祸福相依

禍福相依
huòfú-xiāngyī
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 misfortune and fortune lean on each other
  2. 2 good and bad are intertwined

Examples

HSK 7-9
Huòfú-xiāngyī, sàiwēng-shīmǎ yān zhī fēi fú.
Fortune and misfortune lean on each other - when the old man at the frontier lost his horse, who knew it wasn't a blessing?
HSK 7-9
Rénshēng huòfú-xiāngyī, búbì wèi yìshí déshī tài guò fánnǎo.
In life, misfortune and fortune are intertwined - don't fret too much over momentary gains and losses.

Tips

history
Derived from 《老子》 chapter 58: 祸兮福之所倚,福兮祸之所伏 - 'misfortune is what fortune leans upon; fortune is where misfortune crouches.' Pure Daoist dialectics - the same logic underlies the chengyu 塞翁失马 (the parable of the old man whose lost horse turns out to be a blessing, and whose returning horses turn out to be a curse, and so on).

Stroke Order

祸 huò
福 fú
相 xiāng
依 yī