bể dâu

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See also: bedau

Vietnamese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Short for bãi bể nương dâu. From a Chinese myth in which a goddess said she'd seen the sea turned into mulberry fields multiple times. The notion of 滄海桑田沧海桑田 (cānghǎisāngtián, the blue sea and the mulberry fields) are consolidated in Vietnamese as a compound of bể (sea) +‎ dâu (mulberry).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bể dâu

  1. (rare, poetic) all the vicissitudes of human life
    Synonym: thăng trầm
    • 1820, Nguyễn Du (阮攸), Đoạn trường tân thanh (Truyện Kiều)[1], published 1866, lines 3–4:
      𣦆(Trải)(qua)(một)(cuộc)𣷭(bể)(dâu)
      (Những)調(điều)𬖉(trông)𧡊(thấy)(đã)𤴬(đau)(đớn)𢚸(lòng)
      A turbulent mulberry-field-covered-by-sea period had passed.
      The things that we saw still deeply pain our hearts.