光天化日

Chinese

		light; ray; bright	day; sky; heaven	to make into; to change into; ‑ization to make into; to change into; ‑ization; to ... ‑ize; to transform	day; sun; date day; sun; date; day of the month; Japan (abbrev.)
trad. (光天化日)		光	天	化	日
simp. #(光天化日)		光	天	化	日

Etymology

According to the scholar Hui Dong (惠棟), the original (or prescriptionist) form of 化日 in the phrase might have been 治日 (“enlightened, well-governed times”). In this theory, during much of the Tang Dynasty, the written corpus saw systematic censorship of the character 治 (zhì) due to 諱／讳 (huì, “naming taboo”) regarding the name of Li Zhi (李治), the Emperor Gaozong of Tang. The character 化 (huà) was among the most frequently-used replacements, and its legacy continued to influence later generations, who went on to use 化 where 治 would be expected even if the taboo was no longer in force.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): guāngtiānhuàrì

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄤ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄏㄨㄚˋ ㄖˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gwong¹ tin¹ faa³ jat⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: guāngtiānhuàrì
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄤ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄏㄨㄚˋ ㄖˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: guangtianhuàrìh
    • Wade–Giles: kuang¹-tʻien¹-hua⁴-jih⁴
    • Yale: gwāng-tyān-hwà-r̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guangtianhuahryh
    • Palladius: гуантяньхуажи (guantjanʹxuaži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ xu̯ä⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʐ̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gwong¹ tin¹ faa³ jat⁶
    • Yale: gwōng tīn fa yaht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gwong¹ tin¹ faa³ jat⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: guong¹ tin¹ fa³ yed⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷɔːŋ⁵⁵ tʰiːn⁵⁵ faː³³ jɐt̚²/

Idiom

光天化日

1. in broad daylight

Synonyms

• 大天白日 (dàtiānbáirì)
• 大白天 (dàbáitiān)
• (Hokkien) 長晝白日／长昼白日, 當頭白日／当头白日, 大當白日／大当白日
• (Teochew) 透堂白日
• (Shanghainese) 大白天亮