祸兮福之所倚

禍兮福之所倚

huò xī fú zhī suǒ yǐ

quotation

Meanings

1 misfortune is what fortune leans upon
2 bad luck is the seed of good luck
3 calamity, ah - on it fortune depends

Characters

calamity / misfortune

(classical exclamatory particle)

fortune / blessing

(classical possessive)

to lean on / depend on

Examples

HSK 4

失业后他反而找到更好的工作，真是祸兮福之所倚。

Shīyè hòu tā fǎn'ér zhǎodào gèng hǎo de gōngzuò, zhēnshì huò xī fú zhī suǒ yǐ.

After losing his job he ended up with a better one - truly, misfortune is fortune's support.

HSK 7-9

老子讲祸兮福之所倚，福兮祸之所伏，看事情要辩证。

Lǎozǐ jiǎng huò xī fú zhī suǒ yǐ, fú xī huò zhī suǒ fú, kàn shìqíng yào biànzhèng.

Laozi said misfortune leans on fortune and fortune hides misfortune - we must view things dialectically.

Tips

history

From 《老子·道德经·第五十八章》: 祸兮福之所倚，福兮祸之所伏。 (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 (相反相成). The chengyu 塞翁失马 illustrates the same principle as a story.

usage

兮 (xī) is a classical exclamatory particle, like 'ah' or '!' - purely for rhythm, no lexical meaning. Always quoted together with the partner line 福兮祸之所伏.

Stroke Order

祸 huò

兮 xī

福 fú

之 zhī

所 suǒ

倚 yǐ