天無二日

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	not have	two	day; sun; date day; sun; date; day of the month; Japan (abbrev.)
trad. (天無二日)		天	無	二	日
simp. (天无二日)		天	无	二	日
Literally: “there are no two suns in the sky”.

Etymology

From Confucius, quoted in Mencius and the Book of Rites.

Mencius, Book 9 (《孟子·萬章上》):

孔子曰：『天無二日，民無二王。』 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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孔子曰：『天无二日，民无二王。』 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Kǒngzǐ yuē: ‘Tiān wú èr rì, mín wú èr wáng.’ [Pinyin]

Confucius said, "There are not two suns in the sky, nor two sovereigns over the people."

Book of Rites, Book 7 (《禮記·曾子問》):

孔子曰：「天無二日，土無二王，嘗禘郊社，尊無二上。…… [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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孔子曰：「天无二日，土无二王，尝禘郊社，尊无二上。…… [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Kǒngzǐ yuē: “Tiān wú èr rì, tǔ wú èr wáng, cháng dì jiāo shè, zūn wú èr shàng....... [Pinyin]

Confucius said, "In heaven there are not two suns; in a country there are not two kings; in the seasonal sacrifices, and those to Heaven and Earth, there are not two who occupy the highest place of honour. […]

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tiānwú'èrrì

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄨˊ ㄦˋ ㄖˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ mou⁴ ji⁶ jat⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tiānwú'èrrì
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄨˊ ㄦˋ ㄖˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tianwú-èrrìh
    • Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-wu²-êrh⁴-jih⁴
    • Yale: tyān-wú-èr-r̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tianwuellryh
    • Palladius: тяньуэржи (tjanʹuerži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ u³⁵ ˀɤɻ⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʐ̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tin¹ mou⁴ ji⁶ jat⁶
    • Yale: tīn mòuh yih yaht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tin¹ mou⁴ ji⁶ jat⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: tin¹ mou⁴ yi⁶ yed⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːn⁵⁵ mou̯²¹ jiː²² jɐt̚²/

Idiom

天無二日

1. there cannot be two monarchs or chiefs at the same time