前人栽樹，後人乘涼

to enjoy the benefits of the hard work of one's predecessors. (idiom)

front / forward / ahead / first / top (followed by a number) / future / ago / before / BC (e.g. 前293年) / former / formerly

predecessor / forebears / the person facing you

person; people / CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4]

to grow / to plant / to insert / to force on sb / to fall head first

to plant; to grow / to insert; to erect (e.g. a bus stop sign) / to impose sth on sb / to stumble; to fall down

tree / CL:棵[ke1] / to cultivate / to set up

back / behind / rear / afterwards / after / later / post-

later generation

surname Cheng

to ride / to mount / to make use of / to avail oneself of / to take advantage of / to multiply (math.) / Buddhist sect or creed

four horse military chariot (archaic) / four (archaic) / generic term for history books

old variant of 乘[cheng2]

(archaic) four horse military chariot / (archaic) four / generic term for history books

to cool off in the shade

the five Liang of the Sixteen Kingdoms, namely: Former Liang 前涼|前凉 (314-376), Later Liang 後涼|后凉 (386-403), Northern Liang 北涼|北凉 (398-439), Southern Liang 南涼|南凉[Nan2 Liang2] (397-414), Western Liang 西涼|西凉 (400-421)

cool / cold

to let sth cool down