祸兮福之所倚

禍兮福之所倚
huòxīfúzhīsuǒyǐ
phrase

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 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.
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·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 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