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legacy continued to influence later generations, who went on to use 化 where 治 would be expected even if the taboo was no longer in force.[1]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