行拂乱其所为

行拂亂其所為
xíngfúluànqísuǒwéi
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 heaven disorders and frustrates everything he does
  2. 2 every plan the future hero makes is thwarted
  3. 3 Mencius's picture of the trials before great responsibility

Examples

Tiān jiāng jiàng dà rèn, bì xiān xíng fú luàn qí suǒ wéi.
Before heaven bestows a great mission, it first frustrates and disorders every move he makes.
Shìyè de cuòzhé jiù xiàng xíng fú luàn qí suǒ wéi, shì chéngzhǎng de bìjīng zhī lù.
Career setbacks are like heaven 'disordering all one does' — a necessary stage of growth.

Tips

history
From 《孟子·》 (Mencius, 'Gaozi II'): 筋骨饿所以动心不能 — 'Heaven, about to entrust a great mission, first embitters his heart, works his bones, starves his flesh, empties his being, disorders all he does, thereby stirring the heart and tempering the nature, and adding to what he could not before.' The canonical Chinese 'adversity builds character' passage.
usage
here is read fú ('to frustrate / brush against'), not bì. (xíng) = 'in action / in what he does'; (fúluàn) = 'obstruct and disorder'; = 'that which he does.' Usually quoted together with and 筋骨.

Stroke Order

xíng
luàn
suǒ
wèi