The Chinese idiom "命途多舛" is formed by combining the two-character compound "命途", meaning "life's path" or "fate's journey", with the phrase "多舛", meaning "many misfortunes". "命" signifies "life" or "fate", and "途" means "journey" or "path", together creating a concept of one's destined course. "多" translates to "many" or "frequent", and "舛" denotes "misfortune" or "adversity", so "多舛" directly describes numerous hardships. The idiom thus literally structures as "life's path" plus "many misfortunes" to express a life filled with difficulties.