hoeng1

Cantonese word readings for 衣錦還鄉. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

ji1 gam2 waan4 hoeng1

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to return home a success; to return home in glory

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack