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.]

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见兔而顾犬，未为晚也；亡羊而补牢，未为迟也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhanguo 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

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wángyángbǔláo
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄤˊ ㄧㄤˊ ㄅㄨˇ ㄌㄠˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wángyángbǔláo
    • Wade–Giles: wang²-yang²-pu³-lao²
    • Yale: wáng-yáng-bǔ-láu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wangyangbuulau
    • Palladius: ванъянбулао (vanʺjanbulao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɑŋ³⁵ jɑŋ³⁵ pu²¹⁴⁻²¹ lɑʊ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mong⁴ joeng⁴ bou² lou⁴
    • Yale: mòhng yèuhng bóu lòuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mong⁴ joeng⁴ bou² lou⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: mong⁴ yêng⁴ bou² lou⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɔːŋ²¹ jœːŋ²¹ pou̯³⁵ lou̯²¹/

Idiom

亡羊補牢

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