桑田滄海

桑田滄海

Chinese

		mulberry plantation	vast ocean; large ocean
trad. (桑田滄海)		桑田	滄海
simp. (桑田沧海)		桑田	沧海
Literally: “the mulberry fields turned into blue sea”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sāngtiáncānghǎi

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄤ ㄊㄧㄢˊ ㄘㄤ ㄏㄞˇ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: sāngtiáncānghǎi
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄤ ㄊㄧㄢˊ ㄘㄤ ㄏㄞˇ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sangtyantsanghae
    • IPA ^(key): /sɑŋ⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn³⁵ t͡sʰɑŋ⁵⁵ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Idiom

桑田滄海

1. Synonym of 滄海桑田／沧海桑田 (cānghǎisāngtián, “time brings drastic changes to the world; the vicissitudes of life”).

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
桑	田	滄	海
そう Grade: S	でん Grade: 1	そう Hyōgaiji	かい Grade: 2
on’yomi

Etymology

Borrowed from Chinese 桑田滄海, literally “the mulberry fields turned into blue sea”.

Pronunciation

• On’yomi
  • (Tokyo) そーでんそーかい [sòódéńsóókáí] (Heiban – [0])[1]
  • IPA^(key): [so̞ːdẽ̞ɰ̃so̞ːka̠i]

Idiom

桑田滄海 (hiragana そうでんそうかい, rōmaji sōdensōkai, historical hiragana さうでんさうかい)

1. (figuratively) drastic changes in the world

See also

• 桑 (そう)田 (でん)変 (へん)じて滄 (そう)海 (かい)となる (sōden henjite sōkai to naru)
• 滄 (そう)海 (かい)桑 (そう)田 (でん) (sōkaisōden)
• 滄海変 (そうかいへん)じて桑田 (そうでん)となる (sōkai henjite sōden to naru)
• 桑 (そう)田 (でん)碧 (へき)海 (かい) (sōdenhekikai)

References

1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN