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legacy continued to influence later generations, who went on to use 化 where 治 would be expected even if the taboo was no longer in force.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

---

• 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)

Dialectal synonyms of 光天化日 (“in broad daylight”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		光天化日
Cantonese	Guangzhou	日光日白
	Hong Kong	日光日白
Southern Min	Xiamen	當頭白日
	Quanzhou	長晝白日, 當頭白日
	Zhangzhou	大當白日, 當頭白日
	Taipei	當頭白日 GT
	Kaohsiung	當頭白日 GT
	Shantou	透堂白日
	Jieyang	透堂白日
Wu	Shanghai	大白天亮
Note	GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)