昼伏夜行 — “To hide by day and travel by night (to avoid detection)”

昼伏夜行 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to hide by day and travel by night (to avoid detection)”. To move stealthily during the night and remain concealed during the day. Literally, “Hide by day, travel by night”.

Frequency

昼伏夜行 Pronunciation and Pinyin

昼伏夜行 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
昼	zhòu	9	daytime
伏	fú	6	lie down or hide
夜	yè	8	night
行	xíng	6	to walk, act, or a line

Example Sentence with 昼伏夜行

为了躲避追踪，侦察小队成员们不得不昼伏夜行，穿梭于茂密的丛林中。

To evade pursuit, the reconnaissance team members had to hide by day and travel by night, moving through the dense jungle.

Origin and Story of 昼伏夜行

During the Spring and Autumn period, King Ping of Chu was an incompetent and debauched ruler. He even seized his son's fiancée for himself.

Wu She, the Crown Prince's tutor, criticized this behavior and was consequently imprisoned. King Ping then compelled Wu She to write letters to his sons, Wu Shang and Wu Yuan (later known as Wu Zixu), who were away, asking them to return.

Wu Shang complied and was killed along with his father. Wu Zixu, however, realized the danger.

After enduring immense hardships and overcoming many obstacles, he hid by day and traveled by night, meticulously avoiding any detection. He was extremely cautious of every sound and movement until he successfully escaped to the State of Wu.