邪修xié xiū

Unorthodox cultivator (a weird hack that works)

xié xiū, dàn yǒu yòng.邪修，但有用。A weird hack, but it works.

邪修 is a word from Chinese fantasy novels for someone who gains power the wrong way. Online it means a strange, slightly wrong method that still gets the job done.

Took off: 2025
Started in: Fantasy web novels
Today: Current

What it means

In 修仙 novels, stories about people who train to become immortal, 修 is the training. A 邪修 takes the 邪, “evil” or “crooked”, path: forbidden methods that are fast but not proper.

The meme keeps the shortcut and drops the evil. Any task can have a 邪修 version: 邪修做饭, “邪修 cooking”, 邪修减肥, “邪修 dieting”, or 邪修抢票, “邪修 ticket grabbing”. Examples online include marinating pork in a yogurt drink and cooking pasta in a rice cooker.

A popular slogan sums it up: 正道太卷，不如邪修, “the proper path is too competitive, so take the crooked one”.

How people use it

It is current. 邪修 works for the person and for the method: 这个方法很邪修, “this method is very 邪修”. It is praise with a wink: the method is wrong, and it works.

琦琦

你看我做的蛋糕！
nǐ kàn wǒ zuò de dàn gāo!
Look at the cake I made!
你家没有烤箱啊
nǐ jiā méi yǒu kǎo xiāng a
You don’t even have an oven.
用微波炉做的，三分钟
yòng wēi bō lú zuò de, sān fēn zhōng
Microwave. Three minutes.
好邪修，但看起来真好吃
hǎo xié xiū, dàn kàn qǐ lai zhēn hǎo chī
Such a hack. But it looks really good.

More examples

用电饭锅煮意面，这也太邪修了。
yòng diàn fàn guō zhǔ yì miàn, zhè yě tài xié xiū le.
Pasta in a rice cooker? That’s such a hack.
他用奶茶做红烧肉，真是邪修。
tā yòng nǎi chá zuò hóng shāo ròu, zhēn shì xié xiū.
He braised pork in milk tea. What a rule-breaker.
我的邪修学习法：边打游戏边背单词。
wǒ de xié xiū xué xí fǎ: biān dǎ yóu xì biān bèi dān cí.
My hack for studying: learning words while I play games.

Where it came from

The Paper traces the word to the cultivation settings of Chinese fantasy web novels. As a meme it spread in summer 2025, through posts with odd cooking, study and money tips on apps such as Xiaohongshu.

In December 2025 语言文字周报 put 邪修 on its list of the ten top internet phrases of 2025.