养兵千日,用在一朝

yǎng bīng qiān rì , yòng zài yī zhāo

lit. train an army for a thousand days to use it for one morning (idiom)

fig. extensive preparation eventually pays off

yǎng

to raise (animals)

bīng

soldiers

qiān

used in 鞦韆|秋千[qiu1 qian1]

abbr. for 日本[Ri4 ben3], Japan

,

yòng

to use; to make use of; to employ

zài

to exist; to be alive

one

zhāo

morning