小懲大誡 xiǎo chéng dà jiè

DEFINITIONS

  1. lit. to punish a little to prevent a lot (idiom); to criticize former mistakes firmly to prevent large scale repetition

CHARACTERS

小 xiǎo
HSK 1
small, tiny, insignificant
懲 chéng punish, reprimand; warn
大 dà
HSK 1
big, great, vast, large, high
誡 jiè warn, admonish; warning