Chinese idiom · 成语
不谋而合
Meaning
To align without planning; unplanned agreement.
Character by character
Origin and story
Historical and literary usageThe Hanshu's Xuzhuan Shang records Ban Biao arguing that the Liu house retained popular support after Wang Mang's usurpation. Leaders in different places were invoking restoration of the Han without having agreed on their language beforehand. The passage uses 不谋而同辞, words that coincide without prior consultation.
The exact wording 不谋而合 appears in Gan Bao's Soushen Ji, volume 2, about two people's independently matching accounts. A supernatural setting in that later work does not make their reported marvel a verified event. The lasting expression simply describes independently reached agreement, whether in opinions, plans, or outcomes.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
我们各自写下建议，结果不谋而合，都想先改善搜索。
We wrote our suggestions separately, but both independently chose improving search first.
Agreement without prior coordination, not necessarily supernatural intuition.