鑒往知來 jiàn wǎng zhī lái

learn from the past to guide the future

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. to observe the past to foresee the future (idiom, taken loosely from Book of Songs); studying ancient wisdom gives insight into what is to come

Characters

Character Meaning
鑒 jiàn
to inspect; to view; to reflect
往 wǎng HSK 2
towards; to go (in a direction); to
知 zhī HSK 2
to know; to be aware
來 lái
to come; to arrive; next