📖 Meaning
The overall trend of events — the direction in which the entire situation is inevitably developing. It describes a development so broadly driven by the forces of the times that it cannot be reversed by the will or effort of any individual or small group. The idiom is used to say that something has become an unstoppable general tendency.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Southern Song dynasty thinker and statesman Chen Liang, in his 'Third Memorial to Emperor Xiaozong'. In the memorial, written to urge the emperor to take resolute action against the Jurchen Jin dynasty and recover the lost northern territory, Chen Liang wrote: 'The trend of the world is that which it tends toward — it cannot be moved by human effort.' He argued that the course of events follows an inevitable direction beyond the control of any single person, and that the ruler should align his policies with this unstoppable current rather than resist it.
💡 Example Usage
发展人工智能是大势所趋，各行各业都在拥抱这项技术。
Developing artificial intelligence is an irresistible trend — every industry is embracing the technology.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 大势所趋
- Pinyin: dà shì suǒ qū
- Literal Translation: big situation, that which, tends toward
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4