During the Northern Zhou period, a high-ranking official named Duan Yong earned widespread respect across court and countryside for his governance, disdain for wealth, and love of befriending talented individuals.
One year, a rebel leader named Yuan Bosheng led several hundred cavalry, wreaking havoc from the Xiao Mountains and Tong Pass in the west to the Gong and Luo regions in the east, destroying fortresses, plundering goods, and killing countless people. News of the chaos repeatedly reached the court, and Emperor Xiaowu of Wei decided to dispatch his most trusted general, Piliou Zhao, the Grand Commander of the Capital Region, to suppress the rebellion. Piliou Zhao found the mission daunting and, after careful deliberation, felt he needed a substantial force. During the morning court session, he requested 5,000 elite soldiers from the emperor for the campaign.
Standing nearby, Duan Yong felt this approach was unwise and stepped forward to advise the emperor, "These bandits have no fortified walls or stockades to protect them—they rely solely on plunder. In times of peace, they swarm together like ants, but at the first sign of trouble, they scatter like startled birds. The key to defeating them lies in speed, not overwhelming numbers. If we strike as swiftly as a shooting star or a sudden lightning bolt, catching them completely off guard, just 500 elite cavalry will be enough to crush and wipe them out. But if we raise a massive army and march with great fanfare, they will hear of it and flee far away, rendering our forces useless." The emperor found this reasoning sound and ordered Duan Yong to replace Pi Lou Zhao, granting him 500 cavalry to carry out the mission.
After receiving his orders, Duan Yong first sent scouts to secretly track the bandits, pinpointing their frequent haunts. He then led 500 cavalry, racing day and night, covering double the usual distance at breakneck speed. Before the enemy could even anticipate, let alone prepare defenses, Duan Yong struck like a thunderbolt, annihilating the entire force in one decisive blow and completing his mission with outstanding success.
Later, the idiom "Swift as a Shooting Star and Quick as Lightning" came to describe doing things with the speed of a meteor and the rapidity of lightning.
Source: *Book of Zhou*, "Biography of Duan Yong"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "星驰电发" came to describe doing things with the speed of a meteor and the rapidity of lightning.