先忧后乐

xiān yōu hòu lè

to put the public’s worries first and one’s own pleasure last

Character by character

先xiān
first

忧yōu
worry

后hòu
after

乐lè
joy

他当了三十年村长，处处先忧后乐，自己家却一直住在老房子里。

He was village head for thirty years and always put others first, while his own family stayed in the old house.

Tone: positive (praise).

A four-character digest of 范仲淹’s 先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐. Formal: speeches, editorials, school mottoes; in casual talk it sounds pompous.

Learn this in Lesson 229 · HSK 9+: 课本里的古文 (Classical prose from the school textbook)

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.