福不重至，禍必重來

Chinese
 
good fortune; happiness; luck
good fortune; happiness; luck; Fujian province (abbrev.); surname
 not; no
 
heavy; serious; to double
heavy; serious; to double; to repeat; repetition; iteration; again; a layer
 
arrive; most; to
arrive; most; to; until
 disaster
 
certainly; must; will
certainly; must; will; necessarily
 
heavy; serious; to double
heavy; serious; to double; to repeat; repetition; iteration; again; a layer
 to come
trad. (福不重至，禍必重來) 福 不 重 至 ， 禍 必 重 來
simp. (福不重至，祸必重来) 福 不 重 至 ， 祸 必 重 来
alternative forms 福無雙至，禍不單行／福无双至，祸不单行

Etymology

Attested earliest in a speech attributed to Qu Yijiu (屈宜咎) and quoted in Shuoyuan:

人固有利不利。昭侯嘗利矣，不作高門。往年秦拔宜陽，明年大旱民饑，不以此時恤民之急也，而顧反益奢，此所謂福不重至、禍必重來者也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
人固有利不利。昭侯尝利矣，不作高门。往年秦拔宜阳，明年大旱民饥，不以此时恤民之急也，而顾反益奢，此所谓福不重至、祸必重来者也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Shuoyuan, circa 1st century BCE
Rén gù yǒulì bùlì. Zhāohóu cháng lì yǐ, bù zuò gāomén. Wǎngnián Qín bá yíyáng, míngnián dàhàn mín jī, bù yǐ cǐshí xù mín zhī jí yě, ér gùfǎn yìshē, cǐ suǒwèi fú bù zhòngzhì, huò bì zhònglái zhě yě. [Pinyin]
People, for a certainty, have both propitious and unpropitious times. Marquis Zhao of Hán has had propitious periods, but he failed [to use them] to build a tall gate. The year before last, Qin seized Yi Yang, and the next year there was a great drought, and the people suffered famine. He failed to take this opportunity to help the people in their time of need but instead grew more extravagant. This is what is meant by the saying ‘Good fortune never comes twice, but disasters come in droves.’

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): fú bù chóng zhì, huò bì chóng lái
    (Zhuyin): ㄈㄨˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄨㄥˊ ㄓˋ , ㄏㄨㄛˋ ㄅㄧˋ ㄔㄨㄥˊ ㄌㄞˊ
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: fú bù chóng zhì, huò bì chóng lái
      • Zhuyin: ㄈㄨˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄨㄥˊ ㄓˋ , ㄏㄨㄛˋ ㄅㄧˋ ㄔㄨㄥˊ ㄌㄞˊ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: fú bù chóng jhìh, huò bì chóng lái
      • Wade–Giles: fu2 pu4 chʻung2 chih4, huo4 pi4 chʻung2 lai2
      • Yale: fú bù chúng jr̀-, hwò bì chúng lái
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fwu bu chorng jyh, huoh bih chorng lai
      • Palladius: фу бу чун чжи, хо би чун лай (fu bu čun čži, xo bi čun laj)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /fu³⁵ pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰʊŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ xu̯ɔ⁵¹⁻⁵³ pi⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰʊŋ³⁵ laɪ̯³⁵/

Proverb

福不重至，禍必重來

  1. opportunity seldom knocks twice, misfortunes never come alone

See also
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