📖 Meaning
One moment dark, the next moment bright — describing the natural alternation of night and day. More broadly, it refers to the ceaseless cyclical rhythm of change in the cosmos, where periods of obscurity and clarity follow one another in an endless flow.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom first appears in the 'Tian Zifang' chapter of the Zhuangzi, a foundational Daoist text attributed to the philosopher Zhuang Zhou (c. 369–286 BCE) during the Warring States period. It describes the natural rhythm of the cosmos — waxing and waning, darkness and light alternating endlessly as the sun and moon bring daily and monthly transformation. The phrase also appears in the Huainanzi, a Han dynasty philosophical compendium compiled under the patronage of Liu An, the Prince of Huainan, where it is used to evoke the unfathomable origins of change in the universe.
💡 Example Usage
天地运行，一晦一明，万物皆循此道而生灭。
Heaven and earth revolve in their course, one moment dark and the next bright, and all things follow this rhythm in birth and decay.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 一晦一明
- Pinyin: yī huì yī míng
- Literal Translation: one dark, one bright
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4