DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

不幸之幸

Mandarin · pinyin bù xìng zhī xìng

a fortune in misfortune
a positive in the negative

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
幸: xìng · luck(ily), favor, fortunately
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–4–1–4 · bu4 xing4 zhi1 xing4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

不幸之幸 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bat1 hang6 zi1 hang6

Cantonese word readings for 不幸之幸. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) good fortune in the midst of bad; a stroke of good luck in a stretch of bad; redeeming feature in a piece of misfortune

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack