DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

前車之覆，後車之鑒

简前车之覆，后车之鉴 · 繁前車之覆，後車之鑒

Mandarin · pinyin qián chē zhī fù , hòu chē zhī jiàn

lit. the cart in front overturns, a warning to the following cart (idiom); fig. draw lesson from the failure of one's predecessor
learn from past mistake
once bitten twice shy

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

前: qián · in front, forward; preceding
車: chē · cart, vehicle; carry in a cart; Kangxi radical 159
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
覆: fù · cover; tip over; return; reply
後: hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
鑒: Look up this written character
车: chē · cart, vehicle; carry in cart
后: hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after
鉴: jiàn · mirror, looking glass; reflect

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Connected dictionary

8character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

前車之覆，後車之鑒 · find source passages ↗ · 前车之覆，后车之鉴 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