懲前毖後 chéng qián bì hòu

DEFINITIONS

  1. lit. to punish those before to prevent those after (idiom); to criticize former mistakes firmly to prevent them happening again

CHARACTERS

懲 chéng punish, reprimand; warn
前 qián
HSK 1
in front, forward; preceding
毖 bì guard against, take care; caution
後 hòu behind, rear, after; descendents