祸兮福之所倚

禍兮福之所倚
huò xī fú zhī suǒ yǐ
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 misfortune is what fortune leans upon
  2. 2 bad luck is the seed of good luck
  3. 3 (lit.) calamity, ah — on it fortune depends

Examples

Shīyè hòu tā fǎn'ér zhǎodào gèng hǎode gōngzuò — — zhēnshì huòxīfúzhīsuǒyǐ.
After losing his job he ended up with a better one — truly, misfortune is fortune's support.
Lǎozǐ jiǎng huòxīfúzhīsuǒyǐ, fúxīhuòzhīsuǒfú, kàn shìqíng yào biàn zhèng.
Laozi said misfortune leans on fortune and fortune hides misfortune — we must view things dialectically.

Tips

history
From 《老子·道德经·第五十八》: 。(Misfortune — fortune leans upon it; fortune — misfortune hides within it.) One of the most influential passages in Chinese thought, articulating the mutual reversal of opposites (相反). The chengyu 塞翁失马 illustrates the same principle as a story.
usage
(xī) is a classical exclamatory particle, like 'ah' or '!' — purely for rhythm, no lexical meaning. Always quoted together with the partner line .

Stroke Order

huò
zhī
suǒ