# 重见天日

chóng jiàn tiān rì

Emerge from confinement or obscurity

## Meaning & wording

**Literally:** See daylight again

**Traditional Chinese:** 重見天日

**Register:** Hopeful · literary

[Change & possibility](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/topics/change)

## When to use it

Describe liberation or something hidden becoming visible.

Can refer to documents or objects as well as people.

## Understanding the expression

Daylight stands for freedom, visibility, and renewed contact with the world. Seeing it again suggests that someone or something had been confined, suppressed, or hidden. The expression can describe release from captivity or the recovery of lost records. It often carries relief because the hidden thing can now be recognized. The metaphor does not require an actual dark room, but it does imply a substantial period of concealment or exclusion.

## Examples

被困矿工终于重见天日。

### Traditional Chinese

被困礦工終於重見天日。

bèi kùn kuàng gōng zhōng yú chóng jiàn tiān rì 。

The trapped miners finally emerged to daylight.

封存多年的手稿重见天日。

### Traditional Chinese

封存多年的手稿重見天日。

fēng cún duō nián de shǒu gǎo chóng jiàn tiān rì 。

The long-sealed manuscript became accessible again.

她获释后终于重见天日。

### Traditional Chinese

她獲釋後終於重見天日。

tā huò shì hòu zhōng yú chóng jiàn tiān rì 。

She finally regained freedom after release.

修复工程让旧壁画重见天日。

### Traditional Chinese

修復工程讓舊壁畫重見天日。

xiū fù gōng chéng ràng jiù bì huà chóng jiàn tiān rì 。

Restoration brought the old murals back into view.

## Sources & reference checks

Original explanations and examples from Chinese Idioms Almanac. Source-checked October 6, 2026.

- [CC-CEDICT · forms & pronunciation](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdqb=%E9%87%8D%E8%A6%8B%E5%A4%A9%E6%97%A5)

- [Ministry of Education · 成語典](https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/idiomView.jsp?ID=587&webMd=1&la=0)

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