Chéngqiánbìhòu shì Zhōngguó gǔdài de zhì guó zhī dào.
'Punish past errors to prevent future ones' is an ancient Chinese principle of governance.
Tips
usage
惩 is a classical/literary character that rarely appears alone in modern Chinese. It is most common in compounds: 惩罚 (chéngfá, to punish), 严惩 (yánchéng, to punish severely), 奖惩 (jiǎngchéng, rewards and punishments), and the idiom 惩前毖后.
Bottom heart radical anchors the meaning in intent: punishment in classical Chinese is a matter of the heart — chastening the offender's mind so they reform. Same psychological framing as 思 thought, 念 to miss, 想 to think — all bottom-心 characters.
Top 征 supplies the sound — zhēng drifting to chéng through historical sound change. 征 means "to march out and subdue" (彳 walking + 正 straight), so it also lends semantic muscle: punishment as a corrective expedition. Same kernel appears in 政 government, 整 to arrange.
