赶 前 不 赶 后

gǎn qián bù gǎn hòudictionary entry

(saying) better to act early than rush later

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-cbc235221a1c4560. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

趕前不趕後赶前不赶后 [gan3 qian2 bu4 gan3 hou4] /(saying) better to act early than rush later/

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: 趕前不趕後

赶
gǎn
to overtake / to catch up with / to hurry / to rush / to try to catch (the bus etc) / to drive (cattle etc) forward / to drive (sb) away / to avail oneself of (an opportunity) / until / by (a certain time)
前
qián
front / forward / ahead / first / top (followed by a number) / future / ago / before / BC (e.g. 前293年) / former / formerly
不
bù
no / not so / (bound form) not / un-
赶
gǎn
to overtake / to catch up with / to hurry / to rush / to try to catch (the bus etc) / to drive (cattle etc) forward / to drive (sb) away / to avail oneself of (an opportunity) / until / by (a certain time)
后
hòu
empress / queen / (archaic) monarch / ruler / back / behind / rear / afterwards / after / later / post-
Hòu
surname Hou

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.