北叟失马 — “A blessing in disguise”

北叟失马 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a blessing in disguise”. Misfortune may turn out to be a blessing; a bad thing may turn into a good one. Literally, “The old man from the northern frontier lost his horse”.

Frequency

北叟失马 Pronunciation and Pinyin

北叟失马 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
北	běi	5	north
叟	sǒu	10	old man
失	shī	5	lose, miss, or fail
马	mǎ	3	horse, big, large

Example Sentence with 北叟失马

他原本很沮丧没有被选上，没想到后来公司遇到困难，反而让他躲过了一劫，真是北叟失马，焉知非福啊。

He was initially very disappointed that he wasn't selected, but unexpectedly, the company later ran into difficulties, which ironically helped him avoid a major problem. It truly was a blessing in disguise.

Origin and Story of 北叟失马

In ancient times, an old man living near the northern frontier lost his horse, which ran away beyond the Great Wall into the land of the northern tribes. His neighbors comforted him, but he calmly said, "This may not necessarily be a bad thing."

A few days later, the lost horse returned, bringing several fine tribal horses with it. The old man then said, "This may not necessarily be a good thing."

Indeed, his son, who loved to ride, broke his leg after falling off one of the new, spirited horses. The neighbors again offered sympathy, but the old man calmly remarked, "This may not necessarily be a misfortune."

Soon after, a war broke out, and all able-bodied young men were conscripted into the army. Because the old man's son was lame, he was exempted from military service, thus avoiding the dangers of war.