📖 Meaning
Literally 'to return with white hair and empty hands.' It describes someone who has grown old without achieving anything, especially after years of study. The idiom conveys the sorrow of wasted effort and unfulfilled ambition in old age.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the 'Book of the Later Han' (后汉书), in the 'Chronicle of Emperor Xian' (献帝纪). It describes elderly Confucian scholars over sixty who left their hometowns seeking food and resources, unable to devote themselves to learning. The text laments that they entered school as children yet returned in old age with nothing accomplished. The saying highlights the tragedy of a lifetime of study yielding no success.
💡 Example Usage
少年若不努力求学，只怕到头来白首空归，悔之晚矣。
If one does not study diligently in youth, one may end up returning empty-handed in old age—too late for regrets.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 白首空归
- Pinyin: bái shǒu kōng guī
- Literal Translation: white head, empty, return
- Category: Learning
- Characters: 4