📖 Meaning
Even spirits and ghosts cannot fathom it. It describes something so secret, strange, or unfathomable that no supernatural being could guess it. Often used of a strategist's brilliant and unpredictable schemes.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from Yuan dynasty drama. Zheng Guangzu's play 'Yi Yin Geng Xin' (伊尹耕莘) has a line praising a worthy man who deploys unfathomable strategy to raise an army and help a prince accomplish a great deed. The anonymous Yuan play 'She Liu Chui Wan' (射柳捶丸) uses it similarly, with a character boasting of military tactics so ingenious that even gods and ghosts cannot fathom them.
💡 Example Usage
他用兵如神，布下神鬼不测的妙计，令敌军措手不及。
He commanded troops like a genius and laid an unfathomable plan that caught the enemy off guard.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 神鬼不测
- Pinyin: shén guǐ bù cè
- Literal Translation: gods, ghosts, not, fathom
- Category: Wisdom
- Characters: 4