前qián人rén栽zāi樹shù，後hòu人rén乘chéng涼liáng

What does 前人栽樹，後人乘涼 (qián rén zāi shù hòu rén chéng liáng) mean?

前人栽樹，後人乘涼 (qián rén zāi shù hòu rén chéng liáng) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "the previous generation plants the trees, the next generation enjoys the shade." In use it means: What one generation builds, the next generation benefits from. The shade you sit in was planted by someone who never sat in it. The best investments outlive the investor. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Wood note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Ox.

Literally: "the previous generation plants the trees, the next generation enjoys the shade."

The reading

The old woman plants a tree she will never see full grown. Her granddaughter sits under it fifty years later and does not know the old woman's name. This is not a tragedy. This is the system working. Every park bench, every road, every library, every open door was put there by someone who is gone. The shade is their signature.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusLooks ahead
• Element木 Wood
• Zodiac tie牛 Year of the Ox

Source folk proverb 民間諺語; Qing-era moral texts

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Home, Family & Roots, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Ox, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Tiger.