承前启后
chéng qián qǐ hòu
to carry on the past and open the way for the future
Character by character
承chéng
carry on
carry on
前qián
former
former
启qǐ
open
open
后hòu
later
later
Example
这一代学者承前启后，既整理了前人的研究，又培养了一大批年轻人。
This generation of scholars carried the past forward and opened the way for the future: they put their predecessors’ work in order and trained a great many young people.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Used of people, generations, periods and works that link one era to the next, often as 承前启后、继往开来 (9-21) in speeches and anniversary letters. Compare 承上启下 (5-2), which is about a place in a structure: a paragraph or a middle level that links what comes above and below.
Learn this in Lesson 255 · HSK 9+: 贺信与公函 (Congratulatory letters and official letters)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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