| 养儿防老 |
yǎng ér fáng lǎo |
(of parents) to bring up children for the purpose of being looked after in old age |
| 养 |
yǎng |
to raise (animals) / to bring up (children) / to keep (pets) / to support / to give birth |
| 儿 |
ér |
child / son |
| 儿 |
r |
non-syllabic diminutive suffix / retroflex final |
| 防 |
fáng |
to protect / to defend / to guard against / to prevent |
| 老 |
lǎo |
prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity / old (of people) / venerable (person) / experienced / of long standing / always / all the time / of the past / very / outdated / (of meat etc) tough |