前人栽树，后人乘凉

qián rén zāi shù , hòu rén chéng liáng

to enjoy the benefits of the hard work of one's predecessors. (idiom)

前

qián

front

人

rén

person; people

栽

zāi

to plant; to grow

树

shù

tree

，

,

后

hòu

back

人

rén

person; people

乘

chéng

old variant of 乘[cheng2]

凉

liáng

the five Liang of the Sixteen Kingdoms, namely: Former Liang 前涼|前凉 (314-376), Later Liang 後涼|后凉 (386-403), Northern Liang 北涼|北凉 (398-439), Southern Liang 南涼|南凉[Nan2 Liang2] (397-414), Western Liang 西涼|西凉 (400-421)