The old man lost his horse
The old man lost his horse (but it all turned out for the best) (), also Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows? or Bad luck brings good luck - and good luck brings bad luck are some of the many titles given to one of the most famous parables from the Huainanzi (Chinese 淮南子, English "Master of Huainan"), chapter 18 (Chinese 人間訓, "Renjianxun", English "In the World of Man") dating to the 2nd century B.C. The story exemplifies the view of Taoism regarding "fortune" ("good luck") and "misfortune" ("bad luck").

The story is well-known throughout the East Asian cultural sphere and is often invoked to express the idea of "silver lining" or "blessing in disguise" in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese.

In Western literature the parable was modified and is frequently used in philosophical or religious texts or in books dealing with management or psychological strategies.
Q208555
parable
Concept
Q590337
Huainanzi
LOC
Q9598
Taoism
Concept
Q1970348
luck
Concept
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East Asian cultural sphere
Concept
Q7516553
silver lining
UNK
Q66491115
blessing in disguise
Concept
Q2731060
Western literature
Concept
Q1507615
The old man lost his horse
Concept
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