前事不忘，後事之師 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
後 hòu behind, rear, after; descendents
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
師 shī teacher, master, specialist; multitude, troops