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legacy continued to influence later generations, who went on to use 化 where 治 would be expected even if the taboo was no longer in force.[1]

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): guāngtiānhuàrì
(Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄤㄊㄧㄢㄏㄨㄚˋ ㄖˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): gwong¹ tin¹ faa³ jat⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: guāngtiānhuàrì
  - Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄤㄊㄧㄢㄏㄨㄚˋ ㄖˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: guangtianhuàrìh
  - Wade–Giles: kuang¹-tʻien¹-hua⁴-jih⁴
  - Yale: gwāng-tyān-hwà-r̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guangtianhuahryh
  - Palladius: гуантяньхуажи (guantjanʹxuaži)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kwɑŋ⁵⁵ tʰjɛn⁵⁵ xwä⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʐ̩⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - 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

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

References

惠棟 (1804), “列傳第三十九王充王符仲長統”, in 後漢書補注‎ (in Chinese), volume 12: “唐諱「治」，章懷注《後漢書》隨文改易。⋯此篇「治國之日舒以長」改爲「化國」。後人因之，遂有「光天化日」之語，豈非郢書而燕說乎？”

[1] 惠棟 (1804), “列傳第三十九王充王符仲長統”, in 後漢書補注‎ (in Chinese), volume 12: “唐諱「治」，章懷注《後漢書》隨文改易。⋯此篇「治國之日舒以長」改爲「化國」。後人因之，遂有「光天化日」之語，豈非郢書而燕說乎？”