焚膏繼晷

Chinese
burn ointment; paste
 
to continue; to follow after; then; afterwards; to go on with; to succeed; to inherit
 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.][▼ expand/hide]
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

Idiom

焚膏繼晷

  1. to burn the midnight oil

Synonyms
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