滄海桑田

Chinese

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

Etymology

Originally 東海桑田／东海桑田 (literally “East China sea becoming mulberry fields”). From Shenxian Zhuan (神仙傳·麻姑):

麻姑自說云：「接待以來，已見東海三為桑田。向到蓬萊，水又淺于往者會時略半也。豈將復還為陵陸乎。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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麻姑自说云：「接待以来，已见东海三为桑田。向到蓬莱，水又浅于往者会时略半也。岂将复还为陵陆乎。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

Mágū zì shuō yún: “Jiēdài yǐlái, yǐ jiàn Dōnghǎi sān wèi sāngtián. Xiàng dào Pénglái, shuǐ yòu qiǎn yú wǎngzhě huì shí lüè bàn yě. Qǐ jiāng fùhái wèi líng lù hū.” [Pinyin]

Magu said: "Since we met last time, I have seen the East China Sea turned into mulberry fields thrice. When I visited Penglai Island just now, I saw that the water was shallower than half of it was when we met. Is it going to turn into land again?"

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): cānghǎisāngtián

  (Zhuyin): ㄘㄤ ㄏㄞˇ ㄙㄤ ㄊㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cong¹ hoi² song¹ tin⁴
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): cang¹ hai² seng¹ cang⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: cānghǎisāngtián
    • Zhuyin: ㄘㄤ ㄏㄞˇ ㄙㄤ ㄊㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: canghǎisangtián
    • Wade–Giles: tsʻang¹-hai³-sang¹-tʻien²
    • Yale: tsāng-hǎi-sāng-tyán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsanghaesangtyan
    • Palladius: цанхайсантянь (canxajsantjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɑŋ⁵⁵ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ sɑŋ⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cong¹ hoi² song¹ tin⁴
    • Yale: chōng hói sōng tìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsong¹ hoi² song¹ tin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: cong¹ hoi² song¹ tin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɔːŋ⁵⁵ hɔːi̯³⁵ sɔːŋ⁵⁵ tʰiːn²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: cang¹ hai² seng¹ cang⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tshang hái sṳng tshâng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰaŋ³³⁻²³ hai⁵² sɯŋ³³⁻²³ t͡sʰaŋ⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: tshang xojX sang den

Rime
Character	滄	海	桑	田
Reading #	1/2	1/1	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	清 (14)	曉 (32)	心 (16)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	唐 (101)	咍 (41)	唐 (101)	先 (85)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I	I	IV
Fanqie	七岡切	呼改切	息郎切	徒年切
Baxter	tshang	xojX	sang	den
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡sʰɑŋ/	/hʌiX/	/sɑŋ/	/den/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡sʰɑŋ/	/həiX/	/sɑŋ/	/den/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡sʰɑŋ/	/xɒiX/	/sɑŋ/	/dɛn/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/t͡sʰaŋ/	/həjX/	/saŋ/	/dɛn/
Li Rong	/t͡sʰɑŋ/	/xᴀiX/	/sɑŋ/	/den/
Wang Li	/t͡sʰɑŋ/	/xɒiX/	/sɑŋ/	/dien/
Bernard Karlgren	/t͡sʰɑŋ/	/xɑ̆iX/	/sɑŋ/	/dʱien/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	cāng	hǎi	sāng	tián
Expected Cantonese Reflex	cong1	hoi2	song1	tin4

Idiom

滄海桑田

1. time brings drastic changes to the world; the vicissitudes of life

Synonyms

• (short form) 滄桑／沧桑 (cāngsāng)
• 桑田滄海／桑田沧海 (sāngtiáncānghǎi)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (滄海桑田):

• → Japanese: 滄海桑田(そうかいそうでん) (sōkaisōden)
• → Korean: 창해상전(滄海桑田) (changhaesangjeon)
• → Vietnamese: thương hải tang điền (滄海桑田)

Others:

• → Vietnamese: bể dâu (calque)

Japanese

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

Alternative spelling
滄海桑田 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From 滄海 (“vast ocean”) +‎ 桑田 (“mulberry plantations”). Borrowed from Chinese 滄海桑田／沧海桑田 (cānghǎisāngtián), literally “the blue sea turned into mulberry fields”.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) そーかいそ​ーでん [sòókáísóꜜòdèǹ] (Nakadaka – [5])
• IPA^(key): [so̞ːka̠iso̞ːdẽ̞ɴ]

Idiom

滄(そう)海(かい)桑(そう)田(でん) • (sōkaisōden) ^{←さうかいさうでん (saukaisauden)?}

1. (figuratively) drastic changes in the world

See also

• 滄(そう)海(かい)変(へん)じて桑(そう)田(でん)となる (sōkai henjite sōden to naru)
• 桑(そう)田(でん)滄(そう)海(かい) (sōdensōkai)
• 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)
• 桑(そう)田(でん)碧(へき)海(かい) (sōdenhekikai)
• 滄桑(そうそう) (sōsō)