📖 Meaning
Describes events that occur and unfold as violently and swiftly as a fierce wind and sudden thunder. It conveys a sense of overwhelming speed and force in how something happens or develops. The idiom emphasizes the sheer intensity and rapidity of change.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the 'Book of Rites' (礼记·玉藻), a Confucian classic compiled during the Zhou dynasty. The text describes how a gentleman (君子) would conduct himself: if there were fierce winds, sudden thunder, or heavy rain, he would immediately change his demeanor and conduct himself with reverence, even rising in the middle of the night to sit properly dressed and crowned. The original passage uses the natural phenomena of wind and thunder to illustrate the moral propriety and attentiveness expected of a noble person.
💡 Example Usage
这场运动如疾风迅雷般席卷全国，短短数月便改变了整个社会的面貌。
This movement swept across the nation like fierce wind and sudden thunder, transforming the face of the entire society in just a few months.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 疾风迅雷
- Pinyin: jí fēng xùn léi
- Literal Translation: swift wind, rapid thunder
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4