| 上任 | shàng rèn | to take office / previous (incumbent) / predecessor |   |
| 前身 | qián shēn | forerunner / predecessor / precursor / previous incarnation (Buddhism) / jacket front | |
| 前任 | qián rèn | predecessor / ex- / former / ex (spouse etc) | |
| 前人 | qián rén | predecessor / forebears / the person facing you | |
| 红军 | Hóng jūn | Red Army (1928-1937), predecessor of the PLA / (Soviet) Red Army (1917-1946) | |
| 女真 | Nu:3 zhēn | Jurchen, a Tungus ethnic group, predecessor of the Manchu ethnic group who founded the Later Jin Dynasty 後金|后金[Hou4 Jin1] and Qing Dynasty | |
| 前车之鉴 | qián chē zhī jiàn | to learn a lesson from the mistakes of one's predecessor (idiom) | |
| 先贤 | xiān xián | worthy predecessor / distinguished person of the past / former sage | |
| 前车之覆，后车之鉴 | qián chē zhī fù , hòu chē zhī jiàn | lit. the cart in front overturns, a warning to the following cart (idiom) / fig. draw lesson from the failure of one's predecessor / learn from past mistake / once bitten twice shy | |
| 后车之鉴 | hòu chē zhī jiàn | lit. warning to the following cart (idiom) / don't follow the track of an overturned cart / fig. draw lesson from the failure of one's predecessor / learn from past mistake / once bitten twice shy | |
| 继武 | jì wǔ | to follow in the steps of one's predecessor | |
| 萧规曹随 | Xiāo guī Cáo suí | lit. Xiao's 蕭何|萧何[Xiao1 He2] governance followed by Cao 曹參|曹参[Cao2 Can1] (idiom) / fig. to strictly adhere to the policies of the predecessor / to follow precedent | |
| 波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那共和国 | Bō sī ní yà hé Hēi sài gē wéi nà Gòng hé guó | Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995), predecessor of Bosnia and Herzegovina 波斯尼亞和黑塞哥維那|波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那[Bo1 si1 ni2 ya4 he2 Hei1 sai4 ge1 wei2 na4] | |
