fáng防preventhuàn患troublewèi未not yetrán然happen
Prevent trouble before it happens — head problems off in advance.
Literal meaning
prevent (防) — trouble (患) — not yet (未) — happen (然)
Origin
Book of Changes (《易经》). The phrase encodes the classical Chinese principle that strong leadership and good policy don't wait for crises — they spot and defuse problems early.
Examples
Gōng公sī司jiā加qiáng强ān安quán全jiǎn检chá查，shì是wèi为le了fáng防huàn患wèi未rán然。
The company tightened safety checks to prevent problems before they happen.
Fáng防huàn患wèi未rán然bǐ比shì事hòu后bǔ补jiù救hǎo好。
Prevention is better than post-incident cleanup.
Usage & nuances
Often paired with 未雨绸缪. Common in policy, safety, risk-management writing.
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