滄海桑田

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Chinese

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

Etymology

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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:「接待以來東海桑田蓬萊往者復還。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
麻姑:「接待以来东海桑田蓬莱往者复还。」 [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

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Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2 1/1 1/1 1/1
Initial () (14) (32) (16) (7)
Final () (101) (41) (101) (85)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Rising (X) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open Open Open
Division () I I I IV
Fanqie
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

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滄海桑田

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

Synonyms

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (滄海桑田):

Others:

Japanese

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Kanji in this term
そう
Hyōgai
かい
Grade: 2
そう
Grade: S
でん
Grade: 1
on'yomi
Alternative spelling
滄海桑田 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

[edit]

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

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  • (Tokyo) ーかいそーでん [sòókáísóꜜòdèǹ] (Nakadaka – [5])[1]
  • IPA(key): [so̞ːka̠iso̞ːdẽ̞ɴ]

Idiom

[edit]

(そう)(かい)(そう)(でん) (sōkaisōdenさうかいさうでん (saukaisauden)?

  1. (figuratively) drastic changes in the world

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN