良药苦口。 (Liángyào kǔ kǒu / 'good medicine bitter mouth') 三思而后行。 (Sānsī ér hòu xíng / 'three thoughts and after act')įrom 'The Analects' (《论语》), it's like: 'Look before you leap.'ħ. Punishing those who come before stops those who come after from doing something.įrom 'Sacrificial Odes of Zhou' (《周颂》) in the Confucian classic 'Book of Songs' (《诗经》), it means: to criticize former mistakes firmly to prevent them happening again or: learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones.Ħ. 惩前毖后。 (Chéngqiánbìhòu / 'punish before prevent after') 离娄上》), it means: nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards or: without rules, we're nothing but savages.ĥ.Without standards, no boundaries are set.įrom the works of Mencius and his students (《孟子无规矩不成方圆。(Wú guīju bù chéng fāngyuán / 'no standards not become perimeter') As distance tests a horse's strength, time reveals a person's character.įrom the anonymous work 'Fight Gratitude' (《争报恩》) of the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368), when Mongol horsemen ruled China, this saying tells us that a long period of testing is needed to understand someone's nature and capabilities.Ĥ. 路遥知马力，日久见人心。(Lùyáo zhī mǎlì, rìjiǔ jiàn rénxīn / 'road distant know horse strength, days old see man heart') 颜渊》), it means a word spoken can never be taken back, or a promise must be kept.ģ.

A team of horses will struggle to chase down a spoken word.įrom 'The Analects of Yan Yuan' (《论语一言既出，驷马难追。(Yìyán jì chū, sìmǎ nán zhuī / 'a word already produced, team-of-4-horses difficult chase') From Lu Xun's 'Hot Wind' (鲁迅《热风题记》), it's like, 'Actions speak louder than words.'Ģ.

From the analects