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塞翁失馬焉知非福

简塞翁失马焉知非福 · 繁塞翁失馬焉知非福

Mandarin · pinyin sài wēng shī mǎ yān zhī fēi fú

the old man lost his mare, but it all turned out for the best (idiom); fig. a blessing in disguise
it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good

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Characters in this entry

塞: sāi · stop up, block, seal, cork; pass, frontier; fortress
翁: wēng · old man; father, father-in-law
失: shī · lose; make mistake, neglect
馬: Look up this written character
焉: yān · thereupon, then; how? why? where?
知: zhī · know, perceive, comprehend
非: fēi · not, negative, non-; oppose; Kangxi radical 175
福: fú · happiness, good fortune, blessing
马: mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–1–3–1–1–1–2 · sai4 weng1 shi1 ma3 yan1 zhi1 fei1 fu2

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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.

塞翁失馬焉知非福 · find source passages ↗ · 塞翁失马焉知非福 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

coi3 jung1 sat1 maa5 jin1 zi1 fei1 fuk1

Cantonese word readings for 塞翁失馬焉知非福. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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