善shàn有yǒu善shàn報bào，惡è有yǒu惡è報bào

What does 善有善報，惡有惡報 (shàn yǒu shàn bào è yǒu è bào) mean?

善有善報，惡有惡報 (shàn yǒu shàn bào è yǒu è bào) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "good deeds have good returns, evil deeds have evil returns." In use it means: Actions produce consequences of the same kind. This is not supernatural justice but the natural tendency of behavior to produce matching responses from the world. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Earth note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Dog.

Literally: "good deeds have good returns, evil deeds have evil returns."

The reading

The person who helps gets helped. Not always by the same person, not always in the same week, but the pattern holds over a lifetime. Generosity creates a field of reciprocity around you. Cruelty creates a different field. You are always standing in the field your own behavior planted.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element土 Earth
• Zodiac tie狗 Year of the Dog

Source Buddhist karma concept; Chinese folk proverb form widely attested since Tang

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Harmony, Virtue & Balance, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Dog, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.