神不知鬼不晓 shén bù zhī guǐ bù xiǎo God doesn't know, ghosts don't know

Explanation

形容事情做得非常秘密，一点儿痕迹也没有留下，别人完全不知道。

Describes that something was done very secretly and without a trace, so that no one knows about it.

Origin Story

话说唐朝时期，有个叫李白的诗人，他为人豪放不羁，喜欢喝酒写诗。有一天，李白与几个朋友在一家酒肆畅饮，喝得酩酊大醉。酒醒之后，李白发现自己身上所有的钱财都不翼而飞了。他心想：一定是刚才喝醉酒的时候，有人偷走了我的钱财。可是，是谁偷的呢？他仔细回想，也没有发现任何可疑的人。李白心里很疑惑，他决定暗中查访。经过几天的暗中侦查，李白终于发现了真相。原来，是他自己的一个酒友，趁他醉酒不醒的时候，悄悄地偷走了他的钱财。但是，这个人做得非常小心谨慎，神不知鬼不晓，李白的朋友们谁也不知道这件事。李白虽然感到很生气，但也无可奈何，只能自认倒霉。从此之后，李白就吸取了教训，每次喝酒再也不会喝得酩酊大醉了。

huà shuō Táng cháo shí qī, yǒu ge jiào Lǐ Bái de shī rén, tā wéi rén háo fàng bù jī, xǐ huan hē jiǔ xiě shī. yǒu yī tiān, Lǐ Bái yǔ jǐ ge péng you zài yī jiā jiǔ sì chàng yǐn, hē de mǐng dǐng dà zuì. jiǔ xǐng zhī hòu, Lǐ Bái fā xiàn zìjǐ shēn shàng suǒ yǒu de qián cái dōu bù yì fēi le. tā xīn xiǎng: yī dìng shì gāng cái hē zuì jiǔ de shí hòu, yǒu rén tōu zǒu le wǒ de qián cái. kě shì, shì shuí tōu de ne? tā zǐ xì huí xiǎng, yě méiyǒu fā xiàn rènhé kě yí de rén. Lǐ Bái xīn lǐ hěn yí huò, tā jué dìng àn zhōng chá fǎng. jīng guò jǐ tiān de àn zhōng zhēn chá, Lǐ Bái zhōng yú fā xiàn le zhēn xiàng. yuán lái, shì tā zìjǐ de yī ge jiǔ yǒu, chèn tā zuì jiǔ bù xǐng de shí hòu, qiāo qiāo de tōu zǒu le tā de qián cái. dàn shì, zhège rén zuò de fēi cháng xiǎo xīn jǐn shèn, shén bù zhī guǐ bù xiǎo, Lǐ Bái de péng you men shuí yě bù zhīdào zhè jiàn shì. Lǐ Bái suī rán gǎn dào hěn shēng qì, dàn yě wú kě nài hé, zhǐ néng zì rèn dǎo méi. cóng cǐ zhī hòu, Lǐ Bái jiù xī qǔ le jiào xùn, měi cì hē jiǔ zài yě bù huì hē de mǐng dǐng dà zuì le

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a poet named Li Bai, who was known for his unrestrained nature and his love for wine and poetry. One day, Li Bai and several friends drank heavily in a tavern. When he woke up, he found that all his money was gone. He thought: Someone must have robbed me when I was drunk. But who was it? He thought carefully, but could not find any suspect. Li Bai was puzzled and decided to investigate secretly. After a few days of secret investigation, Li Bai finally found out the truth. It was one of his drinking buddies who had quietly stolen his money when he was unconscious. But this person was very careful and discreet, so nobody knew about it. Li Bai was angry, but he could do nothing about it and had to accept the loss. From then on, Li Bai learned from his mistakes and never drank so much that he fell asleep drunk again.

Usage

作状语，形容事情秘密进行，不为人知。

zuò zhuàngyǔ, xiángróng shìqíng mìmì jìnxíng, bù wéi rén zhī

Used as an adverbial modifier to describe something done secretly and unknown to others.

Examples

• 他们偷偷摸摸地干坏事，神不知鬼不晓。

  tāmen tōutōumōumō de gàn huài shì, shén bù zhī guǐ bù xiǎo

  They did bad things secretly, without anyone knowing.

• 这件事做得神不知鬼不晓，没有人知道。

  zhè jiàn shì zuò de shén bù zhī guǐ bù xiǎo, méiyǒu rén zhīdào

  This matter was done so secretly that no one knew about it.

Related Idioms

• 神不知鬼不觉

Opposite Idioms

• 人尽皆知

• 众所周知