怪力亂神

Chinese

		queer; to blame	power; force; strength	in confusion; disorderly	God; unusual; mysterious God; unusual; mysterious; soul; spirit; divine essence; lively; spiritual being
trad. (怪力亂神)		怪	力	亂	神
simp. (怪力乱神)		怪	力	乱	神

Etymology

From the Analects:

子不語怪、力、亂、神。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
子不语怪、力、乱、神。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, circa 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐ bù yǔ guài, lì, luàn, shén. [Pinyin]

The subjects on which the Master (Confucius) did not talk, were—extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and spiritual beings.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): guàilìluànshén

(Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄞˋ ㄌㄧˋ ㄌㄨㄢˋ ㄕㄣˊ
Min Nan (POJ): koài-le̍k-loān-sîn

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: guàilìluànshén
  - Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄞˋ ㄌㄧˋ ㄌㄨㄢˋ ㄕㄣˊ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guaylihluannshern
  - Tongyong Pinyin: guàilìluànshén
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kwaɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ li⁵¹⁻⁵³ lwän⁵¹ ʂən³⁵/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: koài-le̍k-loān-sîn
  - Tâi-lô: kuài-li̍k-luān-sîn
  - Phofsit Daibuun: koaelegloaxnsiin
  - IPA (Xiamen): /kuai²¹⁻⁵³ liɪk̚⁴⁻³² luan²²⁻²¹ ɕin²⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /kuai⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ liɪk̚²⁴⁻² luan⁴¹⁻²² ɕin²⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /kuai²¹⁻⁵³ liɪk̚¹²¹⁻²¹ luan²²⁻²¹ ɕin¹³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /kuai¹¹⁻⁵³ liɪk̚⁴⁻³² luan³³⁻¹¹ ɕin²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /kuai²¹⁻⁴¹ liɪk̚⁴⁻³² luan³³⁻²¹ ɕin²³/

Idiom

怪力亂神

(dated, literally) monstrousness, violence, rebellion and supernaturalism
(figuratively) superstition

Usage note

This idiom was originally to be comprehended character by character, but people nowadays split it by two two-character endocentric phrases, hence the "superstition" meaning.

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