📖 Meaning
This idiom means something is not merely a matter of a single morning and evening — it has been going on for a long time. It emphasizes that a state, effort, or aspiration has persisted over an extended period rather than being a fleeting impulse.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom has no single recorded classical source (出处: 无). Its earliest known literary appearance is in Pu Songling's Qing Dynasty collection 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio' (《聊斋志异》), in the story 'Yingning' (《婴宁》), where a character declares 'I have held this ambition not for merely a day or two' (我有志，匪伊朝夕). The phrase uses the archaic negation '匪' (a variant of 非) and the classical particle '伊', combined with '朝夕' (morning and evening, a synecdoche for a brief span of time), to express the notion of long duration.
💡 Example Usage
他痴迷古籍匪伊朝夕，书房里早已堆满泛黄的卷轴。
His obsession with ancient texts has lasted not merely a day or two — his study is already piled high with yellowed scrolls.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 匪伊朝夕
- Pinyin: fěi yí zhāo xī
- Literal Translation: not, one, morning, evening
- Category: Perseverance
- Characters: 4