前车之鉴

to learn a lesson from the mistakes of one's predecessor (idiom)

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

surname Che

car / vehicle / CL:輛|辆[liang4] / machine / to shape with a lathe / Kangxi radical 159

war chariot (archaic) / rook (in Chinese chess) / rook (in chess)

(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) / him / her / it

variant of 鑑|鉴[jian4]

old variant of 鑒|鉴[jian4]

bronze mirror (used in ancient times) / to reflect / to mirror / sth that serves as a warning or a lesson / to examine / to scrutinize

variant of 鑑|鉴[jian4]