Dǎ qiáng bǎnr, fān shàngxià; qiánrén shìjiè, hòurén shōu.

打牆板兒翻上下, 前人世界後人收。

Lit [Just as when] building [up] a wall, the form boards [constantly change their relative positions] up and down [as the wall gets higher], [so] the world [i.e., conditions] of the forebears is inherited by [their] descendants.

Fig Sometimes a person or generation is up, and sometimes they're down; the fate of human beings is changeable.

Note [Note: the first half is in Jīn Píng Méi (JPM), chap. 90; shìjiè is sometimes tiántǔ, “lands.”]

Topics CHANGE FORTUNE GENERATIONS INHERITANCE JPM LIFE tiántǔ