回天之术

[laser2302]

I heard that "回天之术" literally means "the magic to save the God". Can anyone please tell me how this word originated?

[in_lab]

I think 回天 is literally referring to turning back time, not saving God. And I think 术 would literally mean skill, not magic.

转日回天（轉日迴天）　

形容力量大，能扭转很难挽回的局面。 唐 卢照邻 《长安古意》诗：“别有豪华称将相，转日回天不相让。” 明 汪廷讷 《狮吼记·谏柳》：“望神明转日回天，急来搭救。”亦作“ 转日迴天 ”。 明 高明 《琵琶记·官媒议婚》：“他势压朝班，威倾京国，你却与他相别。只怕他转日迴天，那时须有个决裂。”

[isela]

Agree with in_lab. Maybe an alternative interpretation of 回天 is to "turn God's will".

And I want to add: most times this "skill to turn back time/God's will“ is applied to someone's health, or metaphorically the health of things, like:

这个医生医术高明，有回天之术。

这个医生　妙手回春 (this is another phrase)。

现在经济形势太差，通用公司的老板们都无力回天了。

[Guoke]

回天之术 ≠ 回天乏术

[leeyah]

Originally Posted by laser2302:

literally means "the magic to save the God"...

Can anyone please tell me how this word originated?

No, 回天之术 synonymous to 回天之力 is a chengyu translated as "the ability to reverse a deadly mistake" (比喻能挽回严重局势的力量)

The phrase seems to have originated from 《魏书·帝纪篇末史臣总论》and is later aslo mentioned in "The Book on Zhang Xuansu《新唐书·张玄素传》,"History of the Later Tang Dynasty" (17th of the 24 dynastic histories 二十四史, compiled under Ouyang Xiu 欧阳修 and Song Qi 宋祁 during Northern Song 北宋, has total 225 scrolls).

Here's an excerpt from the original text:

张玄素，蒲州虞乡人。仕隋，为景城县户曹。窦建德陷景城，执将杀之，邑人千余号泣请代，曰：“此清吏，杀之是无天也。大王即定天下，无使善人解体。”建德命释缚，署治书侍御史，不拜。闻江都已弑，始为建德黄门侍郎。贼平，授景州录事参军。太宗即位，问以政，对曰：“自古未有如隋乱者，得非君自专、法日乱乎？且万乘之尊，身决庶务，日断十事，五不中，中者信善，有如不中者何？一日万机，积其失，不亡何待？若上贤右能，使百司善职，则高居深拱，畴敢犯之？隋末盗起，争天下者不十数，余皆保城邑以须有道听命，是欲背上怙乱者果鲜，特人君不能安之而挻之乱也。以陛下圣神，迹所以危，鉴所以亡，日慎一日，虽尧、舜何以加！”帝曰：“善。”拜侍御史，迁给事中。

贞观四年，诏发卒治洛阳宫乾阳殿，且东幸。玄素上书曰：臣惟秦始皇帝藉周之余，夷六国，统壹尊，将贻之万世，及子而亡者，殚嗜奔欲，以逆天害人也。天下不可以力胜，唯当务俭约，薄赋敛，以身先之，乃能大安。今东都未有幸期，前事土木，戚王出藩，又当营构，科调繁仍，失疲人望，一不可也。陛下向平东都，曾观广殿，皆撤毁之，天下翕然，一口颂歌。岂有初

恶侈靡而后好雕丽哉？二不可也。陛下每言巡幸者不急之务，徒焉虚费。今国储无兼年，又兴别都之役，以产怨讟，三不可也。百姓承乱离之后，财赋殚空，虽蒙更生，意未完定，奈何营未幸之都，重耗其力，四不可也。汉祖将都洛阳，娄敬一言，即日西驾。非不知地土中，道里所均，但形胜不及关内，弗敢康也。伏惟陛下化凋弊之俗，为日尚浅，讵可东巡以摇人心？五不可也。臣尝见隋家造殿，伐木于豫章，二千人挽一材，以铁为毂，行不数里，毂辄坏，别数百人赍毂自随，终日行不三十里。一材之费，已数十万工，揆其余可知已。昔阿房成，秦人散；章华就，楚众离；乾阳毕功，隋人解体。今民力未及隋日，而役残创之人，袭亡国弊，臣恐陛下之过，甚于炀帝。帝曰：“卿谓我不如炀帝，何如桀、纣？”对曰：“若此殿卒兴，同归于乱。臣闻东都始平，太上皇诏宫室过度者焚之，陛下谓瓦木可用，请赐贫人，事虽不从，天下称为盛德，今复度而宫，是隋役又兴。不五六年间，一舍一取，天下谓何？”帝顾房玄龄曰：“洛阳朝贡天下中，朕营之，意欲便四方百姓。今玄素言如此，使后必往，虽露坐，庸何苦？”即诏罢役，赐彩二百匹。魏征名梗挺，

