前车覆，后车戒 / 前車覆，後車戒

qián​chē​fù​hòu​chē​jiè

learn from predecessors' mistakes

(idiom) the overturning of the cart in front is a warning for the cart behind; to take a lesson from the failures of those who came before

前 (literal) → 前 · qián · first 车 (literal) → 车/車 · chē · vehicle 覆 (literal) → 复/覆 · fù · to overturn ， (non_chinese) 后 (literal) → 后/後 · hòu · after 车 (literal) → 车/車 · chē · vehicle 戒 (literal) → 戒 · jiè · to warn

Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:58 PM