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Chinese

later; later on; afterwards; people with less experience; younger generation
 
reside
up; on; on top
up; on; on top; upon; first; previous or last; upper; higher; above; previous; to climb; to go into; to go up
 
trad. (後來居上) 後來
simp. (后来居上) 后来
Literally: “late-comer is positioned above”.

Etymology

From a sarcastic comment by Ji An (汲黯) to the Emperor Wu of Han:

陛下群臣後來居上
陛下群臣后来居上
From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE
Bìxià yòng qúnchén rú jīxīn ěr, hòu lái zhě jū shàng.
The way Your Majesty manages your ministers is like nothing but keeping firewood in a pile: it is the late-comers that get the top position.

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2 2/2 1/1 2/2 2/2
Initial () (33) (33) (37) (28) (25)
Final () (137) (137) (41) (22) (105)
Tone (調) Rising (X) Departing (H) Level (Ø) Level (Ø) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Open Open Open Open
Division () I I I III III
Fanqie
Baxter huwX huwH loj kjo dzyangH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ɦəuX/ /ɦəuH/ /lʌi/ /kɨʌ/ /d͡ʑɨɐŋH/
Pan
Wuyun
/ɦəuX/ /ɦəuH/ /ləi/ /kiɔ/ /d͡ʑiɐŋH/
Shao
Rongfen
/ɣəuX/ /ɣəuH/ /lɒi/ /kiɔ/ /d͡ʑiɑŋH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ɦəwX/ /ɦəwH/ /ləj/ /kɨə̆/ /d͡ʑɨaŋH/
Li
Rong
/ɣuX/ /ɣuH/ /lᴀi/ /kiɔ/ /ʑiaŋH/
Wang
Li
/ɣəuX/ /ɣəuH/ /lɒi/ /kĭo/ /ʑĭaŋH/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/ɣə̯uX/ /ɣə̯uH/ /lɑ̆i/ /ki̯wo/ /ʑi̯aŋH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
hòu hòu lái shàng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
hau6 hau6 loi4 geoi1 soeng6

Idiom

後來居上

  1. the up-and-coming youngster outstrips the older generation; the pupil surpasses the master