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长江后浪推前浪

Cháng Jiāng hòu làng tuī qián làngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. the rear waves of the Yangtze River drive on those before (idiom) / fig. the new is constantly replacing the old / each new generation excels the previous / (of things) to be constantly evolving
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-6249d27b2b193a59. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

長江後浪推前浪 长江后浪推前浪 [Chang2 Jiang1 hou4 lang4 tui1 qian2 lang4] /lit. the rear waves of the Yangtze River drive on those before (idiom)/fig. the new is constantly replacing the old/each new generation excels the previous/(of things) to be constantly evolving/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 長江後浪推前浪

  • 长
    cháng

    long / (bound form) length / (bound form) strong point / forte / (bound form) to be good at / (literary) surplus / spare (Taiwan pr. [zhàng])

    zhǎng

    chief / head / elder / to grow / to develop / to increase / to enhance

  • 江
    Jiāng

    surname Jiang / (bound form) Yangtze River / (bound form) Jiangsu Province (abbr. for 江蘇|江苏[Jiāng sū])

  • 后
    hòu

    empress / queen / (archaic) monarch / ruler / back / behind / rear / afterwards / after / later / post-

    Hòu

    surname Hou

  • 浪
    làng

    wave / breaker / unrestrained / dissipated / to stroll / to ramble

  • 推
    tuī

    to push / to cut / to refuse / to reject / to decline / to shirk (responsibility) / to put off / to delay / to push forward / to nominate / to elect / massage

  • 前
    qián

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

  • 浪
    làng

    wave / breaker / unrestrained / dissipated / to stroll / to ramble

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.