bể dâu

See also: bedau

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• dâu bể

Etymology

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

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓe˧˩ zəw˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓej˧˨ jəw˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓej˨˩˦ jəw˧˧]

Noun

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)戈(qua)没(một)局(cuộc)𣷭(bể)橷(dâu)
     仍(Những)調(điều)𬖉(trông)𧡊(thấy)㐌(đã)𤴬(đau)疸(đớn)𢚸(lòng)

     A turbulent mulberry-field-covered-by-sea period had passed.
     The things that we saw still deeply pain our hearts.