have white hair and a ruddy complexion

have white hair and a ruddy complexion

Tongyan Hefa, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is t ó ngy á NH è f à, which means crane feathers like snow-white hair, children like ruddy complexion; describes the elderly look good. It's from sleepwalking.

Idiom explanation

Yan: face.

The origin of Idioms

Tian Ying, Tang Dynasty, said in his "sleepwalking Luofu" that "he said he was neither a God nor an immortal, and his hair was as old as a child."

Idiom usage

Combined; as object and attribute; with commendatory meaning. (Hua Tuo) his face is like a child, and his hair is like a crane. (Chapter 15 of romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong in Ming Dynasty)