Reflections | ‘Misfortunes do not strike only once’: the ancient Chinese phrase Hongkongers know only too well

The Chinese equivalent of the morose saying is “misfortunes do not strike only once” (huo bu dan xing), which is less specific in terms of numbers but no less ominous. The fatalistic observation of human affairs was first recorded by Liu Xiang (77BC-6BC) in his anthology of historical stories, Garden of Persuasions.

It includes a Warring States period tale about Marquess Zhao, the ruler of the small, vulnerable state of Han, straddling present-day southern Shanxi and northern Henan, who in 334BC decides to construct a massive gate. As the most capable ruler in the state’s history, his appointments and policies had transformed the weakest of the warring states into a formidable power. So the decision to pursue a vanity project with no apparent benefit to Han or its people, was puzzling.

When he heard about the plans, Qu Yijiu, a senior official in the neighbouring state of Chu, predicted the marquess would not live to pass through the gate. He believed that as Han had lost a strategically important city in a war with another state the previous year, followed by drought and famine, another calamity – the death of Marquess Zhao – would surely strike the state. According to Qu, “It is said that good fortune does not come in succession, but bad fortune does.” Sure enough, soon after the gate was completed the following year, the marquess died without ever passing through it.

The stories in Garden of Persuasion were morality tales for the edification of future rulers and ministers. Liu Xiang’s purpose in retelling this story was to highlight the error of Marquess Zhao’s profligacy even as his state was weakened by military invasion and his people were suffering from a food shortage. However, it was the phrase “good fortune does not come in succession, but bad fortune does” that resonated most with readers, morphing into the saying “misfortunes do not strike only once”.