Is it "night and day"? Or "day and night"? Which is the correct use of "day and night" or "day and night"?
Because of a sudden epidemic, this China has more tragic meaning, especially the medical staff who are fighting in the front line of the epidemic in Wuhan, sacrificing too much, even if it is the Spring Festival, they cannot be reunited with their families, but stick to their posts day and night, so they have become the special heroes who are most mentioned this Spring Festival. In related reports, when describing them as guarding patients day and night, some choose "day and night" and some use "day and night". "Night and day" and "day and night", in chronological order upside down, ? So, should we use "night and day"? Or "day and night"?
On the surface, the meaning of these two words is much the same: "night and day" means that night is connected to day, what is not done during the day, and then done at night, mainly used to describe stepping up work or study. "Day and night" means that bai continues to do things at night, not finished at night, and then done during the day the next day, which is also used to describe stepping up work or study.
Which of these two usages is closer to the original meaning of the idiom?
Let's start with "night and day". The term "night and day" comes from Mencius Leaving Lou Xia: "Yu evil will drink wine and good words." Tang Zhizhong, Li Xian has no direction. King Wen regarded the people as wounded, and looked at the way but did not see them. The King of Wu does not let go, and does not forget far away. Zhou Gongsi and the Three Kings (referring to the Xianwang Renjun of Xia, Shang, and Zhou) to shi the four things (the four things refer to the actions of yu, tang, wen, and wu), and those who are incompatible, look up to them, and think about them day and night, fortunately, and sit and wait. ("Zhuangzi Zhile" also has the saying "Husbands and nobles, night and day, thinking about goodness or not").
What does this passage of Mencius mean? Translated into modern Chinese, the meaning is: "Emperor Yu hates fine wine, but likes valuable words." Di Tang adheres to the Zhongzheng way and can promote people with both moral integrity and ability. King Wen of Zhou always cared for the people as if they were wounded, and the pursuit of benevolence and righteousness seemed to see no hope. King Wu of Zhou did not despise the close subjects in the imperial court, nor did he forget the distant ministers scattered in all directions. The Duke of Zhou wanted to learn from the kings of Xia, Shang, and Zhou at the same time to practice the cause of Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu; if there was something that did not suit the current situation, he would raise his head and think day and night; if he finally figured it out, he would sit and wait until dawn to put it into practice immediately. ”
The protagonist of the "night and day" in the text is the famous Zhou Gongdan in history. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, King Wu of Zhou died shortly after the destruction of Shang, and his son Ji Shu the Prince of Zhou Cheng succeeded to the throne at the age of 13, and all the major affairs in the dynasty were handled by his uncle Ji Dan. In order to stabilize the power of Western Zhou, Zhou Gongdan worked day and night, defeated the rebellion of his brother in collusion with Wu Geng, the son of the King of Shang, and assisted the government with all his might.
In subsequent ancient texts, "night and day" is often quoted, such as "Always place the stagecoach in the outskirts of Chang'an, please thank the guests, night and day, until the Ming Dynasty, often fearful (Book of Han. Volume Fifty. Zheng Shi biography"). "Yin Zhi Jijun also plays Si Le." Wine pond meat forest, night and day (Nguyen's "Treatise on Music"). "When the car entered the city, the Jin people plundered even more, and the small people wept, night and day, and all seven days ("The Great Song Xuan and the Collection of Relics"). And so on, all of them.
Let's talk about "day and night". "Day after night" is rarely seen in historical materials, if there is, a sentence in the "Chinese Wu Language" by Zuo Qiuming, a historian of the State of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period, can barely be counted: "Lonely day and night are successive, creeping and king." Here, Zuo Qiuming uses "day and night", which is highly similar to the modern "day and night", so "day and night" is not a completely out-of-thin coin. In the third chapter of her love tragedy novel Wei Hu, the famous modern writer Ding Ling has this description: "They live day and night, day and night, living in small houses. ”
Although "day and night" and "day and night" both mean hard work day and night, if you want to talk about the norms of usage, "night and day" is more in line with the original meaning of the word.
"Night and day" means "night and day", "with" when "with" speaking. Translated into modern Chinese, it means "to continue the day with night". Therefore, if it is mistakenly written as "day and night", it becomes "using day to continue night", which is obviously contrary to the original meaning. Therefore, people write "day and night" as "day and night", which seems to be catchy to read, but it does not make sense.
However, in the special period of fighting against the epidemic, many participants in the war are indeed working day and night, saying that they are "day and night", it is not impossible. Because, in itself, language is alive.
(Image from the Internet)