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: “mulberry fields (turned into) the vast sea”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sāngtiáncānghǎi

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄤ ㄊㄧㄢˊ ㄘㄤ ㄏㄞˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): song¹ tin⁴ cong¹ hoi²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sāngtiáncānghǎi
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄤ ㄊㄧㄢˊ ㄘㄤ ㄏㄞˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sangtiáncanghǎi
    • Wade–Giles: sang¹-tʻien²-tsʻang¹-hai³
    • Yale: sāng-tyán-tsāng-hǎi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sangtyantsanghae
    • Palladius: сантяньцанхай (santjanʹcanxaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɑŋ⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn³⁵ t͡sʰɑŋ⁵⁵ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: song¹ tin⁴ cong¹ hoi²
    • Yale: sōng tìhn chōng hói
    • Cantonese Pinyin: song¹ tin⁴ tsong¹ hoi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: song¹ tin⁴ cong¹ hoi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɔːŋ⁵⁵ tʰiːn²¹ t͡sʰɔːŋ⁵⁵ hɔːi̯³⁵/

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”)

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

Alternative spelling
桑田滄海 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Idiom

桑(そう)田(でん)滄(そう)海(かい) • (sōdensōkai) ^{←さうでんさうかい (saudensaukai)?}

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(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)碧(へき)海(かい) (sōdenhekikai)