长江后浪推前浪

[wrbt]

Yet another case of me understanding all the parts but obviously missing the meaning, what exactly does 长江后浪推前浪 mean?

It's from an essay in the Chinese Voices Project located here: http://clavisinica.com/CVP/yangtze.html

That essay is classified as lower intermediate... I'd be curious if anyone else here who considers self at least in that competency range has problems with comprehension when listening to that mp3 without reading the text. I had trouble understanding it, that's for sure.

Thanks in advance!

[889]

It's a two-clause expression, with only the first clause being used in your text. With the second clause added, the meaning becomes a bit clearer.

In somewhat awkward English, here's the entry from my dictionary:

"长江后浪推前浪, 一代更比一代强 As in the Changjiang River the waves behind drive on those before, so each new generation excels the last one. Time makes it inevitable that in every profession the rising generation is worthier than the former one."

And no, I had no idea of the meaning until I looked it up.

[wrbt]

"Changjiang River the waves behind drive on those before, so each new generation excels the last one. Time makes it inevitable that in every profession the rising generation is worthier than the former one."

I'll be darned that translation was exactly my first guess! Should have trusted my instinct.

Seriously though thanks for the help.

[mesuper]

长江后浪推前浪;前浪死在沙滩上

[mandel1luke]

the next generation will succeed and outshine the previous, as is the norm