青出于蓝而胜于蓝

qīng chū yú lán ér shèng yú lán

lit. the color blue is made out of indigo but is more vivid than indigo (idiom)

fig. the student surpasses the master

青

qīng

abbr. for 青海[Qing1 hai3], Qinghai Province

出

chū

variant of 出[chu1] (classifier for plays or chapters of classical novels)

于

yú

(of time or place) in; at; on

蓝

lán

blue

而

ér

and

胜

shèng

victory

于

yú

(of time or place) in; at; on

蓝

lán

blue