塞翁失馬

See also: 塞翁失马

Chinese

		to stuff; to stop up; to squeeze in to stuff; to stop up; to squeeze in; strategic pass; piston; unenlightened; Serb (abbrev.); Serbian	elderly person	to lose; to miss; to fail	horse; surname
trad. (塞翁失馬)		塞	翁	失	馬
simp. (塞翁失马)		塞	翁	失	马
Literally: “the old frontiersman loses his horse”.

Etymology

See 塞翁失馬，焉知非福／塞翁失马，焉知非福 (sàiwēng shī mǎ, yānzhī fēi fú).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sàiwēngshīmǎ

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄞˋ ㄨㄥ ㄕ ㄇㄚˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): coi³ jung¹ sat¹ maa⁵
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sài-ong-sit-má

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sàiwēngshīmǎ
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄞˋ ㄨㄥ ㄕ ㄇㄚˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sàiwongshihmǎ
    • Wade–Giles: sai⁴-wêng¹-shih¹-ma³
    • Yale: sài-wēng-shr̄-mǎ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sayuengshymaa
    • Palladius: сайвэншима (sajvɛnšima)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saɪ̯⁵¹ wəŋ⁵⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: coi³ jung¹ sat¹ maa⁵
    • Yale: choi yūng sāt máh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsoi³ jung¹ sat⁷ maa⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: coi³ yung¹ sed¹ ma⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɔːi̯³³ jʊŋ⁵⁵ sɐt̚⁵ maː¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sài-ong-sit-má
    • Tâi-lô: sài-ong-sit-má
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sae'ongsitmar
    • IPA (Xiamen): /sai²¹⁻⁵³ ɔŋ⁴⁴ sit̚³²⁻⁴ mã⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /sai¹¹⁻⁵³ ɔŋ⁴⁴ sit̚³²⁻⁴ mã⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /sai²¹⁻⁴¹ ɔŋ⁴⁴ sit̚³²⁻⁴ mã⁴¹/

Idiom

塞翁失馬

1. Every cloud has a silver lining. / A setback may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Synonyms

• 因禍得福／因祸得福 (yīnhuòdéfú)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (塞翁失馬):

• → Korean: 새옹실마(塞翁失馬) (sae'ongsilma)
• → Vietnamese: tái ông thất mã (塞翁失馬)

Others:

• Japanese: 塞翁(さいおう)が馬(うま) (saiō ga uma)
• Korean: 새옹지마 (塞翁之馬, sae'ongjima)