承上起下 - ChineseDict

cheng2

承

shang4

上

qi3

起

xia4

下

chengyu

to follow the past and herald the future (idiom); part of a historical transition
forming a bridge between earlier and later stages

承 (承): surname Cheng; Cheng (c. 2000 BC), third of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2] Farmer God
上 (上): used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1]
起 (起): to rise; to raise; to get up; to set out; to start; to appear; to launch; to initiate (action); to draft; to establish; to get (from a depot or counter); verb suffix, to start; starting from (a time, place, price etc); classifier for occurrences or unpredictable events: case, instance; classifier for groups: batch, group
下 (下): down; downwards; below; lower; later; next (week etc); second (of two parts); to decline; to go down; to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc); measure word to show the frequency of an action

Examples