Thoughts on China

塞翁失马, 焉知祸福   (sàiwēngshīmǎ, yānzhīhuòfú)

I find myself thinking about this idiom a lot. As with all Chinese proverbs, there’s a story behind these few words that is then condensed down:

Once upon a time, an old man’s horse ran away. His friends and neighbors lamented his misfortune, but the man said, “Who knows if this is bad luck, or good luck?”

A few days later, his horse returned with another beautiful horse. The town’s people, as you would expect, excitedly proclaimed the old man’s great luck! The old man merely replied, “Who knows if this is bad luck, or good luck?”

His son set about breaking in the new, wild horse, but was thrown and broke his leg, which didn’t get set right. You guessed it, the people murmured to each other what a terrible tragedy had befallen the old man’s family. Of course, the old man stoically repeated: “Who knows if this is bad luck, or good luck?”

The very next year, the emperor’s men came to town to conscript all the able-bodied men of the town into the army, for a war was brewing. The old man’s son, because of his gimpy leg, was the only one left behind. Sometime later, terrible news came from the battlefront that most of the town’s soldiers were killed in a terrible battle.

So, no matter what happens, it is not always immediately knowable if it is good or bad. I know my first job after college, I was working as a retail assistant manager, working 60-80 hours a week for $14,000 a year (this was in 1984, so the wage was not that great for so many hours). In addition, my manager wouldn’t give me time to do the manager’s training program on the job. When they had to lay off 150 assistant managers, they did it by how much of the training programs we had completed, so I got laid off. I thought it was terrible, since it was my first experience of failure. Two weeks later, though, I went and took a test to get into Air Force Officer Training School and did well, getting a slot which eventually led to 6 years as a navigator on a C-130. I initially thought being laid off was the worst thing that could happen, but I found out it was maybe the best thing, since I didn’t have the opportunity in a small town working that many hours to find another job.

So, when something that seems really terrible or really great happens, the first thing I think to myself, is 塞翁失马, 焉知祸福