







蓬头历齿 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “describes an elderly person with dishevelled hair and sparse or missing teeth, indicative of an aged and unkempt appearance”. Literally, “Dishevelled hair and sparse teeth”.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu issued an edict, requesting Wang Ba, who had resigned from office during Wang Mang's reign, to resume his official duties. Wang Ba firmly refused.
He was good friends with Linghu Zibo, who was from the same prefecture. Linghu Zibo's son later became a Gongcao (an official title) and went to visit Wang Ba.
Wang Ba saw his own son, who, like himself, was engaged in farm work and looked dishevelled and had sparse teeth. He felt ashamed and guilty, thinking he had let his son down by not pursuing an official career.

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Open the tool →蓬头历齿 (péng tóu lì chǐ) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “describes an elderly person with dishevelled hair and sparse or missing teeth, indicative of an aged and unkempt appearance”.
蓬头历齿 is pronounced péng tóu lì chǐ in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 蓬头历齿 means “Dishevelled hair and sparse teeth”. It is used to mean “describes an elderly person with dishevelled hair and sparse or missing teeth, indicative of an aged and unkempt appearance”.
蓬头历齿 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
头发蓬乱,牙齿稀疏。形容人衰老的容貌。