拨云见日

Origin and story

This is a literary image of clouds being pushed aside so the sun becomes visible. The Ministry of Education dictionary records it in chapter 29 of Water Margin (水滸傳), where meeting a righteous helper is compared with emerging into sunlight. It also cites chapter 39 of The Scholars (儒林外史), where a speaker likens receiving guidance to the same clearing of darkness.

These attestations document a metaphor of emerging clarity and relief, not a literal weather-changing event. The phrase can describe relief after obstacles are removed or understanding after confusion. The sun represents the brightness already obscured by the intervening clouds.