前赴后继 (qián fù hòu jì)

Character breakdown

• 前 (qián) · 9 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 歬 represents the sound, and 刂 represents the meaning. Based on the original meaning "cut", now written as 剪. The current meaning "in front" is a phonetic loan.

• 赴 (fù) · 9 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 走 represents the meaning and 卜 represents the sound.

• 后 (Hòu) · 6 strokes

  Depicts a queen mother (母) giving birth to her heir (𠫓). Based on the original meaning "heir to the throne". The meaning later expanded to "ruler", "successor", and "after".

• 继 (jì) · 10 strokes

  Simplified form of 繼. Originally written as 㡭, which depicts a continuous series of silk threads (丝) joined together. The 纟 (silk) component was later added to clarify the meaning.

Usage

一代代科学家前赴后继，为科学献身。

to advance dauntlessly in wave upon wave (idiom)

yí dài dài kē xué jiā qián fù hòu jì ， wèi kē xué xiàn shēn 。