CHENGYU
亡羊补牢(wáng yáng bǔ láo)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- formal
- Source:
- 《战国策·楚策四》
MEANING
- Literal
- to mend the pen after the sheep are lost
- Figurative meaning
- better late than never; to fix things even after damage is done
ORIGIN STORY
A Warring States advisor told the king of Chu: after sheep are lost, mending the pen is still not too late — a state should repair its mistakes even after suffering harm.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“better late than never”
EXAMPLES
虽然出了问题，但亡羊补牢，为时不晚。Suīrán chū le wèntí, dàn wáng yáng bǔ láo, wéi shí bù wǎn.HSK6
Something went wrong, but mending the pen is still not too late.
现在改正错误，也算是亡羊补牢。Xiànzài gǎizhèng cuòwù, yě suàn shì wáng yáng bǔ láo.HSK6
Correcting the mistake now still counts as mending the pen.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: It approves of late repair — do not use it to excuse the original loss.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-14
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01