<p><a href="https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%84%89%E7%9F%A5%E9%9D%9E%E7%A6%8F/18637495" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Baidu Baike</a> has character by character explanation:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>塞：边界险要之处；</p>
<p>翁：老头：老人。</p>
<p>塞翁：边塞的老头儿。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The explanations of you found is correct, and &quot;塞翁&quot; means an old man living in a tactical border position.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-24T10:07:10.813Z
Thanks for the answer. So, if 塞翁 is *not* a name of a person, should I romanize it as "sai weng" or "saiweng"? I guess these two don't create a complete word, but I just want to be sure.
mulaixi
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-24T10:13:15.803Z
@mulaixi Not sure about how it should be Romanized.
fefe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-24T15:08:59.000Z
@mulaixi As it's an idiom which doesn't divide easily into a 2+2 structure, it falls under 4.8.2 [here](http://www.pinyin.info/rules/pinyinrules.html) and should all be written as one orthographic word in Pinyin transcription.
Michaelyus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-24T15:15:12.807Z
@Michaelyus Thank you very much for the information and the source. [Here](https://www.internationalcounselor.com/images/Merric%20Law%20-%20Documents/Sai%20Weng%20Shi%20Ma.pdf) they wrote all separately. But the link you provided seems more reliable.
mulaixi
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-25T00:31:56.093Z
塞翁失马 is a very well known story which is often included in textbooks for learners of Chinese. The most usual English translation is along the lines of "The old man on the frontier loses a horse". If the old man did not live near the frontier, he would be very unlikely to own horses or to tame wild horses.
yutu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-24T10:02:00.257Z
2020-11-24T10:02:00.257Z
fefe
<p>I recently read about this idiom and its story. I know what it actually means. But when it comes to character by character translation, I struggled. I asked some of my Chinese friends, but they didn't reply. I checked from a dictionary application named Pleco. It shows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>塞: strategic pass, tactical border position</p>
<p>翁：elderly man, father, father-in-law, a surname</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The mobile app of Baidu Translate just returns <em>saiweng</em> as the meaning when I type both. When I search for one by one, it shows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>塞: stopper, a place of strategic importance</p>
<p>翁: old man, father, a surname</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, this made me confused. My Chinese is not really good. I wanted to ask: 塞翁 is the name of a person or means &quot;old man&quot; as translated in English versions? Or is there any other meaning when it comes to character by character translation?</p>
<p>Also when I need to romanize it, should I write as &quot;Saiweng&quot; or &quot;Sai Weng&quot;?</p>
<p>Any help would be highly appreciated.</p>

<translation><meaning-in-context><chengyu>
what does 塞翁 mean in 塞翁失马?
# what does 塞翁 mean in 塞翁失马?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-11-24)

I recently read about this idiom and its story. I know what it actually means. But when it comes to character by character translation, I struggled. I asked some of my Chinese friends, but they didn't reply. I checked from a dictionary application named Pleco. It shows:

> 塞: strategic pass, tactical border position
>
> 翁：elderly man, father, father-in-law, a surname

The mobile app of Baidu Translate just returns *saiweng* as the meaning when I type both. When I search for one by one, it shows:

> 塞: stopper, a place of strategic importance
>
> 翁: old man, father, a surname

So, this made me confused. My Chinese is not really good. I wanted to ask: 塞翁 is the name of a person or means "old man" as translated in English versions? Or is there any other meaning when it comes to character by character translation?

Also when I need to romanize it, should I write as "Saiweng" or "Sai Weng"?

Any help would be highly appreciated.

**Tags:** translation, meaning-in-context, chengyu


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-11-24. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

[Baidu Baike](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%84%89%E7%9F%A5%E9%9D%9E%E7%A6%8F/18637495) has character by character explanation:

> 塞：边界险要之处；
>
> 翁：老头：老人。
>
> 塞翁：边塞的老头儿。

The explanations of you found is correct, and "塞翁" means an old man living in a tactical border position.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the answer. So, if 塞翁 is *not* a name of a person, should I romanize it as "sai weng" or "saiweng"? I guess these two don't create a complete word, but I just want to be sure.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Not sure about how it should be Romanized.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 As it's an idiom which doesn't divide easily into a 2+2 structure, it falls under 4.8.2 [here](http://www.pinyin.info/rules/pinyinrules.html) and should all be written as one orthographic word in Pinyin transcription.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Thank you very much for the information and the source. [Here](https://www.internationalcounselor.com/images/Merric%20Law%20-%20Documents/Sai%20Weng%20Shi%20Ma.pdf) they wrote all separately. But the link you provided seems more reliable.  
> **username_3**: 塞翁失马 is a very well known story which is often included in textbooks for learners of Chinese. The most usual English translation is along the lines of "The old man on the frontier loses a horse". If the old man did not live near the frontier, he would be very unlikely to own horses or to tame wild horses.  

---

