DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

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

Full entryShow on map

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.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–3–2–1 · yi1 jin3 huan2 xiang1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

衣錦還鄉 · find source passages ↗ · 衣锦还乡 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

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

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