闻玄秦言，叹曰：“张公论事，有回天之力，可谓仁人之言哉。”

modern Chinese:

张玄素任景州录事参军时，唐太宗召见他，询问他为政之道。张玄素说：「隋炀帝喜欢专断大小事务，不信任大臣，以一个人的智慧来决断天下的事，最终走向了灭亡！陛下要是能够谨慎选择大臣，观察和考核他们的政绩而加以赏罚，何必忧虑国家治理不好呢！另外，我观察到隋末战乱不止，其实真正想夺取天下的不过就那十几个人，为非作歹的很少，大多数都是为了保卫自己的家乡，等待着归附有道的明主。很少有人了解百姓为什麽作乱，只是人君不会安抚而已！」太宗就擢升他为侍御史。

贞观四年，唐太宗要重修洛阳宫乾阳殿。张玄素说：「我曾经见过隋朝修宫殿，在豫章（今南昌）伐木材，两千人拉一根大木，铁做的车毂走不了几里就坏了，需要几百人抬着备用的车毂跟着，一天走不上三十里地。从前阿房宫修成了，秦朝就灭亡了；章华宫修成了，楚国也衰败了；乾阳殿完工了，隋朝也解体了。现在我们国力不及隋朝，百姓刚刚遭受战乱——我恐怕陛下的过错比隋炀帝还大。」太宗说：「你说我还不如隋炀帝了吗？」就停修了。魏徵知道了，说：「张公论事，有回天之力。」

english Interpretation of the text :

Zhang Xuansu was a government official in the Jing Prefecture during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Great Tang Dynasty.Emperor Taizong once summoned him to the royal court and asked him about his philosophy on government administration. Zhang Xuansu told Emperor Taizong, "Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty (the previous dynasty) insisted on overseeing everything. He did not trust the court subjects. He relied on his own wisdom to run the entire country. That was the tragic flaw that led the Sui Dynasty to its end! If Your Majesty would recruit and select government officials wisely and cautiously, and if Your Majesty would reward or punish their administration accordingly, Your Majesty would not need to worry about the government administration! Besides, I have noticed that although there were many rebellions towards the end of the Sui Dynasty, there were no more than a dozen people who wanted to seize the throne. Most people joined the rebellions in order to protect their hometowns and to follow the warlords they expected would do a better job than Emperor Yang at governing the country. Very few people understood the true reason why the people of the Sui joined the rebellions. The truth was that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty did not know how to run the country!" After hearing Zhang Xuansu's opinion, Emperor Taizong promoted him to be a royal court official.

In the fourth year of Zhenguan Era, Emperor Taizong decided to renovate Qianyang Hall in his Luoyang Royal Palace. Zhang Xuansu told Emperor Taizong, "I have witnessed how the Sui Dynasty built its Qianyang Hall. They chopped down large trees in Nanchang. Each tree was so large that it took 2,000 people to transport it. They transported the lumber in iron carts, but these carts broke every few miles because of the weight they were carrying. They had no choice but to have several hundred men carrying backup carts along the way. They could travel less than 30 miles a day. Take some other examples, the Qin Dynasty collapsed after it finished building its E-Fang Palace. The Chu Kingdom collapsed after it finished building its Zhanghua Palace. The Sui Dynasty collapsed after it finished building its Qianyang Hall. At the present moment, the Tang Dynasty has not attained the same level of prosperity that the Sui Dynasty once reached. Besides, our people have not fully recovered from the civil wars at the end of the Sui Dynasty. Under the circumstances, if we should spend money and resources on renovating Qianyang Hall, I am afraid that Your Majesty would make a even bigger mistake than Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty." Emperor Taizong said, "Are you saying that I would be even worse than Emperor Yang the tyrant?" Emperor Taizong immediately aborted his plan to renovate Qianyang Hall. When Wei Zheng heard Zhang Xuansu's sincere advice to Emperor Taizong, he praised Zhang, "Zhang Xuansu had the ability to revive the dead."

Originally Posted by in_lab:

术 would literally mean skill, not magic

Exactly. And as we can see from the context provided by isela it is an idiom meaning "the ability to revive the dead." It is nowadays also used to describe one's ability to reverse a deadly mistake or as power capable of saving a desperate situation. More context:

一切都没有回天之力了 or 已无回天之力了 = It seems there's no turning back now. Nothing can be done to remedy the situation.

结束的故事还能延续吗，能有回天之力吗？ Is there a way to continue a finished story, can we turn back the time?

or as in China-France neo-colonialism issue in Africa: 中国让法国还有回天之力吗? Will China give France a chance to reverse it's mistakes?

[laser2302]

Wonderful! That's exactly what I wanted to know. Thankyou everyone. And thankyou very much leeyah for providing the context and text to show how this idiom originated.