📖 Meaning
Literally 'thunder startles and lightning entwines,' describing the violent interplay of thunder and lightning. By extension it praises calligraphy or writing whose brushstrokes are as swift, forceful, and dazzling as a thunderstorm. It is used to characterize masterful, lightning-fast penmanship.
📜 Origin Story
No single classical text is recorded as the definitive source for this idiom; it belongs to the family of calligraphic metaphors that compare brushwork to natural forces. Such thunder-and-lightning imagery was popularized by Tang and later calligraphy critics to describe the explosive speed and energy of masters like Zhang Xu and Huai Su, whose 'wild cursive' script was said to move like storms. Over time the phrase became a generic epithet for writing executed with overwhelming rapidity and power.
💡 Example Usage
王羲之的草书雷惊电绕,令观者叹为观止。
Wang Xizhi's cursive script flies like thunder and lightning, leaving every onlooker in awe.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 雷惊电绕
- Pinyin: léi jīng diàn rào
- Literal Translation: thunder, startle, lightning, entwine
- Category: Skill
- Characters: 4