惩前毖后 in English cheng2 qian2 bi4 hou4 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) to punish those before to prevent those after (idiomatic expression); to criticize former mistakes firmly to prevent them happening again

Simplified Characters

惩 前 毖 后

Traditional Characters

懲 前 毖 後

Pinyin

cheng2 qian2 bi4 hou4

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

惩cheng2to punish 前qian2front 毖bi4careful 后hou4surname Hou