旷古未闻

曠古未聞
kuànggǔ-wèiwén
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 never heard of since ancient times
  2. 2 unprecedented in history

Examples

HSK 4
Zhèzhǒng guīmó de gōngchéng zài dāngdì shì kuànggǔ-wèiwén de.
A project of this scale was unprecedented in the area.
HSK 7-9
Tā zuòchū le yí jiàn kuànggǔ-wèiwén de qíshì.
He pulled off an extraordinary feat unheard of in all history.

Tips

history
Roots in 孔颖达's commentary on 《诗经·周颂·敬之》 (the Book of Songs): 'a subject standing in for the Son of Heaven, rarely heard of in ages past.' Used vividly in Ming-dynasty 冯梦龙's 《警世通言》 ('Stories to Caution the World').
usage
Variant: 旷古未有 (never existed since antiquity) is interchangeable. here means 'spanning, vast through' (time), not 'empty'.

Stroke Order

kuàng
wèi
wén