📖 Meaning
Describes transport that is extraordinarily swift and effortless, as if carried by gods and ghosts. It is also used as a metaphor for smuggling or covertly moving goods past detection. It is the same as the variant form 神运鬼输.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Qing dynasty poet Zha Shenxing (查慎行, 1650–1727) in his poem 《虹桥板歌》 (Song of the Rainbow Bridge Plank), which contains the line '神输鬼运义奚取，径路断绝谁跻攀' (What need for gods to haul and ghosts to carry — the paths are cut off, who could ever climb up?). The poem describes the mysterious ancient wooden planks and coffins lodged in sheer cliff-face niches at Wuyi Mountain, which no human could possibly have placed there, so their presence was attributed to supernatural forces. Over time the phrase came to describe lightning-fast transport and, by extension, smuggling or surreptitious removal.
💡 Example Usage
这批军需物资神输鬼运般火速送达前线，令人惊叹不已。
This batch of military supplies reached the front line with godlike swiftness, astonishing everyone.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 神输鬼运
- Pinyin: shén shū guǐ yùn
- Literal Translation: gods transport, ghosts carry
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4