前事不忘，后事之师 qián shì bù wàng ， hòu shì zhī shī

DEFINITIONS

  1. don't forget past events, they can guide you in future (idiom); benefit from past experience

CHARACTERS

前 qián
HSK 1
in front, forward; preceding
事 shì
HSK 2
affair, matter, business; to serve; accident, incident
不 bù
HSK 1
no, not; un-; negative prefix
忘 wàng
HSK 3
forget; neglect; miss, omit
后 hòu
HSK 1
queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after
事 shì
HSK 2
affair, matter, business; to serve; accident, incident
之 zhī
HSK 4
marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
师 shī
HSK 1
teacher, master, specialist