焚膏繼晷

Chinese

		burn	ointment; paste	to continue; to follow after; then to continue; to follow after; then; afterwards; to go on with; to succeed; to inherit	sunlight; time; sundial
trad. (焚膏繼晷)		焚	膏	繼	晷
simp. (焚膏继晷)		焚	膏	继	晷
Literally: “to burn oil (candle) to lengthen the day”.

Etymology

焚膏油以繼晷，恆兀兀以窮年。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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焚膏油以继晷，恒兀兀以穷年。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 813, 韓愈 (Han Yu), 《進學解》

Fén gāoyóu yǐ jì guǐ, héng wùwù yǐ qióng nián. [Pinyin]

You burn the oil to lengthen the day, and you keep working hard the whole year long.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): féngāojìguǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄣˊ ㄍㄠ ㄐㄧˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fan⁴ gou¹ gai³ gwai²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: féngāojìguǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄣˊ ㄍㄠ ㄐㄧˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: féngaojìguěi
    • Wade–Giles: fên²-kao¹-chi⁴-kuei³
    • Yale: fén-gāu-jì-gwěi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ferngaujihgoei
    • Palladius: фэньгаоцзигуй (fɛnʹgaocziguj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fən³⁵ kɑʊ̯⁵⁵ t͡ɕi⁵¹ ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fan⁴ gou¹ gai³ gwai²
    • Yale: fàhn gōu gai gwái
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fan⁴ gou¹ gai³ gwai²
    • Guangdong Romanization: fen⁴ gou¹ gei³ guei²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fɐn²¹ kou̯⁵⁵ kɐi̯³³ kʷɐi̯³⁵/

Idiom

焚膏繼晷

1. to burn the midnight oil

Synonyms

• 繼晷焚膏／继晷焚膏 (jìguǐféngāo)
• 燃膏繼晷／燃膏继晷 (rángāojìguǐ)