📖 Meaning
Describes something so vast in size, overwhelming in number, or imposing in force that it seems to blot out the sky and obscure the sun. It conveys a sense of sheer scale and unstoppable momentum.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom first appears in Chapter 70 of the Ming dynasty novel Investiture of the Gods (封神演义) by Xu Zhonglin. In the story, the warrior Gao Jineng shakes a magical bag that releases a swarm of bees so dense and massive they cover the sky and block the sun, descending like a torrential rain of locusts. The phrase was later adopted by other Ming authors, including Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng in The Plum in the Golden Vase (金瓶梅词话), to describe overwhelming crowds or multitudes.
💡 Example Usage
蝗虫遮天映日地飞来，庄稼顷刻间化为乌有。
The locusts came flying in, blotting out the sky and sun, and the crops were reduced to nothing in an instant.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 遮天映日
- Pinyin: zhē tiān yìng rì
- Literal Translation: cover, sky, reflect, sun
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4