而后人哀之

而後人哀之

érhòurénāizhī

phrase

Meanings

1 and later people mourn them
2 (fig.) [but if one does not learn, then] those who come after will only mourn again
3 (lit.) and later-people lament-them

Characters

而

ér

and / so (conjunction)

person (后人 = later generations)

them (object pronoun)

Examples

老师讲历史时引用而后人哀之，提醒我们记取教训。

Lǎoshī jiǎng lìshǐ shí yǐnyòng ér hòurén āi zhī, tíxǐng wǒmen jìqǔ jiàoxùn.

Teaching history, the teacher quoted 'and later people mourn them,' reminding us to remember the lesson.

如果不从过去汲取经验，而后人哀之而不鉴之，悲剧会重演。

Rúguǒ bù cóng guòqù jíqǔ jīngyàn, ér hòurén āi zhī ér bù jiàn zhī, bēijù huì chóngyǎn.

If we don't learn from the past — 'later people mourn them without taking warning' — tragedy will repeat.

Tips

history

From 杜牧《阿房宫赋》(Du Mu, Late Tang, 825), a fu-prose piece on the fall of the Qin: 秦人不暇自哀，而后人哀之；后人哀之而不鉴之，亦使后人而复哀后人也 (The Qin had no time to mourn themselves, so later ages mourn them; if those later people only mourn without taking warning, they too will make still-later people mourn them). Du Mu's circular warning — mourning without learning guarantees repetition.

usage

Inseparable from the fuller sequence 秦人不暇自哀 / 而后人哀之 / 后人哀之而不鉴之 / 亦使后人而复哀后人也. 哀 = to mourn, lament. 之 = them (object pronoun). A favored quote in Chinese historiography and reform debates.

Stroke Order

而 ér

后 hòu

人 rén

哀 āi

之 zhī