亡羊补牢 (wáng yáng bǔ láo)

Character breakdown

• 亡 (wáng) · 3 strokes

  Depicts the tip of a knife blade (刀). Similar in origin to 方. Based on the original meaning "tip of a blade", now written as 芒. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

• 羊 (Yáng) · 6 strokes

  Pictograph of the head of a sheep with horns.

• 补 (bǔ) · 7 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 衤 represents the meaning and 卜 represents the sound. Simplified form of 補.

• 牢 (láo) · 7 strokes

  Depicts an animal, such as a cow (牛), trapped around an animal's fence (宀).

Usage

虽然出了问题，但现在亡羊补牢还来得及。

lit. to mend the pen after sheep are lost (idiom); fig. to act belatedly; better late than never; to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted

suī rán chū le wèn tí ， dàn xiàn zài wáng yáng bǔ láo hái lái de jí 。