warning taken from the overturned cart in front(qián chē zhī jiàn)

warning taken from the overturned cart in front

A lesson from the past, Chinese idioms, Pinyin is Qi á NCH ē zh ī Ji à n. It means learning the lesson of a car overturning in front of you. It can be used as a lesson for the future. It comes from Xunzi Chengxiang.

Analysis of Idioms

[synonym] lessons from the past, lessons from the past, lessons from the past, lessons from the past, lessons from the past and lessons from the past

Idiom usage

As subject or object; used to advise. [example] we should learn from other people's successful experience, but also take other people's failure as a reference, in order to guard against the same problems in our future work.

The origin of Idioms

Xunzi Chengxiang: "the car in front has been covered, and the unknown behind is the time to feel it!" In Shuoyuan shanshuo written by Liu Xiang of Han Dynasty, "the front car covers, the back car stops."

Idiom story

Jia Yi was an outstanding statesman and litterateur in the Western Han Dynasty. He was known as a "child prodigy" since he was a child. He was highly valued by Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty when he was 18 years old. During his term of office, Jia Yi devoted himself to writing books and theories, and devoted his whole life talents to his articles. His masterpiece of this period is the political paper "public security policy" which has been circulated throughout the ages. In this article, Jia Yi analyzes the bitter lessons of the treacherous officials in the Qin Dynasty, the implementation of tyranny, and the decline from prosperity, and concludes: "the first car's reply is the last car's lesson. The failure of Qin Dynasty should arouse our vigilance! Otherwise, we will make the mistakes of the Qin Dynasty again. That's too dangerous! " After reading the public security policy, Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty appreciated Jia Yi very much and adopted some suggestions in the paper. Jia Yi is a famous writer in the Western Han Dynasty. When he was young, he was famous for his articles. Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty heard that Jia Yi was proficient in various schools of thought, so he recruited Jia Yi to the court as a doctor. At this time, Jia Yi was only 20 years old. In order to show his loyalty to Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, he wrote many times to state the major policy of governing the country, which was appreciated by the emperor. On one occasion, Jia Yi quoted the historical fact that the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties had ruled for hundreds of years, while the Qin Dynasty had only passed on two generations, persuading Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty to follow the practice of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, improve political measures, and strive to govern the country. He quoted the proverb at that time: the front car is covered, the back car is not covered. It means that if the car in front overturns, the car in the back should be careful. We should take this as a warning to avoid similar mistakes. Then he said: we have seen the ruins of the Qin Dynasty. If we don't pay attention, we will go on the road of destruction. Therefore, we must implement a benevolent government to pacify the people. Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty thought that Jia Yi's opinion was very good, so he took corresponding measures such as light corvee and meager taxes, advocating thrift and rewarding agriculture and mulberry. After he and his son hanjingdi two generations of emperor governance, social and economic development has been great, national strength is gradually strong. In history, the rule of this period was called the rule of Wen Jing.

Chinese PinYin : qián chē zhī jiàn