The same factor that brings success can also bring ruin.
📜 Origin
《史记》
💡 Detailed Explanation
"Failure also comes from Xiao He" originates from the Records of the Grand Historian: The Biographies of the Marquis of Huaiyin, and is often used together with "Success also comes from Xiao He." Han Xin became a grand general and achieved great deeds because of Xiao He's recommendation; later, he was lured and killed in Changle Palace due to Xiao He's scheme, bringing ruin to his reputation. Therefore, the core meaning of this idiom is: the failure of an affair is often related to the key person or factor that originally contributed to its success, emphasizing that success and failure share the same source and that fortune and misfortune are interdependent. It is mostly used to describe a person or matter that both succeeds and fails because of the same cause or the same person, carrying a strong tone of irony and helplessness. In terms of cultural background, it reflects the cruelty of ancient Chinese political struggles and the complexity of interpersonal relationships, and also embodies the Daoist dialectical idea that "misfortune is what fortune leans on, and fortune is what misfortune lurks beneath." Its usage scenarios are commonly seen in comments on historical figures, business decisions, and workplace ups and downs, and emotionally it tends toward lament, regret, or warning.
📝 Example
1. This company rose rapidly through aggressive expansion, and ultimately went bankrupt due to a broken capital chain—truly, "success comes from Xiao He, failure comes from Xiao He as well." (Meaning the company's success and failure both stemmed from the same aggressive strategy.)
2. He entered academia thanks to that mentor's recommendation, and was later dragged down by the mentor's academic scandal—one might say, "failure comes from Xiao He as well." (Meaning his downfall was directly related to the person who had once helped him.)