DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

夙興夜寐

简夙兴夜寐 · 繁夙興夜寐

Mandarin · pinyin sù xīng yè mèi

to rise early and sleep late (idiom); to work hard
to study diligently
to burn the candle at both ends

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

夙: sù · early in morning, dawn; previous
興: xìng · thrive, prosper, flourish
夜: yè · night, dark; in night; by night
寐: mèi · sleep; be asleep
兴: xìng · thrive, prosper, flourish

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–1–4–4 · su4 xing1 ye4 mei4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

夙興夜寐 · find source passages ↗ · 夙兴夜寐 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

suk1 hing1 je6 mei6

Cantonese word readings for 夙興夜寐. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to work hard night and day; to burn the candle at both ends

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack