無顏見江東父老 wú yán jiàn jiāng dōng fù lǎo

DEFINITIONS

  1. (idiom) to be unable to return to one's hometown due to the shame of failure (originally referred to Xiang Yu 項羽|项羽[Xiang4 Yu3], who chose not to retreat to Jiangdong after his humiliating defeat)

CHARACTERS

無 wú negative, no, not; lack, have no
顏 yán face, facial appearance
見 jiàn see, observe, behold; perceive
江 jiāng
HSK 4
large river; yangzi; surname
東 dōng east, eastern, eastward
父 fù
HSK 4
father; KangXi radical 88
老 lǎo
HSK 1
old, aged; experienced