不謀而合

不謀而合

1. to happen to hold the same views; to agree without previous collaboration

   • 冢墓相亞，不可識別，而宮人頗識主亡時所著衣服，乃使兩巫各住一處，以伺其靈，使察鑒之，不得相近。久時，二人俱白見一女人，年可三十餘……二人之言，不謀而合，於是開冢，衣服如之。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     冢墓相亚，不可识别，而宫人颇识主亡时所着衣服，乃使两巫各住一处，以伺其灵，使察鉴之，不得相近。久时，二人俱白见一女人，年可三十余……二人之言，不谋而合，于是开冢，衣服如之。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: In Search of the Sacred, circa 3^rd century CE

     Zhǒngmù xiàng yà, bùkě shíbié, ér gōngrén pō shí zhǔ wáng shí suǒ zhuó yīfú, nǎi shǐ liǎng wū gè zhù yīchù, yǐ sì qí líng, shǐ chá jiàn zhī, bùdé xiàngjìn. Jiǔshí, èrrén jù bái jiàn yī nǚrén, nián kě sānshí yú...... Èrrén zhī yán, bùmóu'érhé, yúshì kāi zhǒng, yīfú rú zhī. [Pinyin]

     As many graves lay side by side, it was hard to decide which one was hers. Some maids in the palace remembered the clothes she was wearing when she died, so two witches were summoned to discover which ghost had on such clothes. They were made to stay in different places without any contact with each other, supervised by an official. A long while later, both of them reported, “I saw a woman over thirty years old...” The two witches had had the same statement though they had not consulted with each other. The grave they indicated was opened, and the clothes in the coffin were found to be what the princess had worn.