📖 Meaning
The feeling of a fox turning its head toward its birth hill as it dies. It is a metaphor for never forgetting one's origins, and especially for the deep yearning for one's homeland felt in one's later years.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from two classical Chinese texts. In 'Shejiang' (涉江), one of the Nine Declarations (九章) by Qu Yuan of the Chu state during the Warring States period, the poet writes that birds fly back to their homeland and that a fox, when dying, always turns its head toward the hill where it was born. The Book of Rites (礼记·檀弓上) likewise records this behavior of the fox as a sign of benevolence (仁). Together these sources gave rise to the expression, symbolizing an unbroken attachment to one's roots and homeland.
💡 Example Usage
旅居海外数十载，老人心中始终怀着首丘之情，渴望有朝一日能落叶归根。
Having lived abroad for decades, the old man always harbored a longing for his homeland, hoping one day to return to his roots.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 首丘之情
- Pinyin: shǒu qiū zhī qíng
- Literal Translation: head, hill, of, feeling
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4