📖 Meaning
To foretell events with the uncanny accuracy of a deity. It describes someone whose foresight and judgment are extraordinarily precise, as if nothing can escape their discernment.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from a Song Dynasty epitaph, 'Epitaph for Lord Wang, Inspector and Rectifier' (《提刑徽猷检正王公墓志铭》), written by the famed poet Yang Wanli (杨万里). In the text, Yang praises Wang's broad-mindedness, generous character, and superior insight, noting that he 'predicted affairs like a deity, with nothing able to hide its true nature.' Over time the phrase came to be used to describe anyone with exceptional powers of foresight.
💡 Example Usage
诸葛亮料事如神，早在出山之前就预见了三分天下的局势。
Zhuge Liang foresaw events with supernatural accuracy, having predicted the tripartite division of the realm long before he left his retreat.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 料事如神
- Pinyin: liào shì rú shén
- Literal Translation: predict, affairs, like, a deity
- Category: Wisdom
- Characters: 4