前事不忘，后事之师 in English qian2 shi4 bu4 wang4 , hou4 shi4 zhi1 shi1 Meaning

Meanings

  • don't forget past events, they can guide you in future (idiomatic expression); benefit from past experience

Simplified Characters

前 事 不 忘 ， 后 事 之 师

Traditional Characters

前 事 不 忘 ， 後 事 之 師

Pinyin

qian2 shi4 bu4 wang4 , hou4 shi4 zhi1 shi1

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

前qian2front 事shi4matter 不bu4(negative prefix) 忘wang4to forget ， 后hou4surname Hou 事shi4matter 之zhi1(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) 师shi1surname Shi