亡羊補牢

Chinese

	to die; to perish	caprid	to repair; to patch; to mend to repair; to patch; to mend; to make up for; to fill (a vacancy); to supplement	firm; fast
trad. (亡羊補牢)	亡	羊	補	牢
simp. (亡羊补牢)	亡	羊	补	牢
Literally: “to repair the pen after sheep is lost”.

Etymology

From Zhan Guo Ce:

見兔而顧犬，未為晚也；亡羊而補牢，未為遲也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.][▼ expand/hide]
见兔而顾犬，未为晚也；亡羊而补牢，未为迟也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhan Guo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

Jiàn tù ér gù quǎn, wèi wéi wǎn yě; wáng yáng ér bǔ láo, wèi wéi chí yě. [Pinyin]

Sending the hunting dogs outside only when one sees the rabbits is not considered too late, and repairing a sheep pen only after a sheep is lost is not considered tardy.

This is also the origin for the idiom 見兔顧犬／见兔顾犬.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wángyángbǔláo

(Zhuyin): ㄨㄤˊ ㄧㄤˊ ㄅㄨˇ ㄌㄠˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): mong⁴ joeng⁴ bou² lou⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: wángyángbǔláo
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄤˊ ㄧㄤˊ ㄅㄨˇ ㄌㄠˊ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wangyangbuulau
  - IPA ^(key): /u̯ɑŋ³⁵ i̯ɑŋ³⁵ pu²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ lɑʊ̯³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: mong⁴ joeng⁴ bou² lou⁴
  - Yale: mòhng yèuhng bóu lòuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mong⁴ joeng⁴ bou² lou⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: mong⁴ yêng⁴ bou² lou⁴
  - IPA ^(key): /mɔːŋ²¹ jœːŋ²¹ pou̯³⁵ lou̯²¹/

Idiom

亡羊補牢

to close the stable door after the horse has bolted; to act belatedly

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