What does 亡羊补牢 mean?

亡羊补牢 (wáng yáng bǔ láo) literally means 'lose a sheep, mend the pen.' 亡 means 'to lose' and 牢 is a pen for animals. It means fixing a problem as soon as something goes wrong, so you don't lose any more.

Where does 亡羊补牢 come from?

It comes from the Strategies of the Warring States (Zhanguo ce), Strategies of Chu, part 4. After Qin captured the Chu capital, the minister Zhuang Xin told King Xiang: 'It is not too late to call the hound once you see the hare, nor too late to mend the pen once a sheep is lost.'

What is the English equivalent of 亡羊补牢?

The closest is 'better late than never.' Be careful with 'shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted': it sounds similar, but it means the fix came too late to help, while 亡羊补牢 says it is still worth doing.

What is the moral of Mending the Pen After the Sheep Are Lost?

When you make a mistake, correct it straight away. Fixing a problem late is far better than never fixing it, because the losses stop growing.

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Chinese idiom · 声匠改编 · 4:12

Mending the Pen After the Sheep Are Lost

A wolf takes a sheep and the shepherd won't fix the fence. An old minister tells this to a king who lost his capital. The story behind wang yang bu lao.

Narrator

King Xiang of Chu

Zhuang Xin

The Shepherd

The Neighbour

The Wolf

0:000:00

Other languages · 2 languages

🇨🇳 中文 🇺🇸 English

About this story

Mending the Pen After the Sheep Are Lost tells the story behind the Chinese idiom 亡羊补牢 (wáng yáng bǔ láo), literally 'lose the sheep, mend the pen.' It comes from the Strategies of the Warring States (Zhanguo ce), in the Strategies of Chu: after King Xiang of Chu ignores his minister Zhuang Xin and loses his capital to Qin, Zhuang Xin tells him that it is not too late to call the hound once you see the hare, nor to mend the pen once a sheep is lost. The original has only that saying; the well-known shepherd story was told later to explain it. This version lets Zhuang Xin tell the shepherd story to the king himself.

What it teaches

Making a mistake isn't the end of the world; refusing to fix it is. Deal with a problem as soon as you spot it, and a small loss won't turn into a big one.

Suits

Ages 6 and up

Tips for telling it

The wolf turns up twice, smug the first time and furious the second. Play up the difference.
Pause when the shepherd says he won't bother fixing the pen and ask: would you fix it?
Compare it with the English saying about shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, which says almost the opposite.

Questions people ask

What does 亡羊补牢 mean?: 亡羊补牢 (wáng yáng bǔ láo) literally means 'lose a sheep, mend the pen.' 亡 means 'to lose' and 牢 is a pen for animals. It means fixing a problem as soon as something goes wrong, so you don't lose any more.
Where does 亡羊补牢 come from?: It comes from the Strategies of the Warring States (Zhanguo ce), Strategies of Chu, part 4. After Qin captured the Chu capital, the minister Zhuang Xin told King Xiang: 'It is not too late to call the hound once you see the hare, nor too late to mend the pen once a sheep is lost.'
What is the English equivalent of 亡羊补牢?: The closest is 'better late than never.' Be careful with 'shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted': it sounds similar, but it means the fix came too late to help, while 亡羊补牢 says it is still worth doing.
What is the moral of Mending the Pen After the Sheep Are Lost?: When you make a mistake, correct it straight away. Fixing a problem late is far better than never fixing it, because the losses stop growing.