📖 Meaning
When the sun reaches its zenith, it begins to decline toward the west. It is a metaphor that when something develops to its peak, it will inevitably turn in the opposite direction. The idiom reflects the classical Chinese philosophical view of cyclical change and the inevitability of decline after reaching an extreme.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Book of Changes (易经), specifically the hexagram Feng (丰, meaning Abundance), dating to the Zhou Dynasty. The original passage states that when the sun reaches midday it begins to slant westward, and when the moon waxes full it begins to wane, as heaven and earth alternately swell and shrink in harmony with the passage of time. It was later cited by historians such as Ouyang Xiu in the New History of the Five Dynasties to illustrate the natural law of rise and fall in human affairs.
💡 Example Usage
夫日中则昃，盛衰必复，此天地之常理也。
As the sun declines after reaching its zenith, so prosperity and decline inevitably follow one another—this is the eternal law of heaven and earth.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 日中则昃
- Pinyin: rì zhōng zé zè
- Literal Translation: sun, noon, then, decline
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4