先见之明 — “The ability to foresee and understand future events”
先见之明 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “the ability to foresee and understand future events”. Foresight or prescience. Literally, “Clarity of prior insight”.
Frequency
先见之明 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 先xiān
- 见jiàn
- 之zhī
- 明míng
先见之明 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 先见之明
他凭借先见之明，提前投资了那家新兴科技公司，现在收益颇丰
With his foresight, he invested in that emerging technology company early, and now he has reaped considerable profits.
Origin and Story of 先见之明
During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Yang Xiu, a chief clerk under Cao Cao, actively offered strategies to Cao Zhi in his bid for the position of crown prince. This caused Cao Cao much worry.
After Cao Zhi's failure, Cao Cao found an excuse to execute Yang Xiu. Later, Cao Cao visited Yang Xiu's father, Yang Biao, to express condolences.
Yang Biao remarked,
Idioms Related to 先见之明
Synonyms of 先见之明
Antonyms of 先见之明
More idioms starting with 先
- xiān先xià下shǒu手wéi为qiáng强strike first to gain the upper hand
- xiān先xià下shǒu手wéi为qiáng强，，hòu后xià下shǒu手zāo遭yāng殃First to act gains advantage
- xiān先wèi为zhī之róng容Introduce or publicize someone beforehand
- xiān先shì事lǜ虑shì事plan and think ahead
- xiān先rén人hòu后jǐ己put others before oneself
- xiān先rén人duó夺rén人Preemptively win over others
- xiān先rù入wéi为zhǔ主First impressions dominate judgment
- xiān先rù入zhī之jiàn见preconceived notion
- xiān先gōng公hòu后sī私prioritize public over private interest
- xiān先wù务zhī之jí急most urgent task
- xiān先jí即zhì制rén人gain the initiative and control the situation
- xiān先fā发zhì制rén人Strike first to gain control
Questions about 先见之明
- What does 先见之明 mean?
- 先见之明 (xiān jiàn zhī míng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “the ability to foresee and understand future events”.
- How do you pronounce 先见之明?
- 先见之明 is pronounced xiān jiàn zhī míng in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 先见之明 literally mean?
- Literally, 先见之明 means “Clarity of prior insight”. It is used to mean “the ability to foresee and understand future events”.
- Where does 先见之明 come from?
- 先见之明 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 先见之明?
- 明·指眼力。事先看清问题的能力。指对事物发展的预见性。