夜以繼日

Chinese

		night	to use; according to; so as to to use; according to; so as to; in order to; by; with; because; Israel (abbrev.)	to continue; to follow after; then to continue; to follow after; then; afterwards; to go on with; to succeed; to inherit	day; sun; date day; sun; date; day of the month; Japan (abbrev.)
trad. (夜以繼日)		夜	以	繼	日
simp. (夜以继日)		夜	以	继	日
anagram		日以繼夜／日以继夜

Etymology

周公思兼三王，以施四事，其有不合者，仰而思之，夜以繼日。幸而得之，坐以待旦。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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周公思兼三王，以施四事，其有不合者，仰而思之，夜以继日。幸而得之，坐以待旦。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

Zhōugōng sī jiān sān wáng, yǐ shī sì shì, qí yǒu bùhé zhě, yǎng ér sī zhī, yèyǐjìrì. Xìng'ér dé zhī, zuò yǐ dài dàn. [Pinyin]

The duke of Zhou desired to unite in himself the virtues of those kings, those founders of the three dynasties, that he might display in his practice the four things which they did. If he saw any thing in them not suited to his time, he looked up and thought about it, from daytime into the night, and when he was fortunate enough to master the difficulty, he sat waiting for the morning.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yèyǐjìrì

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄝˋ ㄧˇ ㄐㄧˋ ㄖˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): je⁶ ji⁵ gai³ jat⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yèyǐjìrì
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄝˋ ㄧˇ ㄐㄧˋ ㄖˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yèyǐjìrìh
    • Wade–Giles: yeh⁴-i³-chi⁴-jih⁴
    • Yale: yè-yǐ-jì-r̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yehyiijihryh
    • Palladius: еицзижи (jeicziži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛ⁵¹ i²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕi⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʐ̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: je⁶ ji⁵ gai³ jat⁶
    • Yale: yeh yíh gai yaht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: je⁶ ji⁵ gai³ jat⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yé⁶ yi⁵ gei³ yed⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛː²² jiː¹³ kɐi̯³³ jɐt̚²/

Idiom

夜以繼日

1. day and night; round the clock

Synonyms

• 日以繼夜／日以继夜 (rìyǐjìyè)
• (Hakka) 無晝無暗／无昼无暗
• (Jin) 白明黑夜
• (Hokkien) 暝拍日, 暝甲日