皮之不存，毛将焉附
pí​zhī​bù​cún​máo​jiāng​yān​fù

without the foundation nothing survives

皮之不存，毛将焉附 皮之不存，毛將焉附 pí​zhī​bù​cún​máo​jiāng​yān​fù
without the foundation nothing survives
Literally "if the hide is gone, where will the hair attach?"; used as a metaphor meaning that if the foundation of a thing is lost, the thing itself cannot exist (from the 左传 zuǒ​zhuàn)